When did the Simpsons get good again?

I grew up watching the Simpsons.  In the second grade, 1990, I owned an incredibly controversial sweat shirt with Bart stating "Don't have a cow man!" (I was not allowed to have the still more controversial "Eat my shorts!" t-shirt).   By 2000, when I went to college, I had seen every episode that existed, but was getting progressively disappointed by episodes that followed cliche plots that writers from a few years earlier would have parodied.  Eventually, I got more into Family Guy, which I find intermittently hilarious yet lacking the depth that the Simpsons has achieved at points, as well as a host of adult swim shows, ie Home Movies, Venture Bros, Aqua teen, Sealab etc.  Lately, I've been loving Frisky Dingo and Archer.  
 
But I digress,  recently I watched a relatively new " ret-con flashback" episode of the Simpsons where Homer was in a Nirvana-esque grunge band and Marge was in college.  It was pretty hilarious.  After watching this ep, I remembered that my cousin had mentioned to me that Simpsons has been pretty good these last few seasons.   
 
So back to my question, does anyone else agree that Simpsons hit a low in the early 2000's but has made a comeback the last few years?  If so, can you pinpoint when the change began? I want to get some recent seasons and start catching up.  All opinions welcome. 

I remember that exact episode and remember how lame I thought it was.

I haven't seen anything since like, season 12.

Have they stopped making every single episode "Homer and Marge have marital trouble, uh oh. Will they break up?" yet?

Oh, and have they stopped with the "We must have a celebrity guest in every episode" agenda? I mean, sure, there were a bunch of celebrities in the show when it was good, but they were spread out and made contextual sense. Not just "Oh look Marge, [celebrity name here], let's have [him/her] [do the thing they're famous for], wouldn't that be great?"

Simon Cowell judging babies for talent, shoot me now.

The Simpsons is all over the place. It just depends on who the writers are for certain episodes. I've noticed way too many culture references lately and political agendas going on. The Simpsons of old had none of that, it was original and creative writing. If they are that out of ideas it's time to stop.

I wouldn't know. I haven't seen a new episode in a long time. Also, it's "Eat my shorts".

I have the first 10 seasons of The Simpsons on DVD, I do not own the rest, guess why. Those 10 can easily be considered as the best sitcom of all time had they been the only seasons made. I have not watched any "recent" Simpsons but I remember that Nirvana episode, I don't recall anything funny about it.
 
I totally had one of those black Bart Simpson shirts, got it in Mexico and had no idea what Bart was saying. I would come home and watch the Simpsons Monday through Friday after school, it was saddening seeing them fall in the end. I can't pinpoint a specific moment but it was in the late 90s/early 2000s.

Simpsons rebounded a bit, but its still never as good as say the first 5, 7, 10 seasons. I just know that I stopped watching it when they had every episode start off with some idea and halfway through, just abandon it for another. 

I enjoyed it up to season 14, then it got pretty lame, Milhouse. Thank Jebus for Futurama, the best thing to ever be canceled by Fox. Seriously, Futurama is the show The Simpsons wish it could've grown up to be. Oh Yeah!

I have never understood why people tend to overanalyze mature cartoons.
Enjoy and have fun.

"That 90's Show" is the name of the Nirvana-esque show and it's among my least favorite because it completely screws up the timeline in my mind.  I know it's crazy to be put off on such an impossibility to begin with, but after season 8 or 9, anytime they have too strong a reference to the current year (whatever that might be) I feel off center.  Marge and Homer were in high school in the mid 1970's, Bart and Lisa were born in the early 80's, so why are they still so young in this flashback episode?  I can accept one line gags related to current events, but an entire episode?  It disorientates my perspective and disrupts my ability to reason why the family hasn't aged in 20 years.  
 
As for when it became good again, I would say right after the movie; however that only lasted one season and I think it's slipped back to mediocrity again.  It's not the worst cartoon on TV but it's not worth the effort to watch. 

i havent watched a Simpsons episode since last year.  i watched the Vancouver Olympics one and i didnt think it was very good... 

I think the real question is, when was The Simpsons good?

I bought all Simpsons DVDs that's been available in my country and I still think the shows great to watch. It was kinda "mjeh" a couple of season back but I think the last 1-2 seasons have been awesome.

