The Simpsons: 10 Golden Age Episodes That Foreshadowed Its Decline
For a while, The Simpsons was the best thing on TV. But which episodes were prophets of doom?
The Simpsons is one of the most iconic shows of all time, and while it’s a shadow of its former self, it deserves credit for still chugging along to this day. There are often more misses than hits now, but the most recent outing, Werking Mom, was an enjoyable 22 minutes of television, if nothing else.
Between The Simpsons' 'Golden Age' from Season 3 to around Season 9, it was king - but there were some subtle warnings that all wasn't perfect.
These aren't necessarily the ten worst episodes from that time. Instead, it’s the ones that in some way foreshadowed the decline that began in Season 10 (and hit hard in Season 11). The Simpsons has been on a bumpy path of ups and downs since then, including a fantastic movie outing, but it never recovered its former brilliance.
Great though some of these shows might be considered in their own right, they may have started a trend that quickly nosedived, provided diminishing returns or revealed a tiny crack that turned into a crevasse. In some way, these episodes can be viewed now as the first steps on the road that took The Simpsons downhill.
10. Lisa The Vegetarian
Right out the gate this one needs a huge disclaimer: Lisa The Vegetarian is great. It adds depth to a core character in realistic and thoughtful ways, it’s tightly paced throughout and has some wonderful lines. Marge is right; you don’t win friends with salad.
This one’s actually a genuine contender for one of the ten best episodes ever. Jokes about vegetarianism are there, but it’s not punching down for cheap laughs. The problem is, it defined Lisa too much. Vegetarians come in all shapes and sizes, yet in future episodes Lisa is vehemently political.
There’s nothing wrong with her liberal views, but in post Golden Era she seems to switch between the voice of reason, unreasonably radical, or a mouthpiece for what the writers think. She can’t do that anywhere near as well as Family Guy’s Brian, either.
Without a doubt though, the biggest insult to the fantastic groundwork laid in Lisa The Vegetarian came in Season 29’s No Good Read Goes Unpunished. Offering a clunky non-apology/justification for Apu, Lisa turns to the camera directly, as if to laugh at the audience for caring about cultural sensitivities. The Apu debate doesn’t matter here; it’s that Lisa would never, ever act like that.