What is it that makes this family so appealing to people of all ages, young and old alike? "The Simpsons" achieved its fame by combining social commentary with family issues and also by adding a very "human" touch to the characters. For example, in a single episode, Homer exaggeratedly cringes at the cultural stigma of his senior citizen father's use of the word "sex," while simultaneously struggling to work out latent childhood problems and using his father's self-invented aphrodisiac tonic to revitalize his marriage's unsatisfying sexlife ("Grandpa vs. Sexual Inadequacy"). Never before has an animated program attempted to humorously depict so many aspects of a family's life, ranging from religion to problems with the family pet.
Throughout the first seven or eight years of the series, "The Simpsons" never failed to deliver non-stop laughs from episode to episode. Whether Homer was battling against infidelity ("The Last Temptation of Homer") or Marge was tackling her fear of flying through therapy ("Fear of Flying"), "The Simpsons" consistently satirized social situations and always made audiences smile. It became clear very soon that "The Simpsons" would leave a legacy that would inspire cartoonists and comedians for years to come.
But while the show did at one point achieve near-perfection with its socially trenchant scripts, it is becoming startlingly clear that the legacy of "The Simpsons" is starting to die. Slowly but steadily, in a manner that is almost unnoticeable to the masses, "The Simpsons" has been declining in quality over the past few years. This is clearly marked by several important differences between the last few seasons and the first few seasons.
While, at the outset, "The Simpsons" never tried to hide the fact that it used guest stars, the celebrity roles would be crucial to the plot of the episode and not trumpeted with much fanfare. In recent years, guest stars have become much more frequent and blatantly unnecessary. Gary Coleman, Mark McGwire, Mel Gibson and, most recently, Richard Gere are among those who have been "Simpsonized" in shameless marketing ploys to boost ratings and compensate for the lack of quality scripts. In a gratuitously clear move to attract younger, hip viewers, the bands "Smashing Pumpkins" and "Sonic Youth" were all advertised as appearing on an episode of "The Simpsons" when they did nothing more than play a song or two ("Homerpalooza," arguably an episode that marked the start of the series' decline).
Gone also are the episodes which deal with familial issues. In the 10th, 11th, 12th and, now, the 13th seasons, there are virtually no episodes which touch upon some of the hallmarks that made each of the early "Simpsons" episodes a gem. Although the early seasons dealt with the ten commandments ("Homer vs. Lisa and the Eighth Commandment"), betrayal in friendship ("Mr. Plow"), or the love of a father for his daughter ("Lisa's Pony"), recent episodes have jettisoned such plotlines in exchange for ridiculous and unfunny stories.
In one such episode, Bart becomes addicted to a Ritalin-like drug, Focusyn, which allows him to uncover a conspiracy by Major League Baseball to use satellites to read people's thoughts ("Brother's Little Helper"). In another, Homer steals an airboat and accidentally runs over an alligator, who happens to be a local legend, and ends up getting thrown in jail ("Kill the Alligator and Run").
Perhaps the best summary of this is given by one of the better episodes from the dregs of the 11th season: "Episodes increasingly resorted to gimmicky premises and nonsensical plots" ("Behind the Laughter," a hilarious parody of VH1's "Behind the Music"). The episode alludes to the fact that plots have begun to frequently rely on randomness rather than inventiveness to provoke laughs from the audience. While it is funny to see "The Simpsons" make light of their own bad writing, the humor, in more than one sense, has come to an end.
Voice acting quality has also taken a plunge. In the past few years, characters have resorted to talking in exaggerated voices rather than spouting funny lines. In particular, the character of Homer, who is played by Dan Castellaneta, has shown remarkable differences in his line delivery, perhaps hoping that the absurd way in which he talks might cover up for the fact that his lines are devoid of any type of humor. Listen closely; it's hard to detect at first, but it soon becomes obvious that there is a marked difference in the way most of the characters speak compared to the good old days. Almost all the characters now rely on random vocal embellishments in a vain attempt to elicit a cheap laugh.
It's hard to imagine a world with no "Simpsons" episodes coming out each week. The ubiquitous images of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie have become ingrained into our culture; it has become extremely difficult to find people who haven't heard of "The Simpsons." Though the popularity of "The Simpsons" has never been higher, the quality has never been lower. The animation has improved but the scripts have not. Although the end of the series is not yet in sight, the fans deserve better.