Regarding The Simpsons (I think I may prefer the Mike Scully years to the Al Jean years)

I know. Mike Scully put The Simpsons in ludicrous situations and had too many The Simpsons are going to ... episodes. The Al Jean years have a stronger focus on characters and have gotten back to the family dynamic.

Ya know what? I still prefer the Scully years. I still like the show (which is RARE among Simpsons fans) but it seems every episode is always a near-miss rather than the hit the show is desperately trying to get back to.

Conversely the Scully years had some HORRIBLE episodes, among the worst the series has ever produced. But the Scully years were still capable of producing the occasional great episode (The Kim Basinger/Alec Balwin one and Viva Ned Flanders spring immediately to mind) and also produced some of the funniest scenes ever in the series (Homer skiing downhill while lamenting "stupid sexy Flanders!" is my personal choice for funniest moment ever in the series). While with few exceptions the Jean years haven't actually produced that many really bad episodes it has also never really produced any great ones. Every good episode I watch I still find myself wishing that they had done something SLIGHTLY different and that the episode could have acheived greatness if they had gone in a different direction.

Another thing I find troubling about the Jean years is that Homer and Marge fight way too much. I know Jean wants to make more family stories but they NEVER fought this much in the early years. Far from finding their marriage collapsing every other episode moving I find it depressing as one of the greatest things about the early seasons was Marge and Homer's unreserved and unconditional love for each other. Really, it almost hurts me to see them fighting so much and having Marge being so resentful of Homer and Homer being such a jerk all the time kills me a little bit inside every time I see it.

Also as noted on the season seven commentary on the DVDs by one of the writers funny episodes are easier to rewatch than dramatic ones. The fact that during Scully's tenure there were NO serious episodes actually helps their rewatchability. I like watching the Jean episodes a couple of times but any more than that and I switch the channel.

I know that Jean means well but while he seems to believe he is going back to the shows roots he really isn't. As uneven as the Scully episodes were at least they took the show in a different direction. The Jean episodes are TRYING to be like the old episodes but failing to the point where they come off much worse than they actually are in comparison.

My top ten LEAST favorite cartoons

I know my list will make some people unhappy but I've REALLY tried hard to explain my reasons for each one. My list doesn't so much encapsulate low-quality cartoons. These are simply cartoons that make me feel REALLY awful when I watch them. This is a personal list, not a clinical one.

10. Ed Edd and Eddy. To be fair I've never actually seen an entire episode. I hear it has great animation and funny stories. I'll never know because the voices are like nails on a chalkboard and make the show unwatchable. If the Ed's screeching isn't migraine inducing enough the squiggly animation makes me feel sea-sick.

9. Pokemon. This cartoon is as confusing as all get out. The characters all talk really fast and do things that make no sense. Another head-ache inducer.

8 . Goof Troop. Easily the worst and unfunniest Disney cartoon ever made. The show REVELED in stereotypes and could make you drop an I.Q. point for each second you watched it.

7. Denver the Last Dinosaur. Probably the worst show ever to have a great theme song. And yes, that's INCLUDING Gilligan's Island.

6 and 5 .Transformers and Transformers The Movie. I know this show has a HUGE fanbase but a couple of years ago I bought some Rhino VHS sets because I remembered the show fondly as a child.and was horrified at what I had once considered a great cartoon. The cartoon has some SERIOUS fascist overtones (all of our enemies can be grouped together and easily identitified by a mark on their skin; if you were a Decepticon you were pure evil) and the movie's deaths disturbed me more than any other movie death I have ever seen. (Hey kids! Let's play heavy metal while we kill off your favorite characters! Isn't murder COOL?) Just the idea that this misogyny was marketed to children REALLY scares me.

4. Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon: This is the first cartoon that I have ever taken as a personal betrayal. I BELIEVED John K's sob story about how horribly Nick treated him for YEARS and parroted that garbage to anyone who cared to listen. Now I know better. THIS is what we were supposed to get all along. God bless the Nickelodeon censors. This is the trashiest cartoon ever made.

3. Drawn Together. Well maybe this one is. I have no problems with animation for adults but this is a truly vile televsion program.

2. Problem Child. This was an old cartoon that used to air on the USA Network based on the horrid movie series. The ONLY reason this isn't number one is because it's like watching a car wreck and is so horrifying you can't look away. Truly stupendous in how absolutely terrible it is. Probably the worst cartoon to ever come out in the 1990s. The creators should feel like they've accomplished something special.

1. Heavy Traffic. I would probably get kicked off of the Ralph Bakshi forums for saying this but watching this cartoon was the most unpleasant experience I have ever had watching a movie. I will not deny that it is well made and directed and thought-provoking but watching it is soul crushing and made me want to take a LOOOONG shower afterwards.