Super Eyepatch Wolf charts the meteoric rise and precipitous fall of perennial TV fixture The Simpsons. The video proves an objective decline in the quality of the series, explains what made it work in the early years, and reveals how the creative team dropped the ball. Required viewing for anyone who even walked past a TV in the 90s.
My comment: Super Eyepatch Wolf nails the reasons for the Simpsons’ fall. One factor that’s hinted at but which I’ll make more explicit is that The Simpsons was conceived as the anti-sitcom, intended to subvert the rosy depictions of the American family that ruled the airwaves throughout the 80s.
S.E.W. correctly points out that, even if the disastrous writing team shakeups and original creator departures hadn’t happened, The Simpsons was a reaction against a long-gone age that would have eventually exhausted its fuel supply, anyway.
Matt Groening & co. set out to deconstruct the conservative establishment’s vision of post-Reagan America. Along the way they became the establishment, which is always fatal to subversive projects.
The lesson for writers: undermining traditional culture can be good for a quick buck and fleeting fame. If you’re lucky, the fad burns out and you go on to something else, wiser for the experience. If you’re The Simpsons, you progressively degenerate into a zombified husk of your former glory, rendered unkillable by syndication.
As the subversives of yesteryear fade away, a new generation of independent creators are venturing forth to build anew in the cultural wasteland. I’m joining a host of indie authors in working to make science fiction fun again. Anyone with the talent and inclination is urged to join us.
In the meantime, my Dragon Award-nominated space opera The Secret Kings isn’t free anymore, but it is on sale. If you’ve been jonesing for the kind of thrilling adventure that Star Wars books just don’t offer anymore, check it out!
