The thing is it's possible to go back and watch those early seasons. If today I watch a random episode from the early 90s then I watch a brand new one from last week, it's harder to say my memories of the 1990s are making me prefer the old one. In fact when I do watch an old episode, I often laugh hardest at jokes that I didn't remember. There are definitely ups and downs but on average the first few seasons hold up very well.

It's not uncommon to observe that with writer staff turnaround a television series can decline. The only thing that makes this topic slightly absurd is the length of time The Simpsons has been airing new episodes.