BackFire
Blood. It's nature's lube
Truth is, The Simpsons is a completely different show then it was in it's prime.
In it's prime, about 8 years ago, it was an emotional, character driven sitcom with not only great laughs but a big heart, it's goal was to make you forget that you were watching a cartoon by making you actually care about the characters as if they were real. It acheived this beautifully and is the main reason, in my opinion, that the show was so good back then. There were numerous episodes that left me really feeling something, hardly an episode went by when you weren't somewhat touched by the ending.
Now, the show has changed, it has almost completely dropped the character drive it originally had and is mostly just one attempt after another at a cheap over the top gag. The characters are now just one dimensional cliches of their former selfs. Homer used to be a bafoon, but a loveable one, he loved his family and tried his damndest to do the best he could for them, his endeavers, though often failed, were touching in the sense that he was doing the best he could, now he's just an over the top bafoon who goes on loony adventures with no sense of emotion or heart. It seems like he doesn't even care for the rest of the family anymore.
Now, with that being said, The Simpsons is still a funny show in its own merrit, I watch new ones from time to time, and they still get a good laugh or two, but they are nothing compared to the greatness they used to be. There are no more touching endings that leave you with a small lump in your throat and a smile, there are no more moments where you truly do forget you are watching a cartoon, and there are no more fully developed characters anymore. If you can get past all this and just watch the simpsons as they are now, without expectations from what you know of the old episodes, it's still a funny show, but that's very hard to do.