It has been revealed that after two decades, The Simpsons will no longer be broadcast on Channel 4.
The much-loved animated series, chronicling the antics of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, and the rest of the Springfield residents, has been a staple on Channel 4 since 2004. However, as of Tuesday (December 17), it was confirmed that The Simpsons would vacate its 6:30pm weekday Channel 4 slot from January, making a move to E4 starting with its 32nd season.
Additionally, new seasons, including the upcoming season 36, are set to debut on Disney+ before they hit E4. These latest instalments will also be temporarily accessible via Channel 4’s streaming platform.
The shift has left some fans of the iconic series in shock, while others have taken to the internet to debate when the series began to lose its edge.
A discussion thread on Reddit titled, ‘The Decline of the Simpsons’, featured IMDB viewer ratings dating back to the show’s inception in 1989. The post stated: “The Simpsons is one of the most iconic TV shows ever created. It first aired in 1989 and continues to do so to this day, spanning over 31 seasons.
“It soon became one of the most comedically successful shows in television history. However, over time, the comedic material and overall appeal of the show began to decline.”
The user went on to explain their methodology, saying: “I created a heat chart to show the audience ratings for every episode of every season. I also showed the average rating of each season. The data for this visualisation was scraped together from IMSB using Python.”
The average rating for the show’s early seasons was around 8, but it steadily declined to its current rating of around 6. The post sparked a heated discussion with over 31,000 upvotes and thousands of comments, as fans attempted to pinpoint the exact moment when the show began to decline.
One commenter shared: “I was born in 1987, The Simpsons were something like a window into the adult world, so much of my humour can be traced back to them for so long, then one day it all kinda stopped for me. Hard to pinpoint where it ended for me. That awful episode of Homer doing everything in the 90’s fake clip show where Homer sudden had diabetes really killed the Simpsons for me though.”
Another fan claimed that Homer’s character changed from a lovable oaf to a selfish jerk, while a third commenter noted: “There are definitely some subtle changes that I think made the show less great over the years. Earlier episodes have classic sitcom life lessons, morals, and characters choosing the do the right thing for their loved ones. Later episodes still have this, it’s just less consistent and pronounced. (I personally think this is because they tried competing with shows like Family Guy). That being said, a huge chunk of what contributes to this is nostalgia. The number of people that say the show stopped being good in season 9 and then haven’t watched an episode in 20 years blows my mind.”
A further viewer commented: “People always pinpoint the Principal and the Pauper as the beginning of the end, but that actually had some decent writing in it (even if the premise was absurd) and it overall felt like a proper Simpsons episode. For me it was the episode where Grampa starts driving again to impress some woman at the nursing home. It was the first episode I felt I’d absolutely wasted my time by watching it.”
Despite the criticism, there were still those who defended the show’s longevity. One fan argued: “The newer seasons might not be as exceptional as the early ones but they still are pretty darn good compared to other stuff on TV. I’ve grown up watching the Springfield lot and love that I can still watch fresh content every year.”