Oh man, The Simpsons hits the twenty year mark tonight.

[Merkava]

You say that the characters make The Simpsons better than any of the other mentioned shows, but that's only true for part of the show. What has made the show go downhill for me is that it's strayed away from its strengths. The recent episodes I've seen are more like Family Guy episodes than Simpsons episodes, primarily because they focus more on stupid gags than character development. Dincrest wrote beautifully about why The Simpsons was good. However, I feel like the writers have lost the depth that the show had in its strongest period. Although MacFarlane copied the basic concept of The Simpsons, he only did so to turn every established element of that concept on its head. It was a deliberate, purposeful satire of a satire. The writers of The Simpsons, I believe, have copied the random kaleidoscopic humor of Family Guy and replaced it with the thoughtful, deep, character-focused humor it previously had. While Family Guy manages to take their outlandish humor and make it funny, recent episodes of The Simpsons fall flat for me. This is because I know that the show is pretending to be something it is not.

Don't take this to mean I'm not a Simpsons fan. That couldn't be farther from the truth. The Simpsons made up a huge part of my childhood. I even own every season that has been brought to DVD and watch those episodes regularly--it's just that I can't stand the new episodes. I think they suck and I have no interest in watching any new episodes.

[Hathen]

I agree wholeheartedly with everything you say about The Simpsons and their recent episodes, but I still personally prefer them over Family Guy episodes because they're a lot more coherent (which isn't saying a lot), and I guess I probably just have a bias because the characters are just more diverse to begin with. Really, while Family Guy has its good moments, I've never felt that its writing is humor at all- it's just awkwardness to forcibly squeeze laughs out of the audience. ANYBODY could write that. Family Guy's humor is about the same level as the Genre Movie series for me, except Family Guy is actually tolerable because it's on TV rather than making me pay $8 a view.

I still like The Simpsons more even as far as humor goes, but the show hasn't had good, unforced character moments for years, including the movie.

[Esper_Crusader]

Look, to be fair to the Simpsons, it's hard to be fresh after 20 years on the air.  A lot of the writers from the show's golden age just aren't there anymore and the characters just can't have the same impact they once did. That's what kills me when people say that Family Guy is "way better" than the Simpsons. The truth is that they(The Simpsons) do sometimes resort to gimmicky shows simply because they're running out of ideas.  The other night's "Bounty Hunter" episode was really good but my God, how many side jobs is this for Homer now??  Or what about that 90's episode? Kinda kills the whole back story about Marge and Homer in the 70's doesn't it...

Anyway, I realize i'm talking out of my ass here and this has been said a million times before but I love the show and always will.

[Buddy]

The Simpsons is my fave TV show of all time. Hell, I'm 37 and it's been on for over half my life, more than half if you count the Tracy Ullman shorts. I admit the show isn't near as good as it was. Most of the last 10 seasons have been half crap, 1/4 medioce and 1/4 great. There's still 4 or 5 new episodes every season that simply rule and make it worthy of still being on the air.