Early Simpsons Unwatchable?

mychmose · 27/07/09 - 11:26

Does anybody else find the Early Simpsons episodes unwatchable?

Homers' slow voice is the main culprit. Apparently Dan Castellaneta was trying to sound like Walter Matthau in those days.

As soon as I hear Homer speak I change channel.

Luckily it got better

[Deleted User] · 27/07/09 - 11:30

If I ever watch the show on Channel 4 or Sky1 and an early ep comes on I turn it off straight away.
It's terrible.

Helicase · 27/07/09 - 11:30

No, I find Simpons after series 10 unwatchable.

James2001 · 27/07/09 - 11:39

They're quite poor compared to what came later, but they're genius compared to any episodes made in the past 10 years.

Ghost World · 27/07/09 - 11:42

I'm not a fan of the first season. As a general rule, if it has the old opening then I skip it.

Still, better than most of the last 10 seasons.

DVDfever · 27/07/09 - 11:47

James2001 wrote: »

They're quite poor compared to what came later, but they're genius compared to any episodes made in the past 10 years.

Yep, anything after season 10 is unwatchable (and several season 10 eps are questionable) but I think the first season still has a certain charm, such as when Homer sucks out a marshmallow from a jelly and says "Marshmallow" in his low voice, but then it was just the first season and any show is going to change over time as they find their feet.

Abaca · 27/07/09 - 11:54

I'd say season 1 and seasons 17 onwards are the unwatchable ones, as even seasons 10 to 16 feel watchable compared to 17 onwards.

grimtales1 · 27/07/09 - 13:13

I'm not a big fan of the 1st season but to be fair they were developing and finding their feet

Mister rosy · 27/07/09 - 13:15

Question: Why is it that Sky 1 show the same eps again and again, yet there are some episodes that are very rarely shown?

[Deleted User] · 27/07/09 - 13:23

I skip the early season too as do when its the early seasons for Friends aswell the picture quality is terrible i find.

Trollheart · 27/07/09 - 13:37

I think early episodes are unintentionally hilarious, when you compare them to the later ones.
Mister Burns looks like a shark, as does Moe
Smithers is brown
Barney is badly-drawn
All the main characters' heads flip when they speak, ie the mouths open way too much
Homer's original voice is just too funny
Some of the ancillary characters are so badly-drawn you can see where, in some instances, they were hastily sketched, in others they're just variants of Bart
Lenny and Karl have not yet been introduced, and Homer's coworkers are all generic slobs
Some people in crowds look quite literally like monsters or things from a nightmare
The deep blue sky on the opening credits always makes me laugh

Good to see how far they've come....

(at least, in terms of drawing)

[Deleted User] · 27/07/09 - 13:42

I find the early south park unwatchable.

[Deleted User] · 27/07/09 - 13:59

Early Family Guy is the same, can't watch them .

pburke90 · 27/07/09 - 14:15

Really....? I could watch any episode from Season 1-9, but anything after that is pure pish bar the odd episode here or there. The show has gone rapidly downhill since season 10 and doesn't look like it's gonna improve anytime soon.

jamespondo · 27/07/09 - 14:15

I understand how people find the early episodes of The Simpsons unwatchable but it was great at the time.Maybe for people who watched from day one (like me) will enjoy them more.It was miles away from other cartoons,a true phenomenon.Even though it's short on comedy,it paints the perfect picture of the dysfunctional family with traces of satire and slapstick.Every episode in season 1 is like a moral tale,the animation is rubbish but I feel the later seasons actually became too perfect

The first 3 seasons pulled absolutely huge ratings in the US,so it had to be doing something right.

g-bhxu · 27/07/09 - 14:22

I bet that's the same conclusion that The BBC came to when they edited The Simpsons out of The Tracey Ulman Show.

Abriel · 27/07/09 - 14:31

Mister rosy wrote: »

Question: Why is it that Sky 1 show the same eps again and again, yet there are some episodes that are very rarely shown?

I assume they only have rights to some series, have the rights to others? Are there some that neither channel owns?

Hutchy_Muse · 27/07/09 - 14:36

Season 2-9 are watchable, after that there is only a select few who match the comedy..

[Deleted User] · 27/07/09 - 14:40

I was under the impression Sky1 had exclusive rights to every episode, and they themselves sell the terrestrial rights to Channel 4.

And you might be interested to know, Jim Brooks (who owns The Simpsons) hated the original animation so much, at the first internal screening, he got up and started screaming at the animation supervisor. He demanded they go back and re-animate a lot, so that's why Season 1 changes so much.

subsisty · 27/07/09 - 14:49

I think there's a cute charm to the first season, Homer's voice is a little offputting but if you can get past characters being recast in major movies, then why not a cartoon character sounding slightly different? As others said, they're definitely better than the more recent episodes, unfortunately...

DVDfever · 27/07/09 - 15:22

The Oracle wrote: »

I was under the impression Sky1 had exclusive rights to every episode, and they themselves sell the terrestrial rights to Channel 4.

Well, Sky = Fox, but satellite rights will be different from terrestrial ones and will need to be negotiated separately. They'll each last for a while before needing to be renewed, which is why some seasons do a few rounds on one platform before going to another.

Gulftastic · 27/07/09 - 15:26

g-bhxu wrote: »

I bet that's the same conclusion that The BBC came to when they edited The Simpsons out of The Tracey Ulman Show.

I honestly think that's a myth. I remember seeing them before the Simpsons series started running, and they were intact.

[Deleted User] · 27/07/09 - 15:55

Nope I like the early Simpsons personally.

mychmose · 27/07/09 - 16:06

jamespondo wrote: »

I understand how people find the early episodes of The Simpsons unwatchable but it was great at the time.Maybe for people who watched from day one (like me) will enjoy them more.It was miles away from other cartoons,a true phenomenon.Even though it's short on comedy,it paints the perfect picture of the dysfunctional family with traces of satire and slapstick.Every episode in season 1 is like a moral tale,the animation is rubbish but I feel the later seasons actually became too perfect

The first 3 seasons pulled absolutely huge ratings in the US,so it had to be doing something right.

Oh definitely. It's only because it got much better (and Homer's voice and style wasn't as ponderous) that we have the opportunity to compare the two. I've never really compared later episodes, but I tend not to find many I don't like.

mychmose · 27/07/09 - 16:11

mychmose wrote: »

Does anybody else find the Early Simpsons episodes unwatchable?

Homers' slow voice is the main culprit. Apparently Dan Castellaneta was trying to sound like Walter Matthau in those days.

As soon as I hear Homer speak I change channel.

Luckily it got better

Do you guys think it would be as funny with the same script and it wasn't a cartoon, just a human played sitcom? (with obvious necessary modifications).

Eaglestriker · 27/07/09 - 16:13

I agree, the early ones are just a bit too...soft. No laugh-out-loud moments and the stories were a bit too sentimental.

I can't pin point a place in the Simpsons life where it started going downhill, but I do not like the new ones at all.

There was an episode where someone had been trying to murder Homer, and Sideshow Bob helped him find out who it was. It turned out to be Frank Grimes' son :eek:

The Frank Grimes episode ("Homer's Enemy"?) was pure comedy gold, but that new episode just put a stink on it.

Hey there!

Quick Links

Early Simpsons Unwatchable?

Comments