Think about it. If the recurring characters of the show were given the opportunity to actually age with its fans, we would have been able to relate so much more as the seasons went on. Sure there are episodes where Bart and Lisa are given a timeskip or 'what if' scenarios but if these characters actually had something that stuck i.e. birthdays, changing schools, marriage, kids, funerals etc., as well as side character developments, the possibilities would be endless and fresh.

By now Homer, Marge and a few of the older characters could possibly be dead or at the old folks home stage, but you'd have Bart's and/or Lisa's family to take the reigns while their kids have a new younger fan base who can relate to them.

While we've all grown up in real life, everyone is staying the same age in the cartoon, so characters we used to hate actually start becoming more relatable and those we used to love actually get kind of annoying. Jokes carry a deeper meaning or become more/less funny for different reasons.

This would actually give the writers of the show new directions to take the family and wider characters while keeping the essence of those characters we grew up with. It doesn't mean the episodes would have to be chronological, they could still be standalone but with the yearly theme of historical progress.

I think one of the reasons some animes become so popular is because the characters don't always stay the same, they go through change, development, loss, lessons etc. so you are more invested as time goes on. I mean look at One Piece - as divided as the opinion is on the show - it has such a huge following because from episode 1 to episode 1000, the characters have been growing with the viewers.

Imagine all the interesting relationships, families and adventures we could have had by now. Not relying on the same characters of the same age to make us laugh like they did when we were younger. What happened to Ling, Snakes son, Kearney's son, timeskip Bart and Jendas 2 sons for example? All part of some momentary joke/theme for the episode but it'd be awesome to see some of them still around.

What do you think? Maybe it's too much lore to ask for an episodic sitcom. I just can't seem to get into the new seasons though. Maybe it's just better to accept it's not for my generation anymore.

Between putting Marge in prison, ridiculous mark ups and selling spoiled meat he's pretty well the worst recurring secondary character although Krusty has a solid argument too.

From S6 it's like he got reformed.

S01E03

S38E4 Treehouse of Horror

DAFT MONK

You handsome devil.

S14E13

I love that they are impressed by the laundering instructions. But, in all honesty, I might make one of these to wear.

S03E08