I agree that the Simpsons haven't been good since early 2000, I still can't believe the show is still on!  I remember in the good Simpson days you could describe an episode in a sentence like the Itchy and Scratchyland ep, or the Flaming Moe ep, or the Mr. Plow ep, etc.  These days I would randomly give an episode a chance and the story lines are fucking insane!  They're like, well homer gets some donuts and sees an ad on the box for a chance to win a lifetime supply of Duff beer by competeing in an X-Treme mountain bike tournament so he tells Apu who remembers his childhood days of mountain biking and the two go together to the tournament in Montana.  Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa cover for Homer at the nuclear power plant with the help of Marge who distracts Mr. Burns and Smithers by challenging them to a race across the US.  While racing across the US, Mr. Burns somehow manages to enter the same tournament Homer is in and ends up winning the lifetime supply of Duff beer, only to have it disposed of bc Mr. Burns doesn't drink Duff, D'OH!   Hey I think I can be a writer for the Simpsons!  lol

I think the real question is, when was The Simpsons good?

I definitely had a shirt with Bart saying both "Don't have a cow man" and "Eat my shirts" (it also said something like, "Raising hell and proud of it"? or something).  
 
Also, double points for Frisky Dingo. Adult Swim's best show. 

I still think it's better than Futurama. But that's not saying much, in my opinion.

There's so many good animated shows on now, that I just kinda don't care about The Simpsons anymore. I don't know why people turn the quality of it into such a big deal though. They've been on twenty seasons. And they still do pretty good in the ratings. You do the math.

It has gotten slightly better over the past 3 or 4 years - it still isn't very good, but it's a long way away from the dreadful years in which nearly every single episode was terrible (Last half of Season 9 till..... well.... Season 18. So.... yeah, nearly half of all Simpsons episodes are pretty bad.

I've only watched a few episodes past Season 14, but most of them have been pretty awful. Even the better recent ones are a pale imitation of the Simpsons at their height (Season 4 to Season 8). I've pretty much given up hope on The Simpsons - there are so many better shows on these days anyway.

@NickBOTT said:

I agree that the Simpsons haven't been good since early 2000, I still can't believe the show is still on! I remember in the good Simpson days you could describe an episode in a sentence like the Itchy and Scratchyland ep, or the Flaming Moe ep, or the Mr. Plow ep, etc. These days I would randomly give an episode a chance and the story lines are fucking insane! They're like, well homer gets some donuts and sees an ad on the box for a chance to win a lifetime supply of Duff beer by competeing in an X-Treme mountain bike tournament so he tells Apu who remembers his childhood days of mountain biking and the two go together to the tournament in Montana. Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa cover for Homer at the nuclear power plant with the help of Marge who distracts Mr. Burns and Smithers by challenging them to a race across the US. While racing across the US, Mr. Burns somehow manages to enter the same tournament Homer is in and ends up winning the lifetime supply of Duff beer, only to have it disposed of bc Mr. Burns doesn't drink Duff, D'OH! Hey I think I can be a writer for the Simpsons! lol

Yep. This plot is about as lucid as some of the newer simpsons episodes. I remember one particularly egregious episode in which the Simpsons discover a box of animal crackers and it leads them to the most implausible nonsense imaginable. The last straw for me was the Episode in which Marge and Homer join a Meals-on-Wheels service for some stupid reason I can barely remember, and someone end up being convicted of first degree murder and Homer is going to be executed before the whole thing is revealed to be some sort of reality-TV show at the very last minute. I was laughing so hard - not because the show was funny, but because of how low the writers had fallen. That they actually thought that plot was acceptable was beyond belief. After that, I pretty much stopped watching. Oh sure, if a new episode just happened to come on, I'd watch it for a few minutes to see if it make me even smile. They rarely did.

The Simpsons is all over the place. It just depends on who the writers are for certain episodes.

....I was laughing so hard - not because the show was funny, but because of how low the writers had fallen. That they actually thought that plot was acceptable was beyond belief. After that, I pretty much stopped watching. Oh sure, if a new episode just happened to come on, I'd watch it for a few minutes to see if it make me even smile. They rarely did.

@TobbRobb: Well, you're the lucky guy. I've now seen that picture the exact number of time it takes for me to be completely sick of a giantbomb meme. What's it been... a little over a year?

Anyway, Simpson's is OK, and always OK. Family Guy however, has always been garbage. I've been watching a lot of Archer and Metalocyplse lately, they're probably the best cartoons out there that are still in production.

