14 Things Fox Wants You To Forget About The Simpsons

4. It Never Used To Rely On Guest Stars

The Simpsons has always had guest stars, and almost since the very beginning has been able to attract the best of the best. They've provided some of the show's biggest highlights, from Dustin Hoffman's Mr Bergstrom to Mark Hamill playing himself. If you've been on The Simpsons, you've made it.

Sure, sometimes they were huge names and garnered a lot of attention, but the focus was always on the character they were playing and the story of the episode. As time has gone on, however, it's become increasingly about the stars themselves. In fairness this started happening more and more around the Season 11-12 mark, so not all that far removed from the Golden Age, but it seems to constantly become more of a problem.

Almost every week seems to have at least one major guest star (they do still attract major names) and often they'll be playing his or herself, structuring the episode around their appearance, rather than the other way around. It's now a major selling point for the show, when before it felt far more natural to the storytelling.