Ya they changed it because they are trying to reach a new TV audience. If you look at TV habbits, many things come back in generation gaps. the first generation that watched the simpsons watched terrific political and social satire which at the time cartoons were sorely missing. Then the simpsons became the staple cartoon, and thusly Knockoffs were created and directed towards a new generation, and that was in 1997. 97-2000 were terrible years for the simpsons, they milked it for all it's worth, and will continue to do so. The Idealism of the simpsons has died and replaced with the recognizable and repedative themes. Maybe if our society wasn't high on marijuana maybe we wouldn't be giving Family Guy and the new Simpson's writers the time of day. But don't forget that certain fads trickle down the age ladder, so who knows maybe the Simpsons and Family Guy's main viewing audience is 13... I for one view the simpsons as 91-96 , everything else seems generic.