Quote:
Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger
Two words: Armin Tamzarian
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That's not necessarily true seeing how "The Principal and the Pauper" was the second episode of season nine, and yet the majority of that season would be considered good to very good imo. Not quite the levels of greatness in prior seasons of course, but still a high quality show.
Quality Episodes from season 9 include:
Lisa's Sax (I love the Twin Peaks reference)
Treehouse of Horror VIII (just the mutants part though)... you call this prime rib, bleh.
The Cartridge family (who would have known Portugal vs. Mexico is actually a good soccer game).
Lisa the Skeptic (one of the better Lisa episodes)
Reality Bites (a great Lionel Hutz appearance)
The Joy of Sect (na na na batman)
Lisa the Simpson (another decent Lisa episode I guess)
The Trouble With Trillions
Trash of the Titans
King of the Hill
While I would hesitate to call any of those episodes classic, I wouldn't call them a major drop off from season nine.
Now season ten on the other hand is when the show completely fell apart; there may be 3-4 episodes that are worth watching. It's hard to really say what exactly happened, but I don't think it was one event. I blame a series of issues (new writers, new animation, death of Phil Hartman, Family Guy rivalry, George Bush is elected, Y2K, dilution of voice talent, over-reliance on guest stats, actors strike, etc).
I also blame the fact that the entire show and team became too self aware of itself and bought into their hype. Everyone seemed to become lazy all of sudden, and the show suffered tremendously as a result.
You watch it today and all the show is all about being "hip" and being a sad pop culture reference. During the shows prime they rarely bothered making light of real world events, or forcing comedy. Really the show has sold out like Krusty the Clown is always being accused of, and is just a tired out hack much like him...
Still my favorite show of all time though! Always has been, always will be. I even watch the new episodes out of routine, but they should feel great shame over the quality of some of the episodes these days. Did anyone watch the Lady Gaga episode by chance? I don't need to say much more to back up my opinion if you did.