Book Home Books Information Simpsons

Simpsons

The Simpsons is a long-running animated television series, with 17 seasons and 357 episodes since it debuted on December 17, 1989 on FOX, and is a spinoff of The Tracey Ullman Show. The TV series is produced by Gracie Films for 20th Century Fox.

Highly satirical, the show lampoons many aspects of the human condition, but primarily parodies the "Middle American" lifestyle its titular family exhibits, and more generally American culture, society, and even television itself. The Simpsons is seen by many critics as the greatest animated series ever, including Time, which named it the best TV show of the 20th century in 1998. It has had a huge influence on post-Cold War popular culture.

Themes
Authority, especially in undeserving hands, is a constant target of the show's often sharp satire. This probably explains the often strong negative reaction to the show from social conservatives. This negative reaction was most pronounced during the early seasons of the show. Nearly every authority figure in the show is portrayed unflatteringly: Homer is thoughtless and irresponsible, the antithesis of the ideal 1950s TV father, though he always comes through for his family in the end. Marge Simpson is also of the 50's stereotype category, and exercises tyrannical control over her family to ease her own loneliness. Springfield police chief Clancy Wiggum (voiced by Hank Azaria in an Edward G. Robinson-influenced tone) is obese, stupid, lazy, corrupt and not overly concerned with constitutional rights (not to mention that he somewhat resembles a pig). Mayor Quimby — who sounds like John F. Kennedy — is a corrupt, spendthrift womanizer. Seymour Skinner (who sounds like Charles Kuralt), the principal of Springfield Elementary School, is an uptight, humorless bachelor who lives with his domineering mother. He has frequent flashbacks to his capture and imprisonment by the Viet Cong, and in early seasons, Skinner was repeatedly likened to Norman Bates in Psycho though this ultimately was dropped later on in the series. Ms. Edna Krabappel is Bart's, and sometimes Lisa's, depressed,chain-smoking elementary school teacher who is impatient and ignorant of her class, and demands darkness and silence when she is hung over. Reverend Lovejoy, the pastor of the local church, is judgmental and moralistic (but only regarding other people), with a monotonous voice that always puts Homer to sleep during Sunday sermons. While most of these characters are more incompetent than truly evil there is one true sadist: Montgomery Burns, owner of the Springfield Nuclear Plant and Homer Simpson's boss. Evil and cruel, Montgomery Burns is aided in his campaign of terror against the residents of Springfield by his trusted assistant Waylon Smithers, who secretly harbors an unrequited love for Burns.

During the more recent years of Simpsons production, some social conservatives have come to embrace the show. One of the main explanations of this shift is that the Simpsons portrays a traditional nuclear family among a lineup of television sitcoms that now portray less traditional families. The show has toyed with the possibility of extramarital affairs, such as when Homer falls for a female nuclear technician who shares his love of donuts, or when Marge's ex-boyfriend Artie Ziff tries to rekindle their old romance. Nevertheless, these affairs never occur, and by the end of every episode, Homer and Marge's marriage is strongly affirmed. Social conservatives and some evangelical Christians have also pointed to the positive role model of devout Christian Ned Flanders, whose fretfulness is occasionally ridiculed but whose decency never wavers despite constant provocation from Homer. In several episodes, God actually intervenes to protect the Flanders family, invoking such Protestant concepts as Predestination. As compared with the Simpsons family, the Flanders family is relatively well-off and less dysfunctional, fulfilling certain theories expressed by sociologist Max Weber in his seminal work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.

Race relations are also the subject of satire in the show, as the handful of African-American characters are almost always portrayed as being more intelligent and rational than their "Yellow" counterparts. Some people interpret this as a satire of Hollywood and liberal TV's portrayal of exaggerated 'reverse stereotypes' in which the computer genius is always a black actor. For instance, Dr. Hibbert, despite a tendency to laugh at the most inappropriate times, is arguably among the least dysfunctional characters in the series, and is certainly more professionally qualified for medical practice than Dr. Nick Riviera. Furthermore, Officer Lou is constantly lecturing Chief Wiggum on his inept law enforcement practices, and even Homer's co-worker Carl occasionally lambasts Homer's stupidity.

The show also routinely mocks and satirizes show business conventions and personalities. Krusty the Klown has an enthusiastic following among Springfield's kids, but offstage he is a jaded, cynical hack, in poor health from a long history of overindulgence and substance abuse. He will endorse any product for a price. Kent Brockman is a self-important, spoiled TV news anchorman with little regard for journalistic ethics. Many wealthy characters are members of the Republican Party, which meets in a dark castle. Even Rupert Murdoch -- whose corporate empire includes The Simpsons' broadcast network, Fox -- has been gently spoofed in a couple of episodes. In fact, Fox itself has been ridiculed many times, and Fox News has been portrayed as extremely biased towards conservatives.