Since the series' debut on December 17, 1989, The Simpsons has gone through many ups and downs. Fans and critics consider most of the show’s first decade to be the golden age with many classic episodes. There’s been a decline in quality in the following years, with occasional moments that re-captured the program’s glory. 2007’s The Simpsons Movie is thought by many to be the last gasp of the golden era, but to be fair, there have been a lot of worthwhile episodes that came after.
The highs and lows in The Simpsons in recent years can happen throughout seasons, with dips in standard occurring episode to episode, but often within an episode itself, which can be a hit-or-miss experience. But with the show’s 34th season, there is buzz that the iconic program is back on track. The six episodes that have aired so far have been more consistent in their writing, story-telling, and, most importantly, comedy than the long-running franchise has been in modern memory.
Season 34 Is Off to a Strong Start
The 34th season premiere, “Habeas Tortoise,” written by Broti Gupta, broadcast on September 25, signaled that there were more thoughtful wheels turning behind the scenes. The episode concerned Homer, voiced by Dan Castellaneta, forming an internet group devoted to solving the mystery behind the disappearance of a tortoise from the Springfield Zoo, and, while the show has satirized online absurdities ad infinitum, the majority of the jokes landed, with the spirit and tone of classic Simpsons feeling palpable once again.
In the weeks that followed, critics noted that The Simpsons was again more watchable, with more reliable laughs in recent recall in the episodes “One Angry Lisa,” “Lisa the Boy Scout,” and “The King of Nice." But it was the double header of Halloween specials, a first for The Simpsons, in the parody of Stephen King’s It (“Not It”), and the traditional Treehouse of Horror now at "XXXIII," that really hit the hardest. It proved that the show is finally firing on all cylinders for the first time in ages.
One factor that should be noted is that women writers, such as the aforementioned Gupta, should be acknowledged for the show’s resurgence in comic caliber. Former Saturday Night Live scribe Jessica Conrad wrote two of the latest season’s offerings, and Carolyn Omine, who has been with the show since 2000, had her hand in the highly-rated Treehouse of Horror entry.
Another thing that hit home for long-time viewers was the fan service paid in a segment of Treehouse of Horror XXXIII entitled “Simpsonsworld.” A spoof of HBO’s Westworld (an adaptation of both the Michael Crichton book and 1973 movie), the premise involved an advanced amusement park in which robot versions of the famous characters are stuck in time, re-creating classic bits from the show’s golden age.
While it heavily echoed “Itchy & Scratchy Land” from the show’s sixth season, the callbacks to “Marge vs. the Monorail,” “Mr. Plow,” “Kamp Krusty” and countless others (there’s even a recreation of the famous Homer backs into bushes internet meme) gave both the casual and hardcore audience an excellent fixing of classic Simpsons with a satisfying inside wink. This was driven home when a self-aware robot Lisa declared: “Oh my god, we’re replicants in a ridiculous theme park based on a show that stopped being good at season 45!”
The Praise for The Simpsons 34 Pile in
Of the legion of critics that praised the latest Treehouse of Horror, Brandon Zachary of CBR wrote that “‘Simpsonsworld’ is a commentary about the longevity of the show, the fan base that’s grown around it, and the evolution of how media is consumed - ending on a quietly (and very effective) unsettling note considering the series is now part of one of the media’s largest conglomerates. Treehouse of Horror XXXIII is one of the best entries in the Halloween specials’ history.”
While it still might be too early to tell if season 34 is a true return to form, it’s off to a strong start that seems to be as self-aware of its current status as that Simpsonsworld robot Lisa. There are also moments like this, from the Conrad-penned “The King of Nice” in which Bart, holding an iPad displaying a screen featuring rows of over 60 seasons of episodes of the Krusty the Klown show, says, “It kind of makes you think, once you have enough episodes of any classic show, why do you need to keep making more?” To which Lisa responds, “Well, the reason is…” But Bart, while putting in his wireless earbuds, interrupts with a curt, “Shh, watching Klassic Krusty.”
So once more, The Simpsons has re-justified its extended existence and shown that even approaching 750 episodes (it will hit that mark this season), it still has fire in its belly and lots of laughs left to give its followers. If one hasn’t tuned in for a while, now’s a good time to catch back up with Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie to see that while the family unit may have taken a beating over its 34-year run, it’s still got the goods. With some new young blood coursing through its veins, it looks to continue pumping in the weeks and months to come.