The Simpsons Has Abandoned A Big Post-Golden Age Tradition & It's A Huge Improvement

Summary The Simpsons improved in season 35, dropping anthology episodes for better character development.

Anthology episodes took away emotional weight from The Simpsons characters in weaker seasons.

The show's shift to focus on characters over jokes is shown in season 35 with more meaningful stories.

While The Simpsons season 35 has been an improvement on its predecessors, the show’s two preceding outings prove that one positive trend has been around for years now. After over 34 years on the air, it is easy to break down the history of The Simpsons into numerous eras. The Simpsons has been through its messy, imperfect early seasons, its universally acclaimed Golden Age, its unfortunate, lengthy downfall, and now its long-awaited comeback. Since the Simpsons never age, the eponymous family themselves haven’t changed all that much, even as the surrounding show has been through numerous distinct life cycles.

The Simpsons started strong, immediately proving popular with viewers and critics when the series began in 1989. The Golden Age coincided with the height of the show’s popularity, with its relevance and acclaim warning around seasons 11, 12, and 13. By season 17, the series was well into its decline before The Simpsons Movie arrived. This downfall continued for years but, although The Simpsons season 36 may change this, recent outings have seen the show’s critical standing improve. Since seasons 30—32, which were uniquely weak outings for the series, The Simpsons has improved significantly, becoming stronger and smarter.

The Simpsons Seasons 33, 34, and 35 Don’t Feature Anthology Episodes

Episodes Made Up Of Mini-Stories Were A Late-Season Staple

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The Simpsons relies less and less on anthology episodes in seasons 33, 34, and 35, and this writing trend reflects a positive shift in the show’s storytelling style. Most of the anthology episodes in The Simpsons history offered the show’s creators a chance to tell three shorter mini-stories instead of focusing on one full-length plot. During the show’s Golden Age, The Simpsons gave viewers classic anthology outings like season 8, episode 21, “The Simpsons Spin-off Showcase,” and season 10, episode 18, “Simpsons Bible Stories.” However, there was always a catch to this approach that limited the success and frequency of these episodes.

Anthology episodes featured plenty of gags, but little in the way of character development or emotional engagement. The Simpsons used anthology episodes to tell lighter, sillier stories that didn’t flesh out the main characters, instead staging brief skits and quickly jumping from one story to another. Many of the greatest episodes of The Simpsons need some semblance of stakes and drama to drive their story. Even if the plot is as silly as Bart and his friends rescuing Springfield’s prized lemon tree, the series must offer viewers a reason to care about the characters and their plight.

The Simpsons Anthology Episodes Waste The Show’s Characters

These Stories Pack Less Emotional Weight

Since they take place outside the show’s canon, anthology episodes of The Simpsons waste the show’s characters. This is fine every couple of years, but it is tough for viewers to get invested in the show’s main characters when almost every season includes an episode that doesn’t take place in reality. For example, season 32 featured three episodes in a row that were stories within stories in episode 2, “I, Carumbus,” episode 3, “Now Museum Now You Don’t,” and episode 4, “Treehouse of Horror XXXI.” While one of these wasn’t a traditional anthology outing, all of them were notably weak.

Seasons 33—35 dropping anthology episodes is evidence of the show prioritizing character work again.

Similarly, season 30 had episode 3, ”My Way or the Highway to Heaven,” season 31 had episode 8, “Thanksgiving of Horror,” and season 32 had another anthology episode later on in episode 7, “Three Dreams Denied.” Some of these were relatively solid, like “Thanksgiving of Horror,” but their frequency proves that these later, more critically derided seasons leaned on the format more heavily. In contrast, seasons 33—35 dropping anthology episodes is evidence of the show prioritizing character work again, as proven by Marge’s The Simpsons season 35 character arc. Here, it is worth noting another important series pattern.

The Simpsons Seasons 33, 34, and 35 Still Keep A Vital Tradition Alive

The Seasons Still Include Treehouse of Horror Anthology Episodes

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Before seasons 30—32 dragged down the show’s critical reception, there were also quite a few anthology episodes from seasons 13–20. Since this is considered a particularly weak era in the show’s history, this proves that anthology episodes come to the forefront when The Simpsons isn’t interested in developing its characters. Since the show is a goofy, freewheeling sitcom, it would be reasonable to assume that character development isn’t all that important and The Simpsons could benefit from the anarchic meta-stories that these anthology episodes facilitate. However, this argument discounts one vital part of the show’s decades-long history.

The Simpsons already has plenty of regular anthology episodes thanks to the show’s annual Treehouse of Horror Halloween specials, and these offer an outlet for the show’s weirder, more ambitious storytelling. Although The Simpsons season 35 killed off one character, the show rarely kills even minor supporting stars. Thus, the gleefully dark tone of the Treehouse of Horror episodes allows The Simpsons to experiment with creepy, offbeat plots while still focusing on character development throughout the rest of the season. Adding more unnecessary anthology episodes every season upsets this delicate balance and makes the show too zany.

The Simpsons Dropping Anthology Episodes Reflects A Series Change

The Show Is Focusing On Character Work Over Joke Quantity

There is no denying that, for all of their shortcomings in terms of emotional heft, anthology episodes do allow The Simpsons to cram in more jokes than an average episode can contain. However, this isn’t always a good thing. YouTuber SuperEyepatchWolf’s video on the critical resurgence of The Simpsons noted that, surprisingly enough, seasons 33—35 featured markedly fewer jokes than seasons 30—32. This seems counterintuitive, but it proves that The Simpsons is better off focusing on its characters than on the sheer number of gags in a given episode. The Simpsons season 35’s dark Homer story reinforces this.

In season 35, episode 25, “Cremains of the Day,” Homer and his friends have a crisis of conscience when a fellow barfly dies. The opening act of the episode sees the gang struggle with losing Larry as they all realize they barely knew this Moe’s Tavern mainstay. However, as the outing continues, the gags pile up, the plot gets sillier and more outlandish, and the poignancy of Larry’s death is lost. Although not terrible, this flawed outing proves that The Simpsons dropping anthology episodes is ultimately good for the show as this allows the series to focus on character work.

Episode Number Episode Title Air Date 1 "Homer's Crossing" October 1 2 "A Mid-Childhood Night's Dream" October 8 3 "McMansion and Wife" October 22 4 "Thirst Trap: A Corporate Love Story" October 29 5 "Treehouse of Horror XXXIV" November 5 6 "Iron Marge" November 12 7 "It's A Blunderful Life" November 19 8 "Ae Bonny Romance" December 3 9 "Murder, She Boat" December 17 10 "Do The Wrong Thing" December 24 11 "Frinkenstein's Monster" February 18 12 "Lisa Gets An F1" February 25 13 "Clan of the Cave Mom" March 24 14 "Night of the Living Wage" April 7 15 "Cremains of the Day" April 21