What Happened to the Simpsons?

The Simpson's seasons 3-5 are brilliant and really form the basis of my childhood. I think I can probably quote almost every episode. But I've been saying forever that the Simpson's really stopped being funny after season 10

Here's John Ortved, author of The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History, over at Salon:

"After it hit that 10-year mark, the show had a serious drop-off in quality, and it's just never, ever come back. They started relying on guest stars and more topical humor, which they can't really do because the lead time is so long. So I think this actually speaks to how outdated their writing room is. They'll do an "American Idol" episode, but they'll do it four years after "American Idol" became this big thing. Or they'll do an iPod episode, but they do an iPod episode in like 2006."

Couldn't have said it better....