That '90s Show

We are living in 2008, not 1989 or 1995. It used to be that Homer and Marge were these 37 year old parents with a family of three that often reminisced about their days as teenagers and young adults in the 70s. But as we live in real time, the 37 year olds of today were 18 in 1989 and college aged 21 or 22 year olds in 1993. It's bizarre beyond belief to see Homer and Marge being "grunge kids", when the heyday of The Simpsons was IN the 1990s, where Bart and Lisa grew up in that youth culture. Heck, technically Bart Simpson is a complete product of the late 80s, his "don't have a cow", buzz hair cut and skateboard obsession is all 80s. We can stretch Homer and Marge into the early 80s, possibly even 1984 or 1985, and see them listening to stuff like Asia, The Police or other early early 80s stuff instead of their usual 60s or 70s flair. But I'm sorry the 90s? Doesn't work. Will NEVER work. This is like doing a Growing Pains reunion where the Seaver parents remember being college kids in the 80s, or a Leave it to Beaver episode where the Cleaver parents remember how they were the youth in the 1950s. The Simpsons have officially jumped the shark with this episode. This was the nail in the coffin, it's over. I don't care if real 37 year olds were kids back in the 90s. Plus this episode just makes everyone feel too damn old.

I wonder if those that detest this episode were meant to take it seriously. I really didn't take it seriously, we know Bart is 10 in 1989 and is 10 in 2008. The entire city of Springfield has been stuck in a rift in the Matrix, where the space-time continuum is stuck in a loop.

This episode is merely a throwback to the 90s, I can't see how anyone that has watched more than a dozen episodes would assume this is part of the history of Simpsons. Every season has an episode or two that have no relevance on the history, ie, Simpson Bible Stories, and Tales from the Public Domain.

Relax people, the episode was far from great, though it had moments, but it hardly caused the series to "jump the shark."

This truly is the "Worst Episode Ever". If, in the end, we had found that Homer had been hit in the head with a brick, or had drunk some bad eggnog, and hallucinated this whole thing, all would be forgiven. Previous episodes have gone far off the reservation, and all have been redeemed by over-the-top, far fetched explanations (the "real" Principal Skinner being run out of town on a rail comes to mind). However, this apparent attempt to "update" the history of the family without, ultimately, returning us to the traditional timeline is unprecedented. Anyone who DOESN'T understand what a big deal this departure is cannot claim to be a true Simpsons fan. I believe The Simpsons was a on a rather short list of shows that had never Jumped the Shark. I fear that the streak has ended. Hopefully this does not signal a desire to "modernize" the show in a broader sense.

I admit this episode contradicted the Simpsons history, but come on, the show is set in a floating timeline, you don't seriously believe that Bart would still be 10 years old, when the show started in 1989?

OK, maybe the writers should have scrapped this idea, but in my opinion, the episode turned out pretty well. Their was some hilarious references and parodies (such as Homer's parody of 'Nirvana - Rape Me', with a song called 'Shave Me', which Weird Al parodied in the episode), the Back To The Future reference with Marvin Cobain, a parody of Marvin Berry.

This was criticized an awful lot by fans and critics alike, I am a passionate fan of The Simpsons, I have watched nearly every episode, and I can honestly say I enjoyed this episode, it wasn't great, but it was a lot of fun.

8/10.

Yes, the "older" fans or long-time fans hate it because the episode itself doesn't necessarily hold on to the past seasons.

But I think they're missing the point of this episode and episodes like it. The Simpsons was never meant to be a show with a linear timeline or even an overall plot.

It was made to display individual stories. Like a modern equivalent of the newspapers comic strip - using set characters to try to make a joke or story come across to the audience made to leave any and all consequences behind.