I was just reading about the latest season of Simpsons, and two things stood out. First, it's only the second season to end on a cliff-hanger, the last time that happened was in 1995, with the episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?". I was 5 years old, and I actually remember that episode. In fact, reading that struck me with instant nostalgia, is there a place I can watch old simpsons online without illegally downloading it? Because they don't sell the season old seasons at Best Buy anymore, I don't think. Oh, that second thing. All of the episode titles are crappy puns based on other shows or movies- that's thoroughly depressing.

you'll never trick me into watching new simpsons episodes

I'm like you, grew up watching it. I don't like it anymore though, I've given it a try a few times but nah :/

I haven't watched a single Simpsons episode in almost a decade.  I think I sort of grew bored of the whole thing.. I grew up with Bart and Lisa.. and not seeing them grow up with me, kinda puts me off watching them.  Weird excuse I know, but it feels weird.

I haven't stopped watching the Simpsons since they first came on in 1989.  The show has it's great moments and other not so great moments.  But it is still consistently funny and entertaining. 

I'm a massive fan of the first 10 seasons of The Simpsons however the new ones have just gotten progressively worse; bad pop-culture references a la Family Guy, weird non-jokes and rehashed plots. It's disappointing but I guess that's what happens if you run for 20+ years

Dragon ball Z bitches! but yes I used to love Simpsons, stopped watching and carried on watching Futurama, and south park, Randy and Bender have to be one of the funniest characters in cartoon history.

@GristleMcThornbody:

Season 12 was the last good season until season 20/21, according to general consensus.

Still, the fact I keep forgetting about one of the shows that I was a massive fan of when I was younger, and own all seasons of on DVD up to 12, is quite depressing :(

I can't watch new episodes because it just fills me with murderous rage.

I remember that exact episode and remember how lame I thought it was.

I also grew up watching The Simpsons. I still remember being excited for the Christmas special that was the first episode after being a fan of the shorts on the Tracey Ullman Show. I'm not as old as you might think, my parents just didn't mind me watching stuff like that. As a young kid I'm guessing The Simpsons segments were some of the few that I understood the jokes in and I liked the animation.
 
I don't think I missed a single episode from the first 10 seasons or so and when syndicated episodes starting playing in evening on multiple channels I would watch all of them. However, once the seasons hit the double digits I noticed the quality slipping. I no longer cared if I caught the episodes when they were on. It may have been me losing interest or just because I was older and had more going on socially. I'd tape them and watch the next day. Soon, the next day became sometime that week. Then, I'd start getting two or three episodes behind before catching up. After a couple of years I just stopped caring. 
 
Now I only watch episodes occasionally. I got rid of cable a couple of years ago and watch most of my TV through Hulu. The Simpsons isn't even one of the shows I subscribe to. I still watch a couple of episodes per season, but they never do anything for me.

@WinterSnowblind said:

@iAmJohn said:

I remember that exact episode and remember how lame I thought it was.

Just what I was going to say. It didn't even make sense with what we've been told about their past before and was just an all round terrible episode. Amongst those that really pushed me away from the show.

Even the "Sonic sez: wait until marriage" joke from that episode that made the internet rounds for a while was dumb. :\

In my opinion, the Simpsons never stopped being good. 

The Simpsons was never good. I've never liked it, yet do you know how many pairs of fucking Homer Simpson socks/underwear I get given every Christmas? I have NO IDEA why people think I like it. I never watch it, never talk about, yet still the socks keep coming!

in my opinion since the movie its been slowly creeping back up to being pritty good

I don't think The Simpsons ever got bad. It just got a bit repetitive & it fell into one or two clichés. It was still quite funny & entertaining. The problem is people holding more recent episodes up to the high standards of the early ones. It was never going to be that great forever. And when it stopped being that great, it was still decent, but people couldn't see that because they were comparing it to earlier episodes. If you take each episode on its own & don't compare it to others, there are very few bad episodes of the Simpsons. They've all got laughs and can be entertaining.

The last episode I enjoyed was when they went to Japan, and that was Season 13. 

The Episode where Maude Flanders dies is the episode I decided The Simpsons has become *bleep*. An important background character dies, and they stir no emotion just "laughs". They stopped caring about their characters, so did I

The Episode where Maude Flanders dies is the episode I decided The Simpsons has become *bleep*. An important background character dies, and they stir no emotion just "laughs". They stopped caring about their characters, so did I

No foot-longs