>>107751918>And every conversation about the show moves the point of decline earlier and earlier into the show's history.That's because the real answer to "When did The Simpsons turn to shit" is more nuanced that pointing to a specific episode AKA The Principal and the Pauper.
Very few people think of Season 1 and 2 as 'classic' Simpsons; they're too moralistic, the humor is very dry, some plots are very wonky or outright dull. However, any cursory watching of the show makes it obvious that Season 1 & 2 planted the seeds that were necessary for prime Simpsons from Season 3 - 8. Without the early episodes did the hard work of establishing characters and making us, the audience care about their plots.
Similarly, the seeds of "zombie Simpsons" was planted in the show during it's prime. People really love the classic episodes from Season 3 to 8, but zombie Simpsons didn't come out of a vacuum - here is an example, Homer was turned dumber and dumber and into more and ever more of a screen-time sucking asshole during Simpsons prime.
Now you may say, wait, Homer being a stupid asshole is funny. Yeah it kind of is, but only in context. Without the counterbalance of genuine heart that existed in the first two seasons, when Homer acts like a stupid asshole and makes his family/friends lives miserable it eats into Homer's 'goodwill' that he has with the audience. People will only tolerate him being an stupid asshole without repercussions only so much, and Season 5 to Season 8 really doubled down on making Homer unlikable. I mean, does ANYBODY want to watch another "Homer does something stupid and puts his marriage on the rocks only for Marge to inexplicably forgive him because status quo demands it" episode??
Same with Lisa, she didn't turn shit overnight. It was a slow flanderization of her character through the prime Simpsons that crossed her from the threshold of 'smart, socially conscious girl the audience sympathizes with' to 'annoying brat'
