Seasons change with the scenery

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans. And to the foreigners, well, you can still have a happy day, but I suppose it won't be Thanksgiving.

Last night, bethje and I finished watching the Simpsons Season 8 set with commentary. The best guest commentator they got was John Waters, who's also quite interesting on the commentary tracks for his own movies. Kelsey Grammer was also pretty cool, but I wasn't so keen on Dave Thomas (the SCTV guy) pretending to be a contest winner on "Mountain of Madness." That was a probably well-intentioned joke that didn't work out so well. And I don't think Josh Weinstein bringing in his kids was such a good idea either.

Matt Groening mentioned something about how he didn't really care for the idea of "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" or the later "Behind the Laughter." I think he said something about how he thought they'd confuse the audience, which I think is giving us too little credit. I do, however, agree in principle that presenting the Simpsons as actors kind of runs against the general idea of the show, although I don't mind it being used occasionally. The spin-off episode isn't a favorite of mine, but it has some really funny moments, and the IDEA is sound. "Behind the Laughter" was more successful, although I kind of thought the writers should have left out the gags about episodes that never actually happened. I haven't seen the episode in a while, but one that I particularly remember is a clip of Richie Rich replacing Bart. It was funny, to be sure, but I think it might have worked better if the clips from the show had all been ACTUAL clips from the show. (This, of course, does not apply to the stuff in the episode that was supposed to have taken place OUTSIDE the context of the show.)

Getting back to Season 8, I think this was around when the show had a minor downward turn. It was also when I started reading the alt.tv.simpsons newsgroup, which is known for its negative reactions, so I don't know how much reading other people's negative reviews contributed to my own reactions being somewhat less positive. The thing is, I think Lisa's comment in "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" about the show still being good but the characters no longer having the same impact after so many years was appropriate at the time. During the subsequent years (mostly the ones in which Mike Scully was show runner), though, I think it went somewhat beyond that. Too much emphasis on Homer at the expense of the other characters, too much of Homer getting hurt, and too many absurd elements that not only went against the spirit of the show but also just weren't funny (with the jockey elves from "Saddlesore Galactica" being the prime example). There were still plenty of successful episodes during this time, though. I've never become one of those naysayers who either stopped watching the show entirely, or kept watching it despite never having anything good to say.

Now, I think the show is back to the point where Lisa's eighth season comments are once again approrpiate. I haven't been enjoying this season all that much, but I think part of it might be just because I already know how the characters will react to pretty much any situation. In other words, it's gotten kind of predictable. The thing is, when the writers get creative with the format of the show, they're still capable of turning out some amazing episodes. Last season's best was probably "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story," with its stories-within-stories motif. Like "22 Short Films About Springfield" and "Trilogy of Error," it played with the format, while still turning out a viable Simpsons story. I'm certainly not saying every episode should be like that, but I think new and clever concepts like that help to keep the show from stagnating. It might also be time for the writers to be thinking about another flashback episode, although I'm not sure what they have left to cover.

Okay, I should probably be going.