And thats because it's very, very funny. The first series of The Simpsons, first aired all those years ago when I was an elementary school student myself, were very child-like, both in animation and script, and as the show gained momentum and subsequent seasons made it more and more of a success, the subject matter got more serious, but it retained what it always had from the beginning: a unique wit for pointing out the idiosyncrasies of the real world.
By around season 5, the writers had build up an entire world, based around the fictional town of Springfield. Not only that, but all these characters had their own relationships with each other, that remained consistent and believable. The central characters are the Simpson family themselves. Parents Homer and Marge, kids Bart, Lisa and Maggie, their cat and dog, then the extended family: Grumpy grandpa Simpson, who can keep people distracted for hours by telling stories that go nowhere. Marge's unmarried, chain-smoking twin sisters Patty and Selma who live with their pet lizard and despise Homer, then there's all the other characters: next-door-neighbors The Flanders who are so religious only a cartoon could convey it. The staff and students of Bart and Lisa's school, Homer's co-workers and co-drinkers, Krusty the Klown, the TV clown who Bart worships, Police chief Wiggum who is so lazy he believes that people should "take the law into their own hands", sleazy bartender Moe, Apu, Reverend Lovejoy, Mr. Burns Homer's miserly boss as well as other interesting characters introduced in later seasons, such as Gil, the hapless loser who's wife has left him and seems to lose every job he gets. And brilliant once-off characters such as Hank Scorpio, The evil head of Globex corporation, who, it could be argued, is a rip-off of a James Bond villain. But that argument is quickly settled by the fact that no James Bond villain has ever been this funny, or indeed, evil. I could go on and on about these characters, but I won't, because if you've never seen the show I wouldn't dare spoil it for you.
Now in it's nineteenth season, with the long-awaited feature-length movie about to hit movie screens, I believe The Simpsons has had an incredible run. Its not nearly as funny as it used to be and hence not as popular, and I feel it's substituting very dark undertones where it used to have clever and funny jokes. I don't like this and I think The Show has given us enough laughs for the last 20 years to easily last another 20. I still don't tire of the old shows and there's so many of them the by the time you've sat through them all you've forgotten the first ones. Whether they decide to wrap it up in the next year or so, or if it Rolling Stones approach of going on and on way past its sell-by date, one thing is imminent: The Simpsons will not be forgotten.
By around season 5, the writers had build up an entire world, based around the fictional town of Springfield. Not only that, but all these characters had their own relationships with each other, that remained consistent and believable. The central characters are the Simpson family themselves. Parents Homer and Marge, kids Bart, Lisa and Maggie, their cat and dog, then the extended family: Grumpy grandpa Simpson, who can keep people distracted for hours by telling stories that go nowhere. Marge's unmarried, chain-smoking twin sisters Patty and Selma who live with their pet lizard and despise Homer, then there's all the other characters: next-door-neighbors The Flanders who are so religious only a cartoon could convey it. The staff and students of Bart and Lisa's school, Homer's co-workers and co-drinkers, Krusty the Klown, the TV clown who Bart worships, Police chief Wiggum who is so lazy he believes that people should "take the law into their own hands", sleazy bartender Moe, Apu, Reverend Lovejoy, Mr. Burns Homer's miserly boss as well as other interesting characters introduced in later seasons, such as Gil, the hapless loser who's wife has left him and seems to lose every job he gets. And brilliant once-off characters such as Hank Scorpio, The evil head of Globex corporation, who, it could be argued, is a rip-off of a James Bond villain. But that argument is quickly settled by the fact that no James Bond villain has ever been this funny, or indeed, evil. I could go on and on about these characters, but I won't, because if you've never seen the show I wouldn't dare spoil it for you.
Now in it's nineteenth season, with the long-awaited feature-length movie about to hit movie screens, I believe The Simpsons has had an incredible run. Its not nearly as funny as it used to be and hence not as popular, and I feel it's substituting very dark undertones where it used to have clever and funny jokes. I don't like this and I think The Show has given us enough laughs for the last 20 years to easily last another 20. I still don't tire of the old shows and there's so many of them the by the time you've sat through them all you've forgotten the first ones. Whether they decide to wrap it up in the next year or so, or if it Rolling Stones approach of going on and on way past its sell-by date, one thing is imminent: The Simpsons will not be forgotten.