On the Simpsons

Best Write #3

Ay carumba! D’oh! These familiar sounds have filled living rooms around the world for more than a decade now, ever since the Simpsons animated series first made their debut in the 1980’s. Their hilarious antics, lampoons, and the outlandish way they deal with problems have made them the longest animated series to date, and after all this time, they are still going strong.

It all began when Matt Groening created the show back in fifteen minutes while waiting in the foyer of James L. Brooks’ office. The crude figures bore little resemblance to the streamlined characters of today, but the humor was still there. Brooks and Groening decided to give it a shot and started airing shorts on “The Tracy Ullman Show”. The first shorts appeared in 1987 and were almost immediately a success with audiences everywhere. It was soon decided to give the Simpsons their own show slot, and the first true episode aired in the fall of 1989. Since then, the Simpsons have been on the air ever since, averaging 23 or so new episodes per season. The characters have since become smooth and suave, abandoning their original lumpy and haggard look. Along with the characters, the content and plot evolved as well, becoming ever more pointed in humor and satirical in storyline. Often one would see lampoons of politicians, world events, television shows, movies, and anything else that could possibly be made the butt of jokes and the cause of laughter. Perhaps it is this that gives the Simpsons its popularity or perhaps it is merely earthy humor of everyday life depicted in the Simpson family.

There is large, brutish, and dull-witted Homer, meticulous, caring Marge, conniving, prankster Bart, brilliant Lisa, and of course little Maggie. The interactions of these five are what keep the show alive; this is its heart, but along with the heart, there must be a body: the town and its people. The show is set in sleepy little Springfield, whose exact whereabouts remain a...