More so in recent seasons though.
He was fine early on, at least IMO.

of course. now he's just like a parody of himself

Ralph went and pulled an Al Pacino :P
Or is it a Christopher Walken? Hell I don't care, I love those guys parodying themselves, especially Walken.

LEAVE RALPH ALONE

(even if what you're saying is true)

Why do people bum the shit out of the early Simpsons episodes? They were bland as crap. Simpsons didn't start getting really good until season 5 or 6 and didn't start getting worse until Season 14 or 15. The best Treehouse of Horror episode by far is from Season 13, for instance.

'Cos they're not bland as shit?

Are too.

If I was given a choice between watching Kamp Krusty or The Last Tap Dance in Springfield, I know which one I'd pick every single time.

It's just hard to understand how that is not Kamp Krusty.

Last Tap Dance has more than 5 jokes.

It's only really the first two seasons which you could call bland, and even they're quite good for other reasons.

I was, of course, using hyperbole. I enjoy many episodes from the earlier seasons. I always get majorly p'd off, though, when people start talking about The Simpsons going downhill. I'd agree if they usually weren't talking about seasons from the early 00s which contain many of my favourite episodes.

There are some great episodes in that period too (the one that springs to mind is the story told from three points of view, with the grammar robot and so on), but there were some pretty bad ones too.

The recent episodes I've seen have struck me as decent and passable, but they almost feel as if you've got some random talented writer to try and imitate a great Simpsons episode - they just don't make them with the same wit and heart any more.

The few that I've seen from the last couple of years all seem to revolve around Homer and Marge falling out, Homer doing something romantic/sweet followed by the two of them getting back together again.

Season 2 is perfect, Season 10 is not.

Yeah, season 2 is my favourite on some days.