I'm of the opinion that the early seasons were better (they had less direct pop culture references, for one thing), but that doesn't mean NOTHING in the later episodes were funny, just that they tended not to be as good as a whole when you compared the separate seasons.

When I was five, my dad started to let me watch The Simpsons with him. My mom constantly nagged at him about it but that didn't make him reverse that decision and the jokes went over my head anyway. 25 years later and I've been watching The Simpsons every Sunday with my dad since. I don't care what anyone says. That show is still hilarious. I actually love it even more NOW because I am an adult and thus old enough to grasp the pop culture nods. Obviously, I can understand the older episodes but they're dated. During the major holidays and FXX runs those Every Simpons Ever marathons, the only older ones I watch are the Treehouse of Horror ones. *shrug* But I seem to be in the minority. I get that, though I still think The Simpsons are great.