- Mem,
It's impossible for the Simpsons to be as good as it once was. The entire universe is completely static. Nobody ages, nobody dies (except when actors want off the show hah), what happens in one episode doesn't carry over into others. You can only do so much with that! It's the eternal pitfall of all cartoons, really.
Maude FLanders died.
As well as all the characters that Phil Hartman played.