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The season 9 drop and season 13 cliff are so stark I'm not sure why season 8 comes into the conversation. All of the Oakley and Weinstein seasons are great.
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Apr 20, 2023 00:13
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Willatron posted:Principal and the Pauper (some good bits, completely disregards established characterizations for sake of telling a nonsense story for lulz) Have you heard a lot of people saying that's where the show started to dive? Not saying you're right or wrong, just curious since you have a fresh opinion and that was a major hot button episode for a long time
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Apr 20, 2023 00:30
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Master Twig posted:I didn't care for the Spin-Off Showcase. I get that, but I just think about Wiggum saying "It's no cakewalk being a single parent, juggling a career and family like so many juggling balls... two I suppose." and I laugh.
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Apr 20, 2023 00:45
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Nae posted:lol this is like my parents raising me in the 90s on nothing but Happy Days reruns It's not the only thing I show him, but it's a good foundation for understanding the current pop culture and political landscape. It's so loving influential it's more akin to being introduced to The Beatles from a young age so that you can have an appreciation for how and why modern pop music looks the way it does. Like I can't stress enough that the life we live as expats is so incredibly alien compared to what my sister and brother are up to with their kids that hopefully just having something like The Simpsons as a shared point of reference with other Americans will give them common ground.
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Apr 20, 2023 01:09
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Master Twig posted:Just cracks, but still a very solid season. A lot of the plots started to get a bit more out there. It's still good, but the overall tone of the show just started to feel a little bit different. It's hard to put exactly into words. I didn't care for the Spin-Off Showcase, the boxing episode, the military academy or lisa dating nelson. Alright that’s fair. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Spin-Off but on rewatch the Wiggum part is 10/10 (he’s gradually getting away lives rent free in my head), the Moe/Abe one is solid and enjoyable how they slip in how it would be hellish to be a soul trapped in a machine, and the dancing one is fine. F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:I would say that "Mary Bobbins" is an example. It has its moments, but it's not as good as previous musical parodies like Planet of the Apes or Streetcar. Ok that’s reasonable, it does get a bit much. Although Charles Bronson going down to Emmett’s Fix It Shop to fix Emmett made me lose my mind as a kid.
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Apr 20, 2023 01:36
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:I would say that "Mary Bobbins" is an example. It has its moments, but it's not as good as previous musical parodies like Planet of the Apes or Streetcar. First of all, it's Sherry, not Mary. Second of all, even though that episode happened more recently, I literally don't remember any of the songs from it. The Planet of the Apes and Streetcar parodies (and most of the monorail song) are burned onto my brain.
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Apr 20, 2023 02:11
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YeahTubaMike posted:First of all, it's Sherry, not Mary. I remember Sherry drinking with Barney and singing Margaritaville and Homer singing, "Might I add, no fat chicks," because it seemed so out of place.
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Apr 20, 2023 02:15
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Speaking of remembering things, try as I might and I don’t remember jack poo poo from The Simpsons Movie other than these things: * Spider-Pig (an unfunny joke that was played to death in the trailer and TV spots) * Homer on a wrecking ball being smashed between two buildings (another unfunny trailer and TV spots joke) * A large-breasted Inuit woman whom Homer called “Boob Lady” several times * President Schwarzenegger instead of McBain even though it was literally McBain like wtf Like, what was even the plot? Why did they run into an Inuit woman? Why was Schwarzenegger the president?? What was going on?? What was the point??? Why did the show not end there???? I remember seeing it new and giving it a solid 2.5 out of 5, and I think I watched it once more when it premiered on cable, then I never had any desire to watch it again. I bet if I were to try and watch it today, it would just be ghastly.
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Apr 20, 2023 03:04
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You Are A Elf posted:* Spider-Pig (an unfunny joke that was played to death in the trailer and TV spots) Bart's anatomically correct nudity was similarly overhyped, albeit not in any official way (that I know of)
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Apr 20, 2023 03:14
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YeahTubaMike posted:Bart's anatomically correct nudity was similarly overhyped, albeit not in any official way (that I know of) this poo poo is still around as a meme, a very depressing one because it makes you think about the simpsons movie
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Apr 20, 2023 03:18
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You Are A Elf posted:Speaking of remembering things, try as I might and I don’t remember jack poo poo from The Simpsons Movie other than these things: i haven't seen it since it came out, but there's literally only 3 jokes i thought were anywhere close to funny: - the "worst day of your life so FAR" line (that's become a meme) -homer's truck being excavated that said "property of homer simpson (no reward)" - the final scene where homer hits himself in the eyes with the claw end of the hammer
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Apr 20, 2023 03:19
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Think you see barts cock?
