I know it's a little behind the times, but Season 17 has just started airing on Terrestrial TV in the UK (Channel 4).
The trouble is, I don't think it's funny any more.
I used to get some great laughs (Maggie had some of the best lines, or should that be sucks).
Is it worth persevering?

They've finished Season 21 here in the US, so there are at least four more years on UK TV. I've yet to watch an episode, even though there are over 400 of them!

Dave, you've never seen an episode of The Simpsons? It's not my favorite show but there are some good episodes there.

To answer darksplash question, I haven't followed The Simpsons in a long time, so I don't know if the quality of the show has really gone down, but I think it's quite impressive that after 21 years, the writers can still come up with brand new episodes.

It's not hard to come up with new episodes. All they have to do is watch pop culture and rip that off. For instance, The Simpsons did a 24 based episode. Yes, it was horrible, just like the last several seasons have been. I used to be one of the biggest fans of the show, but they should have stopped a long time ago.

I still think that the Simpsons has more life left in it than Family Guy. I swear, if I see another episode that simply has Peter laughing for 10 minutes straight I will... well, I don't know what I would do. I'm sick of the overused jokes on that one. It seems like the writers have a couple extra minutes, so they just repeat something over and over again!

I like that the Simpsons 'rips-off' pop culture. I loved the one episode they did a few years ago that was a parody of "Evita." Hmm... I think they should do a Twilight parody next

The US seems to flog an idea to death, pick up the body and give it a good thrashing to shake out the last dollar. Happy Days should have been renamed Crappy Days after about 5 seasons. Has any US show done what Fawlty Towers did and made minimal episodes and therefore making each one a cultural icon. I still think a gem or 2 can be found in the Simpsons and Family Guy even though they are running out of steam.

Oh - there are plenty of good shows that only had a few episodes. (Firefly is one of them.) But it's usually due to them being canceled than anything else...

Shows like Simpsons are still making the networks a ton of money - they still get a lot from the advertisers, so until that goes down, they're likely to stay.

I loved the simpsons, but all the good writers have gone, and it's just not funny anymore. And for people who reckon family guy is better, see how funny it is if its still around after 20 seasons.

Sigh...

Some people just can't resist the temptation to bash America, as if making as much money as possible is only an American idea. As said before me, there are plenty of shows that ended prematurely. The Shield was very successful and could have been stretched out a lot longer.

Then there is the comparison of Fawlty Towers to The Simpsons as cultural icons. That gave me a good laugh. The Simpsons are global icons, whereas Fawlty Towers isn't. That is the sole reason why The Simpsons keeps on going. It is still loved and watched by a lot more than us Americans.

Guess who owns the rights to The Simpsons. Give up? Rupert Murdoch, an Australian.

We used to watch The Simpsons on BBC2, but Channel 4 decided they wanted it, so they outbid BBC2, and won the rights, at four times as much as BBC2 had been paying, for the same repeats. Clever.



I had no idea. Lovely man, Rupert Murdoch. Shame he doesn't own the whole world. Hang on - he does?

Hey Anton, lighten up. I leave my American bashing to political sites and then it is usually aimed at the greedy rich guys who own everything and run the show. I love a lot of what comes out of the US - Family guy, MASH, Simpsons, The Sopranos, The West Wing, Robin Williams and the list goes on. I don't think it is a great secret that Americans are into excess in most things. Just look at the jokes on Leno and Letterman about the fat Americans. You are right that greed is not just an American thing. Sadly a capalist overconsuming society is not one of your best exports.

I'm pretty sure Rupert is an American now isn't he. And he was a greedy money hungry meglamaniac well before then.
I like the Simpsons they not anything like they used to be but its still a whole lot better than a heap of the other stuff.
Actually I cant remember the last time they weren't on tv over here, would have to be sometime in the early 90s at least I reckon.
And as an Aussie I think it's best not to be critical of US television when there is still video evidence of Hey Dad lying about.

I don't think American television executives have a monopoly in flogging a good idea to death.
I guess as long as it gets ratings and advertisers want to buy commercials at a premium rate around it they will keep on making it.

In the UK we have three systems: Sky, funded by subscriptions and commercials; Independent Television, funded by commercials; and the BBC, funded by a licence fee (a tax on television owners in all but name).

The BBC has been guilty of letting things go on too long (because they get a guaranteed income each year) - witness "Last of the Summer Wine" and "My Family". The other side of they coin is that they can allow slow burners to develop into huge successes - witness "Only Fools And Horses".

It's a balance which works best, but at least under the American system the turkeys don't get to fly into a second season (or, in some cases, beyond the pilot).

AAAAHHHHHHHH Quogequox after all my good arguments you deliver the dagger to my heart with HEY DAD.