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After 10 years, "The Simpsons" remains one of the most critically acclaimed shows on TV. You'll find it on the "best" list of almost every TV critic, along with words of praise for staying irreverent and funny after all these years.

But if you turn to alt.tv.simpsons, the show's Internet discussion group, it's as if a different show is being talked about. New episodes are routinely panned and held up as evidence that "The Simpsons" has been vulgarized and cheapened. For example, the reviews for this season's opening episode (the one with Mel Gibson) include phrases like "a weak offering of recycled themes," "not many laughs" and, best of all, "I think Homer was hired as a script consultant for this episode." (These reviews are available in capsule form in the indispensable Simpsons archive.)

The most interesting and articulate contributors to the group -- the ones who can actually spell and punctuate -- are the ones who argue most passionately that the show has, in the words of fan Ondre Lombard, "turned into a cold, cynical, anything-for-a-joke series with one-dimensional characters." The harshest critics regularly open their missives with the tagline "Worst episode ever."

Of course, all long-running shows get accused of having lost it, and nowhere more so than on Internet newsgroups. TV writers who read the newsgroups -- and many of them do for the immediate feedback it provides -- sometimes become frustrated with these dedicated but hyper-critical fans. For example, Larry David once said that he stopped reading "Seinfeld"-related posts when every new episode started being pointed to as a sign of the show's decline.

The difference with "The Simpsons" is that the writers of the show have sometimes struck back -- in interviews, and even on the show itself. The most obvious dig at the fans came in a scene in the episode that first aired Feb. 9, 1997. It began with the still-unnamed Comic Book Guy saying: "Last night's 'Itchy & Scratchy' was, without a doubt, the worst episode ever. Rest assured that I was on the Internet within minutes, registering my disgust throughout the world." "As a loyal viewer," he added, "I feel they owe me."

"What?" said Bart. "They've given you thousands of hours of entertainment for free. What could they possibly owe you? If anything, you owe them."

The Comic Book Guy's answer: "Worst episode ever."

The scene was a hilarious, slightly cruel kiss-off from the writers to the Internet fans, one that pretty much ended any rapport that might have existed between one group and the other.

Back in 1993, writer Bill Oakley was sending friendly e-mail messages to selected "Simpsons" enthusiasts; by 1997, Oakley was telling Time Out magazine about Internet fans who "take [the show] too seriously to the point of absurdity." And in 1998, producer Ian Maxtone-Graham, interviewed by the London Independent, referred to "the beetle-browed people on the Internet," adding: "They see everything as part of a vast plan ... That's why they're on the Internet and we're writing the show." (Some of the more bitter alt.tv.simpsons regulars have taken to calling him "Ian Haxtone-Graham" in retaliation.)

It's hard not to be a little sympathetic to the writers on this. "The producers [of a show] need to pay attention to feedback from the viewers," says TV programming consultant Marc Berman. "But they can't agree with all of it." Also, most of the feedback the "Simpsons" writers have been getting has, in fact, been positive: The ratings and the TV critics are both telling them that they're doing a fine job. But for some of the Net fans, this success and acclaim is one of the problems with the show as it now stands; they feel it's made the show's creative team lazy and self-satisfied.

As alt.tv.simpsons regular Ben Collins wrote: "The staff believes its own hype. When TV Guide says 'The Simpsons' is better than ever ... the producers run with it, and drag the show through the same rut it's been in for two seasons."

Next page | Internet fans are interested in the characters as people