Some argue this was caused by the departure of Conan O'Brien, one of the show's chief writer. However, he left after (correct me if I'm wrong) the third season, so that can't be the reason. Some say they simply ran out of ideas, but humans ran out of original ideas long ago, and that had never stopped The Simpsons' impressive eight-year run.

Finally, some say the makers of The Simpsons simply don't care anymore. I'm more inclined to believe this reasoning, as The Simpsons' fall coincided somewhat with Rupert Murdoch's takeover of FOX. Murdoch is known to only care about the bottom line, to hell with the negative results. He probably looked at The Simpsons and decided it could make him more money than it already was. So he told the producers to change the show--subtly so as to not immediately outrage the viewers--and to make it more cartoony, as his primative Aussie brain probably couldn't understand that this "cartoon" was in some ways more real than "real life."

So the show became more of a cartoon. Yes, of course, the show had always been cartoony, but it had dealt with real issues in an intelligent tongue-in-cheek way, and hadn't resorted to lowest-common-denominator jokes. Instead of focusing on issues like Homer denouncing religion or the morality of following Mr. Burns, the show slowly devolved to dealing with issues like Homer becoming friends with Kim Bassinger and Alec Baldwin or Maggie suddenly developing superhuman strength in order to save a drowning Homer.

Suddenly, the most intelligent show on television got a lobotomy.

Perhaps The Simpsons was a victim of its own success. Had fans' expectations gotten so high that the show was bound to fail, as nothing could live up to the standards already set? It's possible, but in the end I think it can be traced back to greed. While the first nine seasons had their fare share of celebrity voice cameos, most played fictional characters, and the ones who played themselves often only had a handful of lines. Since then, the show has been bombarded by cameos, and most of them play themselves extensively. Relatively recent episodes have seen *NSync, Tony Hawk, The Who, and Mick Jagger--among many others--and they have all played themselves in extensive roles. However, none of them do even a competent job of voice acting; their sole reason for being on the show is to boost ratings.

In the end, can we honestly blame the makers of The Simpsons for selling out? It's their right to do so, and shouldn't they be entitled to a little security after entertaining us for so many years? Hell. No. While I won't argue that they "owe" me anything, I will say that they won't get my viewership anymore. I haven't watched a new episode of The Simpsons in many months, and I will now formally declare my intent to never watch a new episode of The Simpsons again, unless the quality of the show returns to even a respectable level. I still continue to watch re-runs from the "golden age," and I find that they are that much better for my not having soiled my eyes from watching the crap that poses as The Simpsons every week. I regret the demise of the once-great program--I've poured out a Fourty in tribute to my fallen friend--but I won't let it drag me down. I'll live because I choose to remember The Simpsons only for what it used to be, and not the monstrosity that it has become.

If you've just read this rant and think I'm an idiot--The Simpsons is, after all, simply a television program and nothing more--just remember that The Simpsons is my generation's Vietnam War. My parents have Vietnam as the common thread in their lives. It was something that affected everyone, whether they were a soldier, a protestor, or a simple farmer in rural Nebraska. My grandparents had World War II; their parents had World War I. Every generation had one defining event. My generation hasn't had a great war; nor has there been much strife in the world. Of everything that has happened since my birth, The Simpsons is the only thing that almost everyone I know can relate to. Is it sad that the only defining event of our generation is a TV show? It would be, except for the fact that at one point The Simpsons was more than simply a TV show; it challenged our innate beliefs, made us feel insecure, and then assured us that sometimes fact is more outrageous than fiction. It was our world to live in, and for a generation that had no real direction, The Simpsons made the boundaries that much clearer.