"The Simpsons," the animated network comedy that just kicked off its 30th season, hasn't been great for a long time. Most people agree on this.

There have been a few bright spots in the years since the show's heyday in the mid-90s, but it hasn't reached the dizzying highs of, say, "Marge vs. the Monorail" or "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" in a long, long time.

Wednesday's episode of "South Park," the title of which is a play on comedian Hari Kondabolu's documentary "The Problem with Apu," seemingly called for the cancellation of its tamer, more consequential animated network contemporary.

It's not a bad idea. And, actually, maybe it's high time both shows called it quits.

"The Simpsons" has long run dry on consistently well-written scripts, opting to either send its titular family to far-flung locations to poke fun at other cultures or pad episodes with overly-long musical interludes and sudden make-out scenes played for laughs.

And "South Park," while somewhat side-stepping much of what has made "The Simpsons" stale for all these years with its rapid-fire production schedule, suffers from having one of its most vocal characters be an anti-Semitic fourth-grader.

So even though Wednesday's "South Park" closed with a plea to #cancelthesimpsons was likely a riff on the show's #cancelsouthpark campaign, maybe it's time to do everyone a favor and drop them both from the airwaves?

After all, if anyone knows when a series is getting stale, it's "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

The show's season six episode, "Simpsons Already Did It," is a tribute to some of the most memorable storylines from Fox's Sunday night staple while season 10's "Cartoon Wars" two-parter skewers "Family Guy's" formulaic joke structure.

And they're right on both counts! Let's drop Seth McFarlane's Sunday night comedy, too.

Cancel "The Simpsons." Cancel "South Park." Cancel "Family Guy."

And replace them with "Bob's Burgers," "BoJack Horseman" and "Big Mouth," the three best animated shows airing anywhere right now.

(But maybe we ask them all to call it quits after season 10. That seems to be where the quality takes a nosedive on animated series.)

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

ecampuzano@oregonian.com