Here it is: The Simpsons is the best TV show ever made. It's better than any crime drama, soap opera, and documentary series that has ever been created. That is why it has outlasted them all by such a long way.
However, there is a problem. The problem with the show lasting so long and having so many episodes has created a problem for hardcore Simpsons fans. If we're being honest, the show hasn't been good for years now.
Whether that is because the writers have let the side down, the animation has improved at the expense of plot and jokes, or simply because we're older now and nothing is as good as it once was, fans have long claimed that standards have been slipping.
In fact, it is possible to argue that there are now more bad episodes than good. That is exactly what one Twitter user is arguing, and they've made us up a handy infographic to go along with it.
Here it is:
The person behind this unequivocal work of genius is Sol Harris. He watched every Simpsons episode, ranked them out of ten, and then came up with the graph.
Along the way he has added in several key touchstones such as 'Homer tries to jump the Springfield Gorge' and 'Who shot Mr Burns'. These instances, incidentally, take place just before or within a period that calls 'The Golden Years'.
That's seasons 3 to 8. Most of us agree with that logic.
Helpfully, he has also added in a load of other annotations for us that chart the decline of The Simpsons.
There's even a date: 11 November 2001 is referred to as "The definitive moment when the show went from 'Bad Simpsons' to 'Bad television'."
That refers to an episode starring Malcolm in the Middle's Jane Kaczmarek called 'The Parent Rap'. As a hardcore Simpsons geek, he's got a point. That episode hurt.
The key moment in the graph takes place at season 23. The black writing is on the wall by this point. It simply reads: "There are now more bad episodes than good."
Again, it's hard to argue with this logic. The infographic also points out that the show is also now older than Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, and Kurt Cobain by season 28. If Nirvana were still making records nowadays, would they be any good?
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Or would they be like this?
The conclusion is this: as much as we love The Simpsons, it is time to let them go. Stop it - they're already dead.
Featured Image Credit: 20th Century FoxTopics: TV and Film, US Entertainment, TV