Simpsons fans: You know about the Holy Triune, right?

[DerekG]

The series has been painful to watch for the past five or six years, but, as Bogart would say: "We'll always have Paris." Fans who have been with the series from the beginning know which seasons are the best, which, incidentally, remains the zenith of television comedy.

They know it. I know it.

So shouldn't we start identifying Seasons Three, Four and Five as the Holy Triune? Seriously, comedy doesn't get any better--there is a guffaw to be had at a rate about every 7 seconds.

[Mike Daniels]

1. Admittedly, the show is no longer at it's peak

But someone else wrote/said (some critical article in some magazine)that when the later shows are viewed in syndication when seasons are all jumbled up that the later shows do stand up much better than they initially were perceived on first run.

I pretty much agree with that critic's take. Basically, the show's later years are a victim of it's own history and the high standards that it set early on in it's life.

Nothing can ride that high forever and that said, The Simpsons still remains better than about 95% of what's on TV now and that was the case when it was still early in it's life-cycle.

[mac56]

4. I agree with that.

I've often said I enjoy the episodes far more when I see them in the afternoon, in their syndicated time slot, than I do in their first-run Sunday night slot. Maybe more realistic expectations?

[Kid_A]

2. Painful to watch? What show have you been watching?

Sure, The Simpsons isn't as good as it was around Seasons 4 and 5, but it's still one of the funniest shows on TV, and definitely the funniest show on any network.

I'm sorry, but I hate it whenever someone famous for being really good loses a little of it's quality, and people immediately say it sucks. Take Godfather III, for instance. It's not nearly as good as the first two, and lots of people say it sucked. But it's actually a really good movie, just not quite as good as its predecessors.

So while the Simpsons may have declining in quality a little bit recently, it started it's decline from the very top, and it's still funnier that most stuff on TV.

[JVS]

3. Agree on Simpson's disagree on Godfather III

That movie was cheesy.