The Simpsons Success

On Sunday October 16th, The Simpsons aired its 600th episode, which is quite the achievement. The Simpsons started on Fox in 1989 and has been on ever since, making it the longest-running animated American TV show of all time, and for good reason. Many people will say that The Simpsons should have been canceled a long time ago and that all the new episodes are terrible, but being the fan that I am, I have to disagree.

There are many reasons that The Simpsons has changed and grown with the times, as any good art form should be able to do. While many shows find trouble in being overly dedicated to the original premise, this is not true of The Simpsons. The show was meant to be grounded and about a lower middle class family, so in the first two seasons there are many issues that come from the family struggling for money. This plot point makes for great episodes, like season 2 episode 11, “One Fish, Two Fish, Blow Fish, Blue Fish,” where Homer ate a poisonous blowfish and they could not afford to save him, so there are some truly emotional scenes where Homer is saying goodbye to his family. But, by the end of season 2 the writers ran out of relatable premises, so they grew into more outlandish plots, from Homer jumping Springfield Gorge to Homer becoming an astronaut. The show allowed itself to become something different, and it still does.

The characters of the show grow with time, as they’ve become more than just the nicest next-door neighbors or the school bully who always has something to “haw-haw” at. There are many minor characters in Springfield, and the show has been using its many years on air to make these minor roles still full of personality. The Simpsons is willing to dedicate episodes to minor characters, like season 8 episode 8, “Hurricane Neddy,” about Ned Flanders losing his house in a hurricane, and because of this both his faith and his friendly nature are shaken. This is one of my favorite episodes, because it showed Ned’s past and fears and why he is always so friendly. Or consider Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, a character that was originally just an accent and a convenience store clerk, but in season 5 episode 13, “Homer and Apu,” Apu loses the Kwik E Mart, and we learn why he worked there and why it meant so much to him.

The show can take time to focus on whatever interesting story they come up with, without feeling the need to make the family the stars of every episode. The 22nd season finale, “The Ned-Liest Catch,” focuses on Ned Flanders and Edna Krabappel beginning to date, and this is an episode of note because it is only one of two episodes of The Simpsons to end on a cliff hanger. The Simpsons is about more than the Simpsons, it’s about the stories in Springfield.

Another reason The Simpsons can be so-long lasting is its lack of commitment to the past. We age, that is a fact of life; the Simpsons family does not age.. Even though Maggie would be 27 in our world, she remains an infant, meaning that time does not matter in their world like it does in ours. Because of this the past is always changing; in one episode Marge and Homer dated in the 70’s and in later seasons they dated in the 90’s. This also creates possibilities for more jokes, which are clearly important in comedies. For example, they can have Hans Moleman, the oldest sad sack in Springfield, die multiple times only to come back in a later episode to be hit in the crotch by a football. Every episode is entirely in the moment, and because of this the show is able to stay current. Every four years they make jabs at the election, Homer can struggle with the newest iPad, and Lisa can be cyberbullied at the height of the anti-bullying campaign. By ignoring the past, The Simpsons is able to stay up to date and remain in the zeitgeist.

The Simpsons success comes from something that has not changed—the love. Despite the cheesiness, the Simpsons are a family that does not like each other at all, but they do love each other, whereas a show like Family Guy is based in mocking and some hate for each other. There is a heart at the core of The Simpsons; it’s been there for 600 episodes and will be there for the next 600.