So what have you guys been watching lately?

[RCBH928]

when you say first season, you mean the dedicated first season or the ones that were shown as sketches on FOX. I hope you know what I mean.

[Markies]

You mean the sketches on the Tracy Ullman Show??

No, I mean the first season which consisted of 13 episodes. The one with the premiere being the Christmas episode.

Every once in a while, I too like to go back to The Simpsons. It always bugged me that the animation and voices of season 1 aren't consistent with the rest of the series, but those episodes definitely still hold up. And I'm a big fan of season 2. I've been purchasing the seasons on DVD every once in a while over the years. I think I have the first 9 right now.

I do want to pick up more seasons. I don't know how far I will go though as I began to loose interest later on in the series. After looking through the list of Season 2, I am very excited for that as well. I think that Season marries the first season and later seasons really well. It is still heartfelt and poignant, but they are also incredibly funny.

[marurun]

Finished Centaurworld with the fam on Netflix. It’s like if Adventure time went weirder and also darker at times but was also a musical. Love it to bits.

[Ziggy]

I do want to pick up more seasons. I don't know how far I will go though as I began to loose interest later on in the series. After looking through the list of Season 2, I am very excited for that as well. I think that Season marries the first season and later seasons really well. It is still heartfelt and poignant, but they are also incredibly funny.

Yeah, season 2 is when the show was definitely still more endearing than slapstick. I think there might be some good heartfelt moments in the next few seasons after that, but nothing like the first two seasons. Season 3 and on is when the show really came into it's own. It became less like a show from the TGIF lineup, and more of the satirical version of it.

How far into the series to watch... Well if you ask the internet, The Simpsons died in season 9 because of the episode that reveals principal Skinner to be an imposter. I guess if you wanted to backtrack and pinpoint an episode that was a good marker for the start of the downturn, that could be a contender. For myself, I decided that I will continue to purchase seasons until I get to the point where I feel like it's obvious that every character is a Homer and Homer is a super exaggerated Homer. That's the line that I draw. When The Simpsons had very well written jokes, versus everyone is stupid because stupid is funny.

I just looked up my purchasing history and it looks like I picked up season 9 in September of 2018. Maybe I'll pick up season 10 sometime soon.

For a long time, season 2 was the only one I owned. I got it back when owning a TV season on DVD was still kind of a novel thing. And they were also pretty expensive. I wasn't crazy about the voice and animation of season 1, but also the price was the same as other seasons but for only about half the amount of episodes. So I decided to skip season 1. I watched through season 2 many, many times before finally getting season 3. So that's why I'll always be more fond of that season than any other. I did eventually pick up season 1, of course.

[marurun]

I did really like the episode when they want to Brazil and Homer had to keep putting on new thongs because they kept riding up into his butt crack and disappearing. I got a giggle out of that.

[REPO Man]

Weeks ago I finished rewatching The Golden Girls, restarted The Golden Palace and restarted The Golden Girls.

It's definitely my go-to series when I want something to put on, either on my tablet while I'm playing video games or using my computer, or in the morning while getting ready for work.

Granted, there ARE a few episodes of both shows I tend to skip. But other than that it's a nice, cozy yet oftentimes boundary-pushing series. And while it's spinoff has a VASTLY different vibe, I really wish we got at least another season, especially since the final episode hardly feels like a finale, season or series. Personally, I think the two-parter "Seems Like Old Times" would have made a better finale.

[Ack]

For me, The Simpsons pretty much ends with the death of Phil Hartman. Without his energy and character acting abilities, it just wasn't the same.

[Markies]

How far into the series to watch... Well if you ask the internet, The Simpsons died in season 9 because of the episode that reveals principal Skinner to be an imposter. I guess if you wanted to backtrack and pinpoint an episode that was a good marker for the start of the downturn, that could be a contender. For myself, I decided that I will continue to purchase seasons until I get to the point where I feel like it's obvious that every character is a Homer and Homer is a super exaggerated Homer. That's the line that I draw. When The Simpsons had very well written jokes, versus everyone is stupid because stupid is funny.

I just looked up my purchasing history and it looks like I picked up season 9 in September of 2018. Maybe I'll pick up season 10 sometime soon.

See, I never minded that episode. I can see why people disliked it, but it never bothered me.

I grew tired of the constant parade of celebrity guest stars. Like, for a while, every single episode had a guest star and it just became exhausting. It felt like they were writing episodes around whoever they could get that week. One episode in particular was when Simon Cowell was judging babies for a pre-school. To me, it felt like they had no more good stories about their original characters and were relying on their guest stars. I thought that was kind of sad considering they had almost a 100 or so characters in their town...

For me, The Simpsons pretty much ends with the death of Phil Hartman. Without his energy and character acting abilities, it just wasn't the same.

Also, very true. One of the few deaths that really hit me. He is so good and his Lionel Hutz was one of my favorite side characters.

[RCBH928]

I am watching Carnivale 2003 , 3 episodes in. I like the settings but kind of slow for me, does it pick up or continue with the slow drama?

[Raging Justice]

I watched the first episode of The Continental. It was fun, and it definitely captures the John Wick formula. Also reminds me a bit of Sin City and some film noir type stuff. I watched this on TV with commercials. It was about two hours in total with those ad breaks, so it felt a bit like watching a movie. It was pretty fun, but I don't know if this formula can sustain an ongoing series. The John Wick style seems tailor made for that two hour, movie format.