Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Culture
  3. News

Stats prove The Simpsons really has gotten much worse over the years

One Reddit user shows proof of The Simpsons falling from favor

By

When it comes to adult animation, there’s no show more famous than The Simpsons. The FOX network staple has been on the air for over three decades. Whether you watch it live on Sunday nights, or just catch the classics on Disney Plus, there are a variety of ways to enjoy Homer, Marge, Bart, and the rest of the Springfield community.

Every fan of The Simpsons knows that there’s an indisputable argument against the show right now: Its quality is clearly several rungs lower on the ladder than when it first premiered in the late 1980s. One Reddit user took it upon themselves to chart the decline of the show to see where things started to dip, and whether it’s ever gotten better since.

Chart The Simpsons declining
Reddit

Breaking down the chart and the decline of The Simpsons

This chart tracks the score every episode of The Simpsons has gotten on IMDB since the premiere. The scores range mostly from 7.5 to 9 between the first season and the ninth season. Starting with the 10th season, the scores started hanging around 6 to 7.5. Episodes started ranking as low as 5.5 to 6.5 in the 25th season. This shows the program has really had three distinct eras: the golden age of the first decade, the mediocre era in the middle, and the current underwhelming material being given to viewers on a weekly basis since the late 2010s.

Recommended Videos

Why the decline?

The reason for the decline in quality is certainly subjective. There’s no single reason why a show fails to maintain its best stuff as the years go on. Some could argue that any program is going to have a rough time coming up with creative ideas and new storylines after 34 years. Really. How many shows have been on the air this long?

Stagnancy and a lack of ingenuity are hard to overcome across a long period of time. Another strong argument for the dip in The Simpsons is the complete overhaul in the writers’ room over the years. As different creative minds come and go, the types of jokes and the delivery of the lines are going to change as well.

Final thoughts on The Simpsons

Fans need to appreciate the legacy of The Simpsons no matter what the current state of the show is. The program paved the way for many other genre-defining adult comedies, such as Family Guy, South Park, American Dad, and Futurama. Whenever the show comes to a close, it should be remembered as one of the landmark shows to have ever existed. Overstaying your welcome doesn’t diminish the greatness that came before the end.

Shawn Laib
Shawn Laib
Contributor
Shawn Laib is a freelance writer with publications such as Den of Geek, Quote.com, Edge Media Network, diaTribe, SUPERJUMP… Read Full Bio
Topics
Culture
Elevate your elegance: Choosing your first cigar
Face, Head, Person

Earlier this year, I was strolling the streets of New York and ended up sitting in the Carnegie Club with an Old Fashioned in one hand and a cigar in the other while My Way by Frank Sinatra played from a speaker flanking leather-bound books behind the couch I had been using as my perch. It was my first cigar, but it led to a slight obsession that recently found me on the back deck of a lodge in Kenya, staring at Mount Kilimanjaro and smoking a stick while giraffes meandered by. Admittedly, there has been no intention in my budding hobby; I am aimlessly choosing the cigars that look good (the ones that look like those smoked by Arnold or Stallone in the movies, obviously). But I have decided to approach these in a new way, with a little help from my friends over at La Aurora, who graciously decided to navigate my ignorance with some info compiled by Brand Manager John Gaglio, with input from Master Blender Manuel Ynoa, CEO Ed McKenna, and Brand Manager Elvis Batista.

What to look for in your first cigar

Read more
Culture
FIFA’s Gianni Infantino Is Uglifying the Beautiful Game With $20 Billion Plot — But the Global Soccer Community’s Punching Back
People, Person, Crowd

For the better part of two decades, perhaps even more, corruption has allegedly run rampant within FIFA. Sepp Blatter, in particular, became the face of alleged extortion schemes, and he operated with impunity while at the helm of the organization for 17 years, from 1998 until his forced resignation in 2015 amid an FBI corruption probe. He’s banned for life from all football-related FIFA activities. If you’re new to the organization’s alleged deep connection to corruption, Netflix offers a brilliant 2022 documentary, FIFA Uncovered. In that documentary, Gianni Infantino appears in his previous capacity as Secretary General of UEFA (2009-2016) and later as the newly elected FIFA president, who vowed to root out corruption and hand the beautiful game back to the people where it belongs.

That, as it turns out, was all wishful thinking.

Read more
Culture
Escobar Cigars, Co-Owned by Nas, Drops Four-Profile Robusto House Blend Collection
Blade, Knife, Weapon

Imagine that, Nas is getting closer to ruling the cigar world. The legendary rapper’s Escobar Cigars, which he co-owns, is making waves with the launch of a new four-profile House Blend collection. The launch is in partnership with Cigar Chief, one of North America’s largest premium cigar retailers.

The Manual has not yet had the chance to do a taste review (a pack is on the way), but Escobar Cigars says the four-profile House Blend collection (Maduro, Premium Blend Connecticut, Habano, and Connecticut Robusto) “has its own distinct wrapper, filler, and strength profile,” and that “all four are rolled in 5 x 52 Robusto format using classic Cubano entubado construction.”

Read more