I surprisingly had a very difficult time rating this show, but I did and a 5 out of 10 is in my opinion a fair rating when you consider the series as a whole.
The reason it is so hard for me to rate this show is the simple fact that it has been on so very, very long. 621 episodes and growing, according to the numbers here on IMDb. And when a season lasts that long, it obviously will have stretches of good quality and stretches of bad quality. The Simpsons is no different.
Although the series does still make me chuckle here and there, the quality has completely fallen off in the show's later years. It suffered a sudden and terrible decline and I still feel very disappointed watching it, remember and "missing" the fantastic episodes of old.
Because that's the other extreme. When The Simpsons first went on the air, and for at least 8 seasons (to me, at least), it was one of the very best comedy shows ever produced. The characters were great, the writing was slick, it seemed like every single joke hit its mark and I laughed out loud all the time. It was one of the few "can't miss" shows I remember in my life, where Sundays at 8pm I just had to be home to watch it. Everyone talked about it, and regardless of how many seasons you think it lasted everyone considers those early years the "golden age" of the Simpsons.
I'm not sure if the problem is people leaving, or naturally running out of ideas after being on the air so long, or simple laziness, or the writers and staff getting old, but clearly at a point this show just went from the creative tops to something almost awful.
I'm basically averaging it out (6 years of awesomeness, 6 years of being OK, and since then being just bloody awful) to give this show a 5 out of 10.
I know I'll be bashed by haters who find my rating too high, and Simpson-heads who can't believe anyone would go lower than 10, but this is the grade I think is fair for this show.
The reason it is so hard for me to rate this show is the simple fact that it has been on so very, very long. 621 episodes and growing, according to the numbers here on IMDb. And when a season lasts that long, it obviously will have stretches of good quality and stretches of bad quality. The Simpsons is no different.
Although the series does still make me chuckle here and there, the quality has completely fallen off in the show's later years. It suffered a sudden and terrible decline and I still feel very disappointed watching it, remember and "missing" the fantastic episodes of old.
Because that's the other extreme. When The Simpsons first went on the air, and for at least 8 seasons (to me, at least), it was one of the very best comedy shows ever produced. The characters were great, the writing was slick, it seemed like every single joke hit its mark and I laughed out loud all the time. It was one of the few "can't miss" shows I remember in my life, where Sundays at 8pm I just had to be home to watch it. Everyone talked about it, and regardless of how many seasons you think it lasted everyone considers those early years the "golden age" of the Simpsons.
I'm not sure if the problem is people leaving, or naturally running out of ideas after being on the air so long, or simple laziness, or the writers and staff getting old, but clearly at a point this show just went from the creative tops to something almost awful.
I'm basically averaging it out (6 years of awesomeness, 6 years of being OK, and since then being just bloody awful) to give this show a 5 out of 10.
I know I'll be bashed by haters who find my rating too high, and Simpson-heads who can't believe anyone would go lower than 10, but this is the grade I think is fair for this show.