By Andreas Trolf
Wired.com guest blogger
I can remember watching the first episode of The Simpsons. I was 12 years old and awkward, with the ill-defined aspiration of "being funny." In the 20 years since, as the show has defined and refined itself and undergone various changes — some for the better, many derided by fans — I have remained awkward.
The blame for this steadfast awkwardness can be (at least partially) attributed to watching The Simpsons with an evangelical enthusiasm. This year is a good one, however, to be a fan. In addition to a new unauthorized book detailing the none-too-pretty history of the show, Marge will be celebrating the fact that no one appears to age in Springfield by posing for Playboy.
Watching the show's 20th Halloween special, "Treehouse of Horror XX," which airs Sunday night on Fox, it's immediately obvious how far The Simpsons has come since the days of ubiquitous bootleg T-shirts (Black Bart and Rasta Bart being the most popular) and being derided by the first President George Bush.
While immediately and hugely popular, The Simpsons needed some time to find its legs. And although all of Springfield's denizens are richly and fully imagined, the show initially focused on the wrong Simpson.
Bart is a brilliant character, but for all his monkeyshines he's not compelling enough to be the main draw of the show. Things didn't really start moving until the writers realized that Homer was most deserving of our attention and adoration.
One could write volumes about Homer alone, and some have. There are books that use *The Simpsons *to teach everything from philosophy to physics, psychology to politics. And even now there are debates, discussions and outright fights raging on obscure websites over which season marks the show's apex and when, if at all, it jumped the shark (most fans list Seasons 4, 8 and 12 as high-water marks).
But aside from a didactic slant and rabid fan base, in its 20 years The Simpsons has opened the doors for the hordes of animated shows not necessarily aimed at kids that are currently on the air. For better or worse, South Park and Seth MacFarlane's shows (Family Guy, American Dad! and the new The Cleveland Show) wouldn’t exist if it weren't for Matt Groening's yellow nuclear family.
Given the immense talent involved with The Simpsons over the years, it’s no surprise that the show has been, if not always brilliant, then at least very good most of the time. This is more than can be said for almost any other show in television’s history. But even so, episodes can be hit or miss and there have been more than a few that have fallen flat. So where, on the occasion of the 20th "Treehouse of Horror," does The Simpsons find itself?
I think we’re old enough to talk like real adults, so I won't sugarcoat this. I've seen better.
Over the past two decades, pretty much every movie and TV show of note has been lampooned by The Simpsons. The "Treehouse of Horror" Halloween specials, in particular, consist of such parodies. Among others, we've seen Simpsons versions of The Shining, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Omega Man and The Fly as well as many, many send-ups of Twilight Zone episodes.
This year's Halloween special takes aim at Dial M for Murder, 28 Days Later and apparently Sweeney Todd. The three segments are enjoyable enough, and of them the second -- the zombie-themed "Don't Have a Cow, Mankind" -- is the funniest. But overall the episode is unremarkable. After watching it twice, I'm hard-pressed to recall a quotable one-liner, and although Homer does perform a hilarious musical number detailing his homosexual exploits, even that falls well short of the memorable songs of episodes past.
Writing this, I feel as though I’m betraying a dear friend, and I sorely wish it could have been otherwise. However, I will keep watching. Through laughter and chagrin, I will stick with The Simpsons. I’ve accepted that a certain proportion of disappointment must be inevitable, perhaps as payment for the many years of joy the series has evoked for me.
I'll stick with The Simpsons because the show is still capable of greatness, even if I can no longer find a "Do the Bartman!" T-shirt at my favorite liquor store.
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Andreas Trolf is a writer living in San Francisco. According to almost everyone, he grew up to be very funny.
Images courtesy Fox Broadcasting. Follow us on Twitter: @theunderwire.
See Also:
- Simpsons 20th Anniversary Continues With Stamps, Couch Gags
- 5 Indispensable Halloween Specials
- New Season of The Simpsons Promises Stars, Satire, Obama
- Leaked Simpsons Skit Blazes Through the Net
- Simpsons Plant Seeds of Invention
- Woo-hoo! Simpsons' Krusty Gets His Own Roller Coasters
- The Simpsons Mock Cult of Apple