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Apr 20, 2023 03:20
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YeahTubaMike posted:Bart's anatomically correct nudity was similarly overhyped, albeit not in any official way (that I know of) Oh god, I forgot about that 
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Apr 20, 2023 03:28
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You Are A Elf posted:Speaking of remembering things, try as I might and I don’t remember jack poo poo from The Simpsons Movie other than these things: Homer dumps Spiderpig's waste into the populated lake, which is the straw that breaks the camel's back and causes an ecological disaster. The EPA puts a huge dome over Springfield to contain the disaster. The townsfolk form a lynch mob and chase the Simpsons to their backyard where a sinkhole allows them to escape the dome. They go to Alaska blah blah blah Marge leaves Homer and takes the family to Springfield to try to help. The large-breasted Inuit woman guides him through a vision that convinces him to go back too. The EPA decides to just blow up the town and drops a bomb through the hole in the top of the dome. Homer at some point learns that carnival trick where a motorcycle rider uses centrifugal force to gain elevation inside a sphere. I don't remember how the Simpsons get back in the dome but they do. Homer and Bart ride a motorcycle around the dome to the top in a way that makes me think the Simpsons writers don't really understand the physics at work and Bart throws the bomb out of the hole where it blows up the dome freeing every. A huge shard of glass kills Dr. Nick and at the time they were like "yeah that's canon you'll never see him again" but I'm pretty sure he's been back since then.
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Apr 20, 2023 03:28
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You Are A Elf posted:I bet if I were to try and watch it today, it would just be ghastly. PostNouveau posted:Homer dumps Spiderpig's waste into the populated lake, which is the straw that breaks the camel's back and causes an ecological disaster. The EPA puts a huge dome over Springfield to contain the disaster. The townsfolk form a lynch mob and chase the Simpsons to their backyard where a sinkhole allows them to escape the dome. They go to Alaska blah blah blah Marge leaves Homer and takes the family to Springfield to try to help. The large-breasted Inuit woman guides him through a vision that convinces him to go back too. The EPA decides to just blow up the town and drops a bomb through the hole in the top of the dome. Homer at some point learns that carnival trick where a motorcycle rider uses centrifugal force to gain elevation inside a sphere. I don't remember how the Simpsons get back in the dome but they do. Homer and Bart ride a motorcycle around the dome to the top in a way that makes me think the Simpsons writers don't really understand the physics at work and Bart throws the bomb out of the hole where it blows up the dome freeing every. A huge shard of glass kills Dr. Nick and at the time they were like "yeah that's canon you'll never see him again" but I'm pretty sure he's been back since then. This does indeed sound ghastly, but a lot of it came back to me reading it. Much obliged for the write-up 
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Apr 20, 2023 03:36
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You Are A Elf posted:* President Schwarzenegger instead of McBain even though it was literally McBain like wtf That was always super confusing. The producers/writers/whoever said they did it because they didn't want to alienate new audiences. Like WTF it's the Simpsons. Everyone knows it. And McBain's such a clear parody anyway who's not going to get it? Utterly bizarre decision.
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Apr 20, 2023 03:49
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Hyrax Attack! posted:Yup, this is a good take. Although I’d disagree about S8 having cracks, could you provide examples? Skimming the ep list for S8 and wouldn’t skip a single one. i thought s8 was pretty flawless too until i went back and looked at what episodes were involved in s8 and there's quite a few that i personally wasn't that big a fan of: - the boxing episode - nelson dating lisa - lisa babysits bart - a milhouse divided - in marge we trust - lisa and bart go to military school this is around the time i feel like the tone of the series became a bit more cynical and kind of edgy for the sake of it. also, since we're on the subject, i did want to opine on the nelson dating lisa episode. overall, i didn't really mind it too much, but there was one part in there that always bugged me. it's the part where nelson beats up milhouse cause he thinks he was the one who liked him. everyone i knew who watched that episode found that scene hilarious, but i always thought it was pretty excessive. milhouse was always one of the shows lead whipping boys, but the bullying he was used to was, while still messed up, kind of mild and sometimes funny. but this was just way too extreme i thought. admittedly, just a personal gripe i guess, but it always soured me
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Apr 20, 2023 04:45
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Sentient Data posted:Have you heard a lot of people saying that's where the show started to dive? Not saying you're right or wrong, just curious since you have a fresh opinion and that was a major hot button episode for a long time I've seen it said in some Simpsons meme groups I'm in, I know it's not an uncommon opinion that that episode sort of represents the beginning of the end for a lot of fans.
