I have to admit, as a Simpsons die-hard (like, to the point of it being sad, almost), that seasons 11-13 were nearly enough to make me stop watching. In the wake of the arrival of Family Guy, the writers and executive producer did too much to try and mimic that sort of humour and in the process, undermined the very thing that the previous writers had spent 10 years building up, and what was the very essence of what made the Simpsons so lovable: the characters. Homer has always been stupid, but deep down, he unquestionably loves his family. In the first 10 seasons, you can see he would do anything for them and there are a number of beautiful scenes where you can see that. Be it a gesture as simple as going for a bike ride with Marge in "Duffless", giving up his ticket on the Duff Blimp to enter Lisa into the Little Miss Springfield concert, or breaking into the Springfield museum so he and Lisa could see the Egyptian exhibit, there was never a doubt that for all his flaws Homer was a sweet, gentle man, and that's what made him lovable.
In the space of two seasons, Mike Scully managed to spit on that, and made Homer stupider and unlikeable. He suddenly had no regard for his family at all. He was like a watered down Peter Griffin, and it was hard to swallow because for 10 years he had been a really lovable character.
Thankfully, Al Jean and the return of many earlier writers has seen them undoing the Scully era's damage, and thus my faith is restored.
