@n1ghtshade3 I respectfully disagree with what you've said. I think any show that has a run as long as IASIP has, reaching its 13th season now, is bound to go through some evolutionary stages i.e. change of tastes or change of circumstances of the creative team and cast members. I think that although the humour has not been perfectly the same as it was in season 1 episode 1, this season is still just as great with a humour that's adapted to the times. I wouldn't want to watch a show with the exact sense of comedy or talking about the same social issues 13 seasons through, with characters that do not have any concept of growth. Granted the characters have all undergone change, but it took Mac 12 seasons to fully come out as gay, and Charlie 13 seasons to (SPOILER), but I think that's a reasonable rate of progression for any show to take, not excluding IASIP. It's not a cartoon where the characters stay a kid since your grandfather's showing of the series.
That said, it's fair for you to say that the antics don't feel as crazy but I think the slight changes they've made is good. and does not make it any less great of a show that it is. That's just my take on it.
@anaudiencereviews It is my opinon that if they want to go that direction and seriously explore character changes then they should just make it a 45-minute dramedy like Shameless. IMO 20 minutes is just too short of an air time to not be constantly killing it with humor, which they never failed to do until this season. My breakdown:
1) The Dennis doll was funny, but the whole episode was clearly just building up to him coming back so kind of a waste.
2) For a 19-minute joke about how the guys wasted all their time playing some political game with each other, the payoff just wasn't worth it.
3) Recycled an old episode but made it worse by getting rid of the guys
4) Liked this episode; very much in the spirit of previous seasons.
5) Also a decent episode; here is where I felt maybe they just had a slow start
6) Best episode of the season IMO
7) Aaand now they're literally recycling episodes. Plus some really bizarre sci-fi thing at the end that doesn't really fit with the show but I'm hoping they use it as an excuse in season 14 to pretend that none of season 13 ever happened
8) Meh. A little funny but not enough to stand on its own.
Shout by MattVIP 4BlockedParent2018-09-21T19:41:49Z
I had really hoped this day would never come but I think it's finally time to say goodbye to this show. It had an amazing 12-year run with hardly a single episode that didn't make me laugh out loud.
But starting a season with three bottle episodes has just left this show with a depressing feeling. It's started to show that the cast members have grown up and the antics no longer feel as crazy. I'm hoping the rest of the season improves so I can remember this show as a 10/10 but after that I hope they throw in the towel and go find the next great thing for their careers.