The Rise and Fall of The Simpsons: America’s Best Cartoon Sitcom

One of the things I often lament is that, living in the U.S., there's no real appreciation for animation or cartoons, at least not in the way other parts of the world value them. In some European countries (France is a good example) as well as much of Latin America and nearly all of continental Asia, animation is highly respected as a medium, and in some cases, worshipped. In some Asian countries comic strips and manga are even available in vending machines. By contrast, in the U.S., if almost anything is animated, be it a TV show or film, it automatically has a negative connotation by most adults and is branded as “kid’s stuff.” 

The Simpsons was one of the first American creations to shift that perception, even if we animation fans are still largely fighting that belief today. Things have improved with other, more adult, fare being released since The Simpsons debut, but I don’t personally believe much of it has compared in quality to this show, beyond things like South Park, Futurama or some of the Adult Swim programs.  Because of the right combination of humor, heart and satirical relevance, The Simpsons has gone on to become the most influential, and, perhaps the most important piece of American television animation ever created. 

The original Simpsons debuted in 48 short comedy sketches in 1987.

It all started when legendary producer James L. Brooks got his hands on Matt Groening’s popular underground comic strip, Life in Hell. He had originally intended to use its characters for sketch comedy, but Groening, not wanting to lose ownership of his comic strip, developed a sitcom family based largely on his own. The Simpsons first appeared in 48 short cartoons, usually 30 to 90 second comedy skits, which were used as bumpers on the ever-popular Tracy Ullman Show. These, in my opinion, are some of the best Simpons moments ever, and, have even been dubbed by some fans as Season 0 of the show. Fox, being in its infancy, was looking for something new. Impressed enough with the concept, the network ordered thirteen half-hour episodes. The characters were redesigned from their less crude models, fleshed out to better serve the half hour sitcom format, and on December 19^th, 1989  the popular yellow-skinned family debuted with its own show, a Christmas special titled Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.

The Simpsons was an overnight sensation. The reason for the show’s rapid success is because it went against the grain and wasn’t afraid to push the envelope. Most television, especially sitcoms in the mid to late 1980’s, was quite bland, quite conformist and pedestrian. Other than The Cosby Show, most sitcoms were not overly popular. The 80’s brand of safe entertainment where nobody was offended or offensive seems, especially by today’s standards, incredibly boring and trite for any sitcom. People who were sick of the mid 1980’s sitcom formula, who couldn’t relate to those kinds of TV characters, suddenly found something to latch onto. The Simpsons were not a family with an overly successful doctor as the patriarch. They were rooted in the working class and the humor came from their everyday problems.

Some supporting characters are as memorable as The Simpsons themselves.

It was an amazing show for the first several seasons and parodied practically everything about late 80’s and 90’s American culture. The comedy was fresh, the jokes relevant and the characters were quickly becoming pop culture icons. The show seemed to work not only because Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie were so funny, but the supporting cast and background characters were also memorable. Characters like Moe, the bartender, Chief Wiggum, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, The Flanders family, Mr. Burns and Smithers, Bart’s best friend, Milhouse, Bart’s teacher, Edna Krabappel, Comic Book Guy, Sideshow Bob, and so many more, helped to round out the show and make the town of Springfield, with its mysterious location, seem that much more relatable.

By the mid 1990’s the show was firing on all cylinders. The unique cartoon gags like the rotating couch scene in the opening, as well as the contrasting personalities of the main characters made the show feel like it could do things that no other sitcom was capable of. It seemed The Simpsons unique brand of satire would endure for a long time and remain popular well into the new millennium. But then something happened. The show began to lose steam and the audience began to shrink. The show started to become something different than what it had been.

The unfortunate decline of the show, after the first decade or so, has come to be known as “Zombie Simpsons”. The exact moment when the show morphed from a smart, funny, fresh satire of American life to a show that lost its relevance is unclear. One thing is certain however, it has become an increasingly dim shadow of its former self. Some Simpsons fans put it at just after season 8, while others declare that the show got stale after the season 11 finale, “Behind the Laughter.” Some even cite “Behind the Laughter” as the show’s unofficial end. While many Simpsons fans have simply given up, the “Treehouse of Horror” anthology shows are considered the most popular episodes that have aired since the show’s apparent downfall.

And even though “Zombie Simpsons” has existed since about the year 2000, it’s not without its gems. Practically every episode of “Treehouse of Horror” remains brilliant. Every post-2000 season does bear some good episodes (a season 19^th episode called “Husbands and Knives” is quite hilarious) but, most of the time, cultural references aren’t as funny, the satire is often less topical and the jokes sometimes don’t land as well as they should. A lot of the same plots are recycled and the character development has been nearly nonexistent in the last ten seasons. The show went from an exceptional sitcom founded on satire and character driven humor to an often bland comedy show, reliant on too many gags to get by. That said, it’s still far better than the kind of TV that was mediocre when the show debuted.

I think the reason the show has become "the sitcom that wouldn't die" is that it has a primary fan base that refuses to put it out of its misery. Deep down, fans, and probably the cast at this point, know it isn’t what it used to be but, out of some sense of loyalty, we just keep watching. Have most of the original fans given up? Probably not, but it has lost a large chunk of its audience.

The Simpsons is a show that helped define the 90’s. It’s THE show that made it okay for American adults to watch cartoons and it's THE show that finally broke TV fans out of the glut that was late 80’s sitcom mediocrity. But, that show hasn’t been around for a long time. In its place is something… different. Should “Behind the Laugher” (the final episode of season 11) have been the last word on Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie? In my view, no! I’ll agree that “Zombie Simpsons” is the “undead version” of a once supreme prime-time experience, but there are decent episodes still to be found. It fought against the grain and became a standout. Now, it seems to just limp along (in search of brains?), hoping that the ratings don’t force cancellation. And that’s sad because The Simpsons was a formative experience of my youth. I do like a lot of what came out after the year 2000 and, while I no longer follow this show like I once did, I will at least keep watching the “Treehouse” episodes as long as they are made.