So what have you guys been watching lately?

[Limewater]

I grew tired of the constant parade of celebrity guest stars. Like, for a while, every single episode had a guest star and it just became exhausting. It felt like they were writing episodes around whoever they could get that week. One episode in particular was when Simon Cowell was judging babies for a pre-school. To me, it felt like they had no more good stories about their original characters and were relying on their guest stars. I thought that was kind of sad considering they had almost a 100 or so characters in their town...

The episode that springs to my mind when I think of a significant turning point in quality on The Simpsons is the Season 12 episode with N'Sync. I thought the episode itself was kind of funny and clever, but the cameo was really awful, and then, during the credits, they showed video of N'Sync recording their lines.

There are still gems in later seasons, though I'm pretty sure I haven't watched anything from the last twelve years or so. I used to point to Season 17, Episode 19 (Girls Just Want to have Sums) as a really good later-season episode. But now that episode is halfway through the run of the show.

[Ziggy]

See, I never minded that episode. I can see why people disliked it, but it never bothered me.

If it was never pointed out to be as being something that ruins a character being built up over 9 years, I probably would have just thought "that's a dumb plot point" and then ignored it from then on. Every show can have a bad episode now and again. The thing is, I thought the rest of that season was fine. Although I guess the argument is that it marks a turning point for the series, not that it was all of a sudden bad from that episode on. But I get how people can hate it. Like when rewatching all previous episodes, you know that Skinner is an imposter. That does ruin the character. I just choose to ignore it.

Hulu has a hand full of new episodes at a time. So every once in a while, out of morbid curiosity, I'll check one out. My opinion is always the same. Everything just seems really frantic and dumb. Gone is any charm and wholesomeness the show had. Why is Marge acting like a crazy Homer? She was what balanced out Homer. So that said, I'll take any episode from season 9 over any recent episode.

I decided to start rewatching The Simpsons. I started with season 1, and damn, these really are all great episodes. So many great quotes, like you said. I'm in the middle of season 2 right now.

[Markies]

The episode that springs to my mind when I think of a significant turning point in quality on The Simpsons is the Season 12 episode with N'Sync. I thought the episode itself was kind of funny and clever, but the cameo was really awful, and then, during the credits, they showed video of N'Sync recording their lines.

There are still gems in later seasons, though I'm pretty sure I haven't watched anything from the last twelve years or so. I used to point to Season 17, Episode 19 (Girls Just Want to have Sums) as a really good later-season episode. But now that episode is halfway through the run of the show.

I remember that Episode and it did have good jokes. I love the interaction with Lisa and Lt. Smash. Subliminal, Liminal and Super Liminal. Also, Lt. L.T. Smash. But, yeah, NSYNC were super popular at the time and it really made no sense to have them as characters. They literally jump in and out in seconds during the episode.

I was looking through the Simpsons DVD history and it amazes me that the show outlasted the entire medium. As a kid, I had VHS copies of Season 1 episodes which were official releases. Then, the Seasons were released on DVD all the way up to Season 20 and now they are all on streaming. You can't even get the latest episodes anymore. Absolutely crazy.

I decided to start rewatching The Simpsons. I started with season 1, and damn, these really are all great episodes. So many great quotes, like you said. I'm in the middle of season 2 right now.

I was looking at Season 2 and I was shocked that people mentioned to skip it. Holy Crap, Season 2 has some of the best episodes in the entire show. Dancing Homer, Homer's long lost brother, Lisa's Substitute. I think that is the first Season where they really hit perfectly the mixture of heartfelt and dry comedic wit. I can see where Season 1 is skippable. Season 2 is a must watch.

[Ziggy]

Yeah, 2 is an amazing season. I guess those people are fans of the season 3-9 formula. Although there are lots of laugh out loud moments for me in seasons 1 and 2, they mostly come from being charming. Like laughing at the human condition, or at least the Simpsons making light of it. Where as season 3 and on really started to have more of those "out of left field" jokes.

I'm glad you mentioned the DVD releases because I've been meaning to talk more about them (and kept forgetting to every time I posted).

Yes, I remember back in the day the really popular TV shows would have the odd episode on VHS. It was super rare to find an entire series on VHS. That's why it was amazing when we started seeing full seasons of shows getting released on DVD. It wasn't just the odd episode like on VHS, it felt like you really owned the show now. And the packaging made them feel special.



They were pricey, but it really felt like you were buying a quality product. They had great bonus features, including commentary for many episodes. The menus felt like a lot of thought and care went into designing them (and this was back when DVD menus were still kinda fresh and exciting). And unfolding the box set for the first time, you're greeted with a letter from Matt Groening himself. It just felt like it was truly made for fans.

To me, there's still something magical about watching a series on DVD. Streaming has made us lazy. And I will admit, I've binged watch a series on streaming that I had owned on DVD or BD just for the convenience. But a show like The Simpsons, I find that when I have it on streaming I care less about it when I'm watching it. Maybe it's the instant access to every episode, or the auto play next episode feature, I'm just sorta like, "Yeah, whatever." But when I watch the show on DVD, since I have to manually play each episode, maybe because it's more of a deliberate action I have more care in actually watching it. You also get those bonus features, which are absent on streaming services.

[o.pwuaioc]

Any good Steampunk-ish shows that are actually good and not a bunch of cliches mashed together? Animated and live action are both fine.

[REPO Man]

Recently got caught up on the most recent season of Rick and Morty.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Any good Steampunk-ish shows that are actually good and not a bunch of cliches mashed together? Animated and live action are both fine.

Maybe not what you’re looking for, but…

His Dark Materials was outstanding from start to finish. Also, and while the second season is not as strong as the first, my wife and I both enjoyed Shadow & Bone.

[PretentiousHipster]

Any good Steampunk-ish shows that are actually good and not a bunch of cliches mashed together? Animated and live action are both fine.

Do you enjoy camp? I'd say that The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. falls in the steampunk category. Bruce Campbell does a great job in it.

[o.pwuaioc]

I accidentally a word. I meant to say cyberpunk, not steampunk. Oops.

[marurun]

I accidentally a word. I meant to say cyberpunk, not steampunk. Oops.

Are you interested in more classic cyberpunk, or more the transhumanism it turned into later (but which was always a part of the original)?

I mean, Robocop (old and new) and Blade Runner (old and new) both do cyberpunk elements really well. Edgerunners on Netflix is something that hews closely to something adjacent to the video game and the old (and new) tabletop RPG. The best anime version of cyberpunk is probably the classic Bubblegum Crisis, which for me encapsulates the late 80s view of cyberpunk. The original AD Police is also pretty good in this regard. The newer AD Police and Bubblegum Crisis 2040 stuff is decent, but not nearly as good. Bubblegum Crash, which is an immediate sequel to the original Crisis is not as good but still OK.

There's also some old and more recent live-action TV content that might fit this bill, and it's mostly based loosely on Philip K Dick stuff. Total Recall 2070 is pretty cheesy but has cyberpunk elements. Also, Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams on Amazon Prime is an anthology series that dips into cyberpunk themes.