THE SIMPSONS is one of the funniest TV shows ever produced. Dismissive of the parameters of the filmed medium, the makers of this cartoon have allowed this series to lampoon modern life (particularly American) through a demonstrated capability to employ nearly all forms of humor: parody, slap-stick, wordplay, vaudeville, puns and given the variety of some plot scenarios, even surrealism.
Some have even gone so far as to say that the Simpsons inform us as much about the human condition as Plato, Aristotle or Kant. Superficially, the show revolves around the high-jinks of a drunken father (Homer), his moralizing house-wife (Marge), their delinquent son (Bart), intellectually inquisitive daughter (Lisa), and perennial silent infant (Maggie). There is a large cast of ensemble characters satirizing just about possibly imaginable sociological form.
The first few years were certainly quite Christian in content with Ten Commandment-type dilemmas posed and resolved usually quite haplessly by the Simpson family. The portrayal of life as a series of binary conventions lasted under make the third or fourth year when the show became openly and hilarious satirical. Here is where the show took off for the brilliance of the Simpsons lies in its openness to attack everyone: ordinary folk (the Simpsons), the two-sides to the well-respected Religious (the Flanders and Lovejoys), the corrupt and scheming politicians and company directors (Quimby, Burns), actors and entertainers (the Schwarzenegger analogue, McBain), and perverse and alarmist Newshound corporations (Kent Brockman) amongst many, many others.
The Simpsons, while not consistently delivering the charm and irreverence of its mid-years, is still a wonderfully delightful show. Some have advanced that the tri-partite of The Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy has offered an incisive critique of Western civilization without leaving any stone unturned. Whatever the reality, these and other imitators (even filmed media) owes a considerable debt to the trailblazing Simpsons.
Some have even gone so far as to say that the Simpsons inform us as much about the human condition as Plato, Aristotle or Kant. Superficially, the show revolves around the high-jinks of a drunken father (Homer), his moralizing house-wife (Marge), their delinquent son (Bart), intellectually inquisitive daughter (Lisa), and perennial silent infant (Maggie). There is a large cast of ensemble characters satirizing just about possibly imaginable sociological form.
The first few years were certainly quite Christian in content with Ten Commandment-type dilemmas posed and resolved usually quite haplessly by the Simpson family. The portrayal of life as a series of binary conventions lasted under make the third or fourth year when the show became openly and hilarious satirical. Here is where the show took off for the brilliance of the Simpsons lies in its openness to attack everyone: ordinary folk (the Simpsons), the two-sides to the well-respected Religious (the Flanders and Lovejoys), the corrupt and scheming politicians and company directors (Quimby, Burns), actors and entertainers (the Schwarzenegger analogue, McBain), and perverse and alarmist Newshound corporations (Kent Brockman) amongst many, many others.
The Simpsons, while not consistently delivering the charm and irreverence of its mid-years, is still a wonderfully delightful show. Some have advanced that the tri-partite of The Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy has offered an incisive critique of Western civilization without leaving any stone unturned. Whatever the reality, these and other imitators (even filmed media) owes a considerable debt to the trailblazing Simpsons.