Do You Read What Fans Post on Websites?
Yes. And it kills us. We have a lot of very loyal fans who seem to hate the show. Their website is even called NoHomers.net. This is like calling a Christian website JesusSucks.gov.
This website is the source of Comic Book Guy’s catchphrase “Worst [BLANK] ever.” Every Sunday, minutes after The Simpsons aired, some “fan” would post, “Worst episode ever.” After weeks of this, someone posted at 8:15 P.M., “I’m halfway through tonight’s show, but I can already tell it’s the Worst Episode Ever!”
Then, one Tuesday night, someone posted, “I just saw the promo for next Sunday’s Simpsons, and it clearly will be the Worst Episode Ever.”
So why do these people keep watching the show? I stuck a fork in a light socket once and realized I should never do that again. These viewers keep sticking forks in the socket, week after week, year after year. And every time they’re shocked that they’re shocked (worst pun ever!).
Most of us rarely have the stomach to read the fan site. But as a diligent showrunner, Al Jean studies it every single week. Al Jean, whom the fans have said should “get cancer” or “die in a car crash.” Why does he put himself through this? Because sometimes the fans get it right. They are especially sensitive when we write Homer too mean—a syndrome they call Jerk-Ass Homer. They say it and we listen.
But sometimes they should cut us some slack. One fan complained, “In Season 8, Homer smuggled beer. Then in Season 27, he smuggled snakes. Rip-off.”
Yes, we did two vaguely similar stories, nineteen years apart. But the fan who complained was only fourteen years old—we hadn’t even repeated ourselves in his lifetime!
Whatever the “fans” may say, people are still watching the show. Our ratings in season 29 were the highest they’ve been in years. To extrapolate from this, The Simpsons will run for five million years. But the fans will say it hasn’t been funny since the three millionth season.