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Apr 20, 2023 04:48
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Mr Interweb posted:i thought s8 was pretty flawless too until i went back and looked at what episodes were involved in s8 and there's quite a few that i personally wasn't that big a fan of: A lot of those episodes feel like they would have happened much later than season 8. Every time I go back and look at the episode lists from 8 and 9, I'm shocked to see episodes that I would have pegged for 10-12.
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Apr 20, 2023 05:02
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Mr Interweb posted:also, since we're on the subject, i did want to opine on the nelson dating lisa episode. overall, i didn't really mind it too much, but there was one part in there that always bugged me. it's the part where nelson beats up milhouse cause he thinks he was the one who liked him. everyone i knew who watched that episode found that scene hilarious, but i always thought it was pretty excessive. milhouse was always one of the shows lead whipping boys, but the bullying he was used to was, while still messed up, kind of mild and sometimes funny. but this was just way too extreme i thought. I like that ep but yeah it was odd Nelson could beat Milhouse unconscious in the middle of class to the point of needing an ambulance and nobody makes an attempt to punish him in any way, and even Lisa shrugs it off. I know Springfield Elementary is bad but it’s not shrug off attempted murder bad.
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Apr 20, 2023 05:13
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Hyrax Attack! posted:I like that ep but yeah it was odd Nelson could beat Milhouse unconscious in the middle of class to the point of needing an ambulance and nobody makes an attempt to punish him in any way, and even Lisa shrugs it off. I know Springfield Elementary is bad but it’s not shrug off attempted murder bad. I'm not a fan of that episode in general but I always took this gag as a commentary on the then acceptable and normalization of homophobia especially among young boys at the time.
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Apr 20, 2023 05:17
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counterpoint: homer simpson famously strangles his son, occasionally to near unconsciousness, all the time, occasionally in public like i agree that "haha it's funny that he got badly hurt because nelson thought he was gay" is not a gag that sat super well with me either then or now but idk if i would express my discomfort in terms how well it does or doesn't fit the setting
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Apr 20, 2023 05:22
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The Nelson dates Lisa episode isn't great but I do always get a laugh at Skinner's faint "Nooooooo!" When he goes to check his birdbath while Nelson watches from afar.
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Apr 20, 2023 05:23
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Willatron posted:The Nelson dates Lisa episode isn't great but I do always get a laugh at Skinner's faint "Nooooooo!" When he goes to check his birdbath while Nelson watches from afar. Homer foiling the auto dialer’s escape is a delight.
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Apr 20, 2023 05:25
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There are a lot of Season 8 episodes that have kinda “ehh” plots and premises, but there’s enough memorable one-off jokes that it’s easy to overlook. Season 9 was double the bad parts of Season 8, but still some good jokes. Then Season 10 is where the nosedive starts and where some truly awful trends begin (celebrities playing as themselves without self-deprecation, “The Simpsons are going to <blank>!”).
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Apr 20, 2023 06:22
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A strange memory I have of season 8 is flipping through the first official Simpsons episode guide from the 90s and that's the season it ended with. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons_episode_guides There's probably very little reason in the age of wikipedia to keep doing more updated versions, but a part of me might find a history book of the entire franchise interesting; something collected like that "Live From New York" book about the history of SNL. It seems like something they couldn't do until the show was officially done, though.
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Apr 20, 2023 06:29
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Hyrax Attack! posted:Alright that’s fair. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Spin-Off but on rewatch the Wiggum part is 10/10 (he’s gradually getting away lives rent free in my head), the Moe/Abe one is solid and enjoyable how they slip in how it would be hellish to be a soul trapped in a machine, and the dancing one is fine. I kind of wish they kept this deleted scene in the spin-off episode. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOxAQMo9qv8&t=691s
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Apr 20, 2023 09:48
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As someone who's never seen it, what was SO bad about the Lady Gaga episode that makes people hate it even more than other "new" episodes? I don't know anything about the episode's plot; I've only seen that picture of the dumbass Gaga train.
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Apr 20, 2023 12:02
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There are no jokes, it's just a giant suck job for a celebrity
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Apr 20, 2023 12:10
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Mr Interweb posted:i thought s8 was pretty flawless too until i went back and looked at what episodes were involved in s8 and there's quite a few that i personally wasn't that big a fan of: It's no Summer of 4ft 2, but I'd actually hold up the military school episode as one of the last times the show had a genuine heart and knew what to do with it (whereas pretty much all of the later 'comeback' episodes just feel like contrived sentimentality to me, like the one with Lisa and a whale)
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Apr 20, 2023 13:32
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Chucat posted:I kind of wish they kept this deleted scene in the spin-off episode. Lol I’d never seen that before
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Apr 20, 2023 13:53
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Annabel Pee posted:Rewatching the show as an adult for the first time, it's wild actually thinking about how well the supporting characters and world are crafted. I never thought about it as a kid, all these characters just always existed so there was never x episode that introduced Krusty, x episode that created Fat Tony etc. I agree: I rewatched it recently too and definitely noticed how well Springfield characters were introduced for the first time in a very organic way. I also like how recurring characters who don’t need a name don’t get a name, basically in the same way the Simpsons family might recognise but not know the names of people in their town: teenager with acne, the other lawyer, etc.
