Simply Not ‘Simpsons’

Will someone please put “The Simpsons” out of its misery? For the last three years, the show that was once the funniest, hippest, smartest show on TV has devolved into an embarrassing and unfunny parody of itself.

Where we once had dead-on satire, we now have little else but repetitious sequences of Homer getting physically abused. Where once a string of supporting characters representing actual social types gave bite and zest to the episodes, we get guest spots by celebrities who do nothing but add a “lark” to their resumes and have no funny lines in the process. And this season’s finale was the nadir--an ersatz documentary that fell so flat I had to switch it off.

The legacy of this once great cultural phenomenon is in jeopardy of being irretrievably lost. Please, for the sake of television history and a legion of fans, pull the plug on Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and (more’s the pity) Mr. Burns, the Comic Book Guy and Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. Let them retire while there is still time to rest on their hilarious laurels.

JAMES S. BELL

West Hills

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