What if classic Simpsons episodes were made today

[ajay prasad]

I got to wondering, we usually critize new episodes of The Simpsons for not being as good as the classic episodes right?

I was wondering...if the episodes we consider classics were made today, and the ones considered crap were made back in the shows early days, do you think there would be a difference?

[Eagle Vision]

Depends. Average episodes which get maligned today would be appreciated in the classic era probably, and vice-versa, but if episodes like Marge vs. The Monorail and Lisa's Substitute were being made today while stuff like Large Marge and Bonfire of the Manatees was taking up space in seasons 2-8, then people would probably consider the show to just be getting better and better. Of course, I don't know how The Simpsons could even make it through 8 seasons if the early episodes were the same quality as the ones being made today.

[Deepan]

I agree. Some episodes would have to have been changed dramatically to fit in with today. But I feel they'd still be better received. I don't think it so much a problem of the Simpsons being on TV as much as it is amn issue of how long they've been on Tv, and how many of the classic writers went on to other things, like Late night talk shows, as to why the newer episodes test so poorly with fans.

[deangelashante]

i consider seasons 1-9 classic, 10-12 crap, 13-15 great, 16 alright, 17-18 terrible. so if stuff like "bonfire of the manitees" was back in season 6 and ran by david mirkin, then yeah, he probably would have turned it around and made it hilarious. but jean-- he just has to go. if they put george meyer in the executive producer's chair, the show would definately improve. if classics like "mother simpson" were made today by jean, i can see tons of parts being screwed up.

[Teddy :]]

Certain new episodes, if they were made 10 years ago, would feel more fresh because by definition they wouldn't be re-treading old ground. Still, there's an undeniable difference in the narrative style of old episodes and new episodes, so I think it would only be different up to a point. Actually, I might not be watching the show now if it had started with these episodes, so it would be different in the sense that I wouldn't be bothering to critique it.

[guatamala]

They'd be torn to shreds.

[Goldwater J]

You guys make it seem like Al Jean didn't work on the earlier seasons.

But he did.

[bluesclues]

In the 1987-1989 early Simpsons Tracey Ullman shorts the characters had no names at first and they looked different than they were today.

[Romando]

No offense, but was that tidbit of information really necessary? I'm sure that everyone here already knows that the Simpsons started out on the Tracey Ullman Show by now, and pointing out that that the Simpsons characters looked different than they did 10 years ago is like pointing out that cotton candy has sugar in it.

[Heidi Lamoureux]

I think the animation wouldn't be as great had episodes from Seasons 1-8 been done in the style from Seasons 10-18. Certain sequences like Homer's Chocolate Fantasy or Homer trying to kill his family wouldn't have the same impact had it been animated more to scale like the show is now.