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Apr 20, 2023 15:20
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The show in its golden years had just the right amount of confidence in itself.
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Apr 20, 2023 16:19
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Season 8 eh? The boxing episode was fine, settle down, everyone. Lisa and Nelson has some great jokes, but was overall an little lackluster. Sherry Bobbins was mostly forgettable. Spinoff Showcase was great for the absurdity and giving poo poo to the Brady Bunch. Millhouse parent divorce had some great lines for a semi-serious episode, but also the twist against convention at the end of no resolution, which was significant Military School ep was mostly forgettable. Feels like an episode written for but wasn't good enough for season 2 or 3, forgotten, dusted off and made a bit more extreme. But we also had: Treehouse of Horror VII (The Thing And I, The Genesis Tub, Citizen Kang ffs Hank Scorpio episode Larry Burns episode Hurricane Neddy Chilli Cookoff episode with Johnny Cash X-Files episode Pretzel Wagon episode Poochie The Gay episode with John Waters Prohibition episode Edna and Skinner hooking up Mr. Sparkle Homer's Enemy It's still a bangin season by far, and the weaker episodes are still miles ahead of later seasons.
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Apr 21, 2023 11:46
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Maximum Sexy Pigeon posted:blah blah blah That said, looking at Season 7, there are only three episodes on there that are not quite up to par: "Lisa the Vegetarian", "Marge Be Not Proud" and "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular", but even they have a lot going for them for memorable quotes. Season 6's "low" points are "Lisa's Rival", "Another Simpsons Clip Show", "Bart's Girlfriend" and the one where Bleeding Gums Murphy dies. Season 5's only low point, I think, was "Secrets of a Successful Marriage". I just looked at the episode list for S4 and they're all solid, but there was a HECKEN tonal shift between 4 and 5! S4 was the end of classic Simpsons by the looks of it, 5-8 are Golden Era, for sure.
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Apr 21, 2023 11:59
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The military school and Mary Poppins riff episodes I coulda sworn were post season 10 episodes. Signs of things to come, I suppose. Actually I think they recycled the Mary Poppins one but with Morgan Freeman instead.
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Apr 21, 2023 12:00
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Ghost Leviathan posted:The military school and Mary Poppins riff episodes I coulda sworn were post season 10 episodes. Signs of things to come, I suppose. Yeah, I think it's easy to mistake them for later seasons because they lack the soul of the seasons they were part of, whereas the later seasons were mostly devoid of said soul so they seem more fitting.
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Apr 21, 2023 12:12
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The cool thing about seasons 1-8 (and also 9 through 12 but in a nosedive decline way) is that there's a gradual, but continual tonal and stylistic shift throughout the run. -You have the awkward quirkiness of season 1 (it's at least interesting to watch). -Season 2 is the most grounded season with a somewhat darker and more depressing tone but might also be the most "wholesome" season. -Season 3 continues the story-driven structure of season 2 but does a hard shift into the humor style that came to define the show. It maintains a strong focus on heart and emotional moments. -With season 4 the episodes become more joke-driven and less story-driven. -Season 5 might have the highest jokes-per-minute of any season but is mostly light on story and is noticeably more cynical in tone. -Season 6 is possibly the most balanced of the good seasons between story, character drama, humor, and tone. -In season 7 there's a noticeable push for more "mature" storytelling and character drama. -And in season 8, they thought it would be ending soon so there was a lot of focus on deconstructing the show. (as you can see, I've watched the hell out of these seasons throughout my life) ... and then, there's an immediate shift to the wackier, meaner, strongly cynical tone that defined the Mike Scully seasons in season 9 and this just snowballs up through season 13 when Al Jean took over. Anything past that isn't worth analyzing because it's 20+ years of boring, uninteresting, and often unwatchable garbage. TheRealJims on YouTube did a really good, in-depth analysis video for each season. Surprisingly he's dedicated enough to keep doing it through the bad seasons.
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Apr 21, 2023 15:21
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In a sense season 8 is the final series of the show, kinda like how Futurama can very credibly stop at season 4 or King of the Hill does at season 6
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Apr 21, 2023 16:04
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King of the Hill didn’t get bad until season 12 though
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Apr 21, 2023 16:05
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