Still Craving The Simpsons

The Guardian Unlimited offers a damning indictment of The Simpsons, a show that has undeniably suffered some creative malaise for the past decade:

Once, it was the greatest show on TV. Every episode was brimming with imagination, excitement and some of the sharpest one-liners to come out of America for decades. But above all it was smart...Then it all changed... A looser, lazier sensibility took hold, given free rein by new executive producer Mike Scully. And the show became stupid.

I cannot quite agree with the essay's sweeping condemnation of the past few years. Certainly the show cannot hope to replicate nearly perfect episodes such as "Bart Sells His Soul" or "Lisa's Wedding." But the show still manages to produce some genuinely clever episodes year after year, despite its clunkers. And I continue to anticipate The Simpsons Movie, opening fifteen days from now!