After nearly twenty years, The Simpsons’ trademark opening sequence received a much-needed HDTV-friendly facelift this past weekend. However, many series veterans—myself included—aren’t entirely pleased with the overhaul.

For one, it’s ridiculously bloated in length. This, of course, could simply be an extended version used exclusively for its debut, but if it’s not, I don’t think a 20-year-old show that everyone in the known universe has seen a gazillion times over warrants a minute-long introduction. Considering the cast of the Simpsons is rather unwieldy, why did the show's producers even bother attempting to shoehorn a large portion of them into the introduction? I doubt any of them are benefiting greatly from the fraction of a second on-screen time they are now getting.

Secondly, who thought it would be a good idea to alter [READ: butcher] the Simpsons jingle? The new one feels much slower, as if it is being arbitrarily drawn out to fill the new length. Sure, it bears all the old crescendos and wind instrument wankery, but something about it feels/sounds terribly... off.
 

Still, the updated animation is excellent, especially after seeing these same effects used in the feature film. Plus, it looks gorgeous on an HDTV, thanks to the 16x9 extension.