Creative nonfiction assignment one: write about a hobby, passion, or sport. It's not that I don't have any hobbies or sports, mind you (though I don't have that many). I just thought that writing about The Simpsons in a relatively detached manner sounded both fun and interesting.

Like the show that spawned it, the Simpsons article has become an institution. Each year, mainstream news outlets seeking a light story turn their attention to the show, acknowledging the latest milestone, award, or clever adaptation of the series. Writers wax nostalgic about their favorite episodes, or drop names from the show�s impressive list of guest stars. Inevitably, they mention the show�s humble beginnings as a series of 30-second clips on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987.

Meanwhile, in student newspapers and on the Internet, devoted fans of the show are expressing their discontent. �Unfortunately, in recent seasons it has become increasingly apparent that the show has passed its creative peak,� observes the McMaster University Silhouette. �Some fans have gone so far as to suggest that The Simpsons has been reaching for plot ideas and clever references for years.�

Writing for the Drexel University Triangle, Ian Pugh echoes that sentiment: ��But it could get better,� you say. Well, unfortunately, we've been saying that for four years now, which is a practical eternity when it comes to television, and a second coming seems unlikely.� Commentators at the popular newsgroup alt.tv.simpsons deride the disjointed plots and frequent guest stars in later seasons, and although there�s no clear consensus on where the trouble started, it�s clear that � rosy media profiles to the contrary � not all Simpsons episodes are created equal.

The first three seasons are slow and psychological � the creators were trying to make something more than a cartoon: this would be an �animated sitcom,� with a more realistic family than most live-action shows. Homer is a dumb but goodhearted father, and the problems he and his family face are often quite serious: characters are looking out for each other�s welfare, or wrestling with the morality of their own decisions. Some episodes make significant emotional demands on the audience. Bart cries after failing an exam, and dooming himself to another year of the fourth grade, in �Bart Gets an F.� His sister Lisa has to decide between her father and her dream in �Lisa�s Pony.� Viewers generally come away from an episode feeling that they�ve gotten to know the Simpsons a little better.

There�s comedy too, of course. No Simpsons season is without its laughs, and some of the all-time most popular episodes are in season three. The final scene of �Bart the Daredevil,� in which Homer tries (and fails) to jump the Springfield Gorge on a skateboard, became a clip-show staple in later seasons. �Flaming Moe�s� was the first of many episodes centered around the loveless bartender, and like �Homer at the Bat,� another episode common on best-of lists, it featured numerous celebrity voices. While fans now complain about the show�s reliance on celebrities � as of 2003, over 340 guest voices had appeared on the show, a Guinness world record � few object to the seamlessly integrated cameos of these early years. Kelsey Grammer�s voicework as a disgruntled clown in �Krusty Gets Busted� was good enough to earn him a recurring role on the show in what would soon become a Simpsons institution: the Sideshow Bob episode. Another idea from season two, the Halloween special, was so popular it became an annual tradition.

A few standout episodes aside however, seasons four through eight are the golden years of the series. Webmaster Jouni Paakkinen at snpp.com, the most comprehensive Simpsons site on the web, considers season four�s �Last Exit to Springfield� the best episode of all time, as does Entertainment Weekly. In a 1998 poll, the fans on alt.tv.simpsons decided that �Lisa�s Wedding,� a season six episode set 15 years in the future, was their top pick. Fondness for this period isn�t limited to the few compulsive watchers, either: even if they don�t know the actual name, many fans speak highly of the �stonecutters episode� or the �helper-monkey episode.� Most of them could sing you the �Mr. Plow� jingle, on key.

Figuring out why these seasons are so fun to watch is difficult: it�s tempting to focus on the outlandish plots (Homer training to become an astronaut, or gaining weight to get on disability; Bart and his friends taking an ill-thought-out road trip to the World�s Fair in Knoxville) and ignore the differences in the way these episodes function. The pacing is faster, for one thing, and characters are more likely to communicate with non-sequiturs and blank stares. Pop-culture references abound. The show also honed its satiric edge during this period � in �Two Bad Neighbors,� former President George H.W. Bush moves in across the street; in �Homer Bad Man� a media circus ensues after Homer is wrongfully accused of sexually harassing the babysitter. The target of �Homer�s Phobia� is obvious enough from the title.

While most viewers claim the show never �jumped the shark,� many fans place the start of the show�s decline somewhere between seasons eight and thirteen. In 2000, halfway through season eleven, recurring character Maude Flanders was killed by a T-shirt. In season thirteen, Homer literally jumped a shark during the opening credits. But for the hardcore fans, the kind of people who�ll continue to watch the show even as they complain that it�s gone downhill, the problem is �Jerkass Homer� � manic, idiotic, and thoughtless, Homer has become a caricature of his original sympathetic self.

At this point in the series, now entering its seventeenth season, the show is often self-satirizing. Even criticism gets incorporated into the show: feigning incompetence, Homer calls himself �Jerkass Homer,� and a nerd character sports a T-shirt reading �Worst Episode Ever.� Reduced to vehicles for quips and satire, the various characters seem less real. Still, the show has its charms.

The satire can surprise you. �Bart-Mangled Banner� depicts an America afraid of political dissent, and the last season had send-ups of China, American Idol, and Catholicism. There are moments of clever wordplay, like �Italian-American Mexican standoff.� Though a lot has changed over the years, ultimately people tune in each Sunday because the show is � incredibly � still funny.

Don't trust my gloss of "Jerkass Homer." I didn't invent the phrase, nor do I use it. I'd also like to add, because I didn't get room in the essay, that I think there's a split in the later seasons. There are several great episodes in fifteen and sixteen (though so far seventeen has been a dud), enough that I'm tempted to say the series is back on its feet. Anyone who doesn't believe me should watch "Goo Goo Gai Pan" or (if you're a lapsed Catholic) "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star." For what it's worth, I thought they were the funniest in years.