What happened to the the Simpsons Tv show?

[mikekle]

Ok, I admit, I used to be a fan of the Simpsons, many many years ago, but stopped watching years ago, but a few weeks ago, I started watching again, just out of curiosity really, but I was pretty surprised…since when did the Simpsons become so ethical and moral? LOL

Years ago, they were so popular due to the fact they were so immoral and unethical, but it seems as they have aged, they have ‘sold out’…in the newer episodes, it seems homer and marge have become good parents who do ‘the right thing’ with their kids…and each other??? Im assuming someone annoyed the writers of the show enough for them to completely revamp the characters, cant think of any other reason right now, as I think we all know modern tv is seriously lacking in the morality and ethics dept!

Another show I never really liked is Family Guy, but I have sat thru a few episodes before and even as disgusting as this show is, when it comes down to basic morals and ethics, the cartoon characters actually do the right thing…??

Im kind of confused, is modern TV promoting immoral activity or is it the opposite?

has anyone noticed this change in the Simpsons show? I dont know when it happened, since I was not a regular viewer though.

 

[italianamerican]

there has been a really interesting shift in the last decade…wrestling used to be violent and tv shows used to be immoral now its just clean and kinda childish…I can’t watch wrestling anymore because it’s nothing but kid stuff ever since they started the pg era…wrestling used to be very good now it just sucks.

 

[Allegra]

In my opinion, The Simpsons has become tamer over the years. Specifically, the language has become cleaner. I think people got bored with the humor of the potty-mouthed, outrageous kids and the writers had to actually come up with something clever instead.

 

[HerCrazierHalf]

There are cartoons on other cable networks (and even Fox) that go way farther with language and ethics. I figure that they know they can’t compete that way and after over a decade they have no pressure to use certain gimmicks as they have had an exceedingly long run as far as tv shows go.

 

[mikekle]

there has been a really interesting shift in the last decade…wrestling used to be violent and tv shows used to be immoral now its just clean and kinda childish…I can’t watch wrestling anymore because it’s nothing but kid stuff ever since they started the pg era…wrestling used to be very good now it just sucks.

Yeah, exactly, its like all the sudden TV became politically correct, moral, ethical when the rest of the world is the complete opposite…especially when we were always taught TV was pure filth and would degrade year after year, so Im not sure what happened, but Im assuming its not real or not what we think, probably some ulterior motive involved…thats the only logical thing I can think of.?

I mean if many people that watch these shows have no problems being immoral or unethical, I doubt they are going to be interested in watching shows that are not in line with how they feel…right?

Something else that really surprises me, is the local and national news, and how their reporters go about reporting the news, kind of inline with the above topic…I remember back in the 80s and earlier, many reporters would go to ANY lengths to get a stories details, sometimes involving informants, paying someone off for info, pics, etc. and then airing it all on national tv, but it seems with todays reporters, they are the model citizen LOL they do not go to such lengths to get the details anymore, if police tell them no more info or no comment, they simply accept that and drop it at that, when years ago, that reporter would try to find someone who WOULD make a comment or try to find a leak within, or sneaking around to get video of something, etc. Its almost like they not as concerned with the story as respecting law enforcement, or other people/groups involved in the story…a complete 180 from reporters a few years back…??

 

[Bobby_Jim]

Really? I stopped watching years ago when I thought the show traded a lot of the quirky and clever (if snarky) humor for a lot of cheap gags and gratuitous celebrity cameos and whole episodes about the minor characters and of course Homer’s increasingly outrageous and jerky antics. I felt very early on (like first season) they were kind of crass but Homer especially was making an effort to be a good dad, and things never quite worked out. I think seasons 2 through about 6 or 7 were really the best… episodes like “Krusty Gets Kancelled” and the one where the kids go to Kamp Krusty and it turns into a Lord of the Flies takeoff. Those were the golden years. But there was a decline from there. I think I finally stopped watching when they had a whole episode with Mel Gibson, and whole episodes about Apu and his 12 kids and so forth.

 

[mikekle]

Really? I stopped watching years ago when I thought the show traded a lot of the quirky and clever (if snarky) humor for a lot of cheap gags and gratuitous celebrity cameos and whole episodes about the minor characters and of course Homer’s increasingly outrageous and jerky antics. I felt very early on (like first season) they were kind of crass but Homer especially was making an effort to be a good dad, and things never quite worked out. I think seasons 2 through about 6 or 7 were really the best… episodes like “Krusty Gets Kancelled” and the one where the kids go to Kamp Krusty and it turns into a Lord of the Flies takeoff. Those were the golden years. But there was a decline from there. I think I finally stopped watching when they had a whole episode with Mel Gibson, and whole episodes about Apu and his 12 kids and so forth.

OH, yea, the Simpsons are now sell outs! I watched a newer episode this past week, Homer had met some younger attractive women at a bar, she was interested in him and at first Homer thought it was really cool, as he could still attract a younger attractive female, but in the end, his ‘love’ for marge and his kids got the best of him and he did not even kiss this younger female, plus during the show, I clearly saw homer and marge making ACTUAL good parenting decisions with bart and the others (cant think of their names off the top of my head)…I was totally shocked, this was not the simpsons that I used to watch while in high school, this was a responsible family doing what is best for their relationship and their kids…keep in mind…this is the simpsons tv show???

Im not saying being ethical and moral is dumb or wrong, but the simpsons were created to be unethical and immoral in everything they do, (this is what made them popular), they are not supposed to do the ‘right things’, they are supposed to make the wrong decisions, so people can laugh at them and laugh at the antics. Im not sure what happened to them, Im guessing maybe someone got to the writers and made them change the characters into more responsible, moral depictions.

And really, when you think about it, when did society start caring about things such as people being true to their spouses, and doing the right things concerning raising kids, etc, anyway? That is not even politically correct in todays world…Actually in modern societies, its better to be your own person, even if that means cheating, leaving your kids, living how you want to live…?? The last time I checked society did not care too much about such ethics, so maybe the Vatican started writing the Simpsons…?? Im really confused now

 

[TEPO]

Maybe the creators saw the direction that Family Guy took and they started to back peddle away from that.

…I saw an episode once where Peter left Lois and became homosexual and for his birthday party was gifted like a dozen men. then there’s Stewy trying to kill his mother and an alcoholic dog named Brian. Quagmire…?

 

[Bobby_Jim]

Im not saying being ethical and moral is dumb or wrong, but the simpsons were created to be unethical and immoral in everything they do, (this is what made them popular), they are not supposed to do the ‘right things’, they are supposed to make the wrong decisions, so people can laugh at them and laugh at the antics. Im not sure what happened to them, Im guessing maybe someone got to the writers and made them change the characters into more responsible, moral depictions.

I don’t agree that they were created to be unethical and immoral in everything they do. It was usually more along the lines of Homer wants to do the right thing but either his own ineptitude or circumstances around him made things go wrong or come off badly, often in crass and ironic (and funny) ways. I’m thinking of an early episode where they go to a family BBQ at Burns’ house and Homer sees another family that is all perfect and polite, and Homer wishes that for his family, so he tries to offer Bart $5 to act nice, but gets caught in the act… later on I think they go to family counseling with Dr. Marvin Monroe which degenerates into them zapping each other and hitting each other with sticks (as Bart discovers, it works better if you take the foam padding off…) but anyway I feel like later on it became more about Homer just being a jerk for the sake of being a jerk, rather than Homer coming off as a jerk despite his better intentions.