The Official Simpsons Griefing Thread

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JJ Abrams fucks up everything he touches the way I heard it. Looking at Lost, I can believe it.

I dunno, I think Al can still be funny in interviews and such. He's probably just burned out after decades but doesn't care enough to throw his stable paycheck away.
 
The Pink Panther said:
Yeah, but I'm sure Al couldve at the very least rotated out as showrunner...give the show new flare as it runs into the ground. I mean he does that with Matt Selman, but I think he should do that with other writers.
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Yes but what other stories could you possibly tell with these characters after 30 years? The only other place you could logically go is to age the characters.

CakeCutey said:
This new show is gonna last as long as Bordertown and Brickberry.
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The mopey chick reminded me a lot of Daria. But that art style is ugly and it isn't funny.
 
BrunoMattei said:
Devil's Advocate: is it Al's fault? Realistically speaking could anyone have kept the show at the same level of quality as the early seasons for all this time? Hell no. I place the blame squarely at Fox.
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I agree that the show ran too long regardless of who was running it, but the fact that Al Jean refuses to step down as show runner, even temporarily, is really damning.

IIRC, he's also a major reason why the show keeps ongoing (also FOX is worried they can't find a replacement for the show's timeslot)

Then again, any show that has been on the air for thirty years is going to run out of ideas no matter who's running it, I just think that if Al Jean would've stepped down at a certain point, the decay might have taken later to set in, or at least not be as blatantly obvious.
 
BrunoMattei said:
Devil's Advocate: is it Al's fault? Realistically speaking could anyone have kept the show at the same level of quality as the early seasons for all this time? Hell no. I place the blame squarely at Fox.
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The golden years were intensely exhausting in terms of writing/showrunning. Until Mike Scully, no showrunner lasted more than two seasons*, and many writers left due to burnout/exhaustion/etc., requiring more fresh blood to come in and start the cycle anew. Dead Homer Society has a great breakdown on how many writers dropped like flies over the years.
writer-eras.jpg

In a way, I could see why Al Jean led the show to a more complacent, simplified direction. He's not getting any younger, and driving yourself to the brink of insanity just for the perfect gag is less appealing at his age. But the lack of fresh blood and betrayal of the roots combined with him losing his edge and Fox not letting it die is still disappointing to longtime fans.

*Despite what the chart below says, Sam Simon only lasted two seasons before Jean and Mike Reiss took over for 3-4.
Syaoran Li said:
I've heard rumors that Matt Groening hates Al Jean, along with several of the old show runners and writers and even Harry Shearer (which could explain why he almost walked out on the show and records his lines at home instead of at the FOX studios)
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Did it start with A Star is Burns, or much earlier? And now I think John Swartzwelder writing from home was the reason why he lasted as long as he did.
 
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vertexwindi said:
I dunno, I think Al can still be funny in interviews and such. He's probably just burned out after decades but doesn't care enough to throw his stable paycheck away.
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I mean if you've worked on a juggernaut series that won't stop until it doesn't print any more money, You probably wouldn't want to step down too. But the show really needs some more quality standards than what it's got going right now. It's like they aren't even trying to get past the first draft, if it even had one, half the time. I don't ask for the show to be the same quality as the old seasons, for that's impossible, but I want it to have at least some humor instead of contrivances and disjointed plot lines that start and stop almost immediately.
 
Stab You in the Back said:
It reminds me of Community, a show in which every season finale was a series finale where the writers jerked themselves off over how great the show and characters were. Its a fucking sitcom, not Game of Thrones. I didn't need closure on Abed's Associate's Degree and I certainly don't need closure on The Simpsons.
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To be fair, IIRC, every season after the 2nd looked like it was going to be last one, thus there were a lot of a season finales that weren't (see also: Futurama). Although Dan Harmon's pretentiousness and need to be recognized as a great television auteur didn't help.
vertexwindi said:
JJ Abrams fucks up everything he touches the way I heard it. Looking at Lost, I can believe it.
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JJ Abrams was only really involved in the early years of the show. Past season 3, I don't think he had any real involvement.

As for Al Jean, while I could imagine his long stewardship of the show has produced a long run of mediocrity, I doubt have somebody or even a string of somebody elses could have 'saved' the show's quality. The show was designed to mock the folkways of 20th century America, particularly 80's sitcoms. The further it got away from those sources of its satire, the weaker and more tired the show became, regardless of who ran the show or not.

PS: RIP Russi Taylor.
 
I think the only way to end the Simpsons at this point, considering what a juggernaut it is, is to have a season of final episodes.

As in, have almost a what if thing where different writers get to give their own take on an ending to the Simpsons. Have one where it just ends with Marge taking the kids and leaving, one where Marge is a rabbit, one that explores the methaphysical fuckery of what and where Springfield is exactly. Maybe see if some old names would come back to write a farewell (doubtful). Maybe they could even have a fan submission for one of the episodes, (not one where people vote for obvious reasons but one where one or two of the better submissions gets turned into a full fledged story). And like, have them get weird with it. There are so many talented animators on payroll, and it would be great if they got out and stretched their talents. Maybe like a weird trippy episode that ends with that washed up band bard ODing. No one ending to the Simpsons could be satisfying so why not have multiple?

This is of course assuming they don't develop the technology to automate the voice acting and stuff, meaning so they could go on indefinitely.
 
You know, this recent death has really put into perspective just how many great crew members The Simpsons has outlived at this point. Doris Grau, Phil Hartman, Marcia Wallace, Jan Hooks, Sam Simon and now Russi Taylor. Just look at how much talent there is in that small list of people, Doris Grau being an esteemed script supervisor, Sam Simon being an experienced Hollywood producer, and the others being talented voice actors that have gotten a lot of praise for their performances, particularly Phil who was one of the most beloved people in Hollywood at the time. Plus there's the fact they booted off Clausen just to save money.
 
vertexwindi said:
JJ Abrams fucks up everything he touches the way I heard it. Looking at Lost, I can believe it.
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He’s like the guy who does all the American _______ Story shows, Nip/Tuck, Glee and Scream Queens. They start out really well but then he runs out of ideas and tries to throw all sorts of shit against the wall to see what sticks.
 
nets_awesome said:
He’s like the guy who does all the American _______ Story shows, Nip/Tuck, Glee and Scream Queens. They start out really well but then he runs out of ideas and tries to throw all sorts of shit against the wall to see what sticks.
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You're thinking of somebody else.
 
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