THE SAD BUT INEVITABLE DECLINE OF "THE SIMPSONS"

The Simpsons created a minor controversy this week depicting a Fox News helicopter that read "Not racist. but #1 with racists". Frankly, I don't care about this. I'm used to it. If I let my politics dictate my viewing habits, they would have to take my television away. No, the real problem with "The Simpsons"  is it's just not funny anymore. Truth be told, it hasn't been funny in many years. Sad, but inevitable.

I have never missed an episode of "the Simpsons", but as I suspect is true of many fans, it has been viewership by rote. It has become a force of habit, not content that has sustained my interest. This weeks episode starts with a pandemic, the need for inoculations and Mr. Burns screwing it all up. Then we go through something we've seen many times. Burns wondering why people hate him, his surviving death, but ignorant of his past. Been there. Done that. Then they throw an E.T. spoof into the mix. Yawn!

It's time for FOX to pull the plug on "The Simpsons". It has been on television so long that it is now derivative of its previous manifestations. The problem is that the talent does not exist to match those wonder years when the Simpsons were not just funny, but original and clever in its presentation. Remember the great musical spoofs? Have you seen one lately? The result has been that "The Simpsons" have occassionally reduced themselves to odd cheap shots that only serve to degrade a once proud satirical program. I can remember many subtle shots they had taken in their prime that went ignored, because it was so sly. This was a program where quick witted sarcasm was the rule. It has been undone by hacks and half wits employing a club owing to their lack of a working knowledge of the semantics of comedy.

If you were going to relate your favorite Simpsons episodes, just how many would you include from the 21st Century? Maybe, the early part, but certainly none in recent years. All good things come to an end. Some go on beyond their natural life as a media entity. Can you hear me Bret Favre? Willie Mays? Hanging it up is hard. South Park is getting better with age. Family Guy has more three dimensional characters than most live action shows. American Dad and The Cleveland Show are well heeled and solid shows. They all also have one thing in common. They are ALL funnier than the Simpsons.
 
The Simpsons have become "Old Yeller". Go get the gun, it's time to put em down.