The show used to love using recurring jokes such as the classic chalkboard gag, the still-popular couch gag, Bart's prank calls to Moe, and the frequent use of character catchphrases such as Bart's 'I'm Bart Simpson, who the hell are you?' But if you've been a long-time fan of the show, you would've noticed that these great Simpsons hallmarks are being used less frequently. There are a few reasons as to why this you don't see these gags as often. The phasing out of character catchphrases was a simple case of 'we've heard it way too many times already'. The prank calls to Moe were stopped because the writers couldn't summon the brainpower to come up with funny prank names whilst writing out an entire script on a weekly basis. As for the blackboard and couch gags, sometimes you don't see them at all these days because episodes are usually running too long. But don't fret too much over losing the opening sequence as the opposite does happen occasionally. Sometimes the opening sequence is lengthened whenever an episode is running short, a guest director is brought onboard, or a cross-promotional thing is happening. So whilst it's a bit sad to see the prank calls go, an opening sequence by Guillermo del Toro or a Rick & Morty cameo is a perfectly acceptable alternative.
My life story is nothing special. I haven't cured ebola, I'm nowhere near stopping terrorism, and I'm still working on that climate change problem.
Instead, all I've done so far is put a few hundred words together in an attempt to make people laugh.
You can follow me at @Fry_ying_pan but don't be offended if I don't tweet back. It's usually because I've spent too long trying to think up a witty response that the reply window has closed.
