This post is for Monday, March 17. I started school again so things are a bit hectic. bear with me, I should have everything ironed out in the next couple of weeks.
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So. The Simpsons is in its 25th season. That means The Simpsons has been on the air for almost as long as I can remember. Definetly as long as I can remember caring about television. The Simpsons is an American staple, and its one of the longest running shows ever conceived.
A lot of people will tell you that The Simpsons isn't funny anymore. I completely disagree. The simpsons has changed with the times, opening itself to a wider audience and being more inclusive of its humor. At times it's punchy, with sight gags and absurdist humor the likes of which can't really be found anywhere else. At times it's satirical, with witty and scathing commentary on any number of hot button issues facing America today. Sometimes it's even self depreciating, making fun of its own oddball rogues gallery and breaking the fourth wall for a send up of the very disbelief we have been suspending for so long.
Over its quarter century on the air, The Simpsons has grown with its audience, we loved the antics of Bart and Homer as kids, and as we matured so did our tastes. And The Simpsons matured right along with us. Over time the show became less about 'Bart and his family' and much more about life in general. Always poking fun at the changes happening in society, even as we struggled to accept and understand them. The Simpsons has been there for us every step of the way. But eventually, we had to blossom as adults in our own right, and The Simpsons started to lose us.
Some say The Simpsons isn't funny anymore. But that's not true The Simpsons hasn't gotten worse, it has embraced it's role in the lives of our children. Sure, Homer and crew may not be the cultural pioneers we grew up loving anymore, but it's not OUR culture they have to pioneer for anymore. I could spend hours talking about the Reagan era America that The Simpsons began as a reaction to, and how it has grown to embrace (and even lead, at times) the cultural revolution that grew from the backlash against the social conservatism of my fathers time. I could write pages and pages about how The Simpsons has impacted American culture.
And I might. But not today.
For today, I am going to tell you my two favorite Simpsons episodes. Why two? because The Simpsons has two kinds of plots. Gut-bustingly hilarious and Sentimental (but still funny). You know exactly what I'm talking about. Sometimes The Simpsons can be laugh-out-loud hilarious, and other times it can be touching almost to the point of tears (with some chuckles along the way. So I have a favorite in each category. And if you (for some unholy reason) have never watched The Simpsons, Watch these two episodes. It's worth an hour of your time, I promise.
SPOILER WARNING!
Favorite Hilarious Episode: You Only Move Twice
- Homer gets a job at a new nuclear facility as a manager, moving his family from Springfield to the planned community that serves his new employer, Hank Scorpio ("So long, stink town!"). It soon becomes evident that all is not what it seems, as each member of the family seems to have their own trouble fitting in. All except for Homer, who loves (and for once is good at) his new job. It turns out that Scorpio is actually a James Bond-esque supervillian with aims on conquering large portions of the world, and Homer is in charge of getting his Doomsday Device's nuclear reactor up and running. Homer is blissfully unaware of all this and eventually has to succumb to his family's pleading to go home to Springfield. In what might be the funniest 6 minutes on television, he quits his new job and gets his family back on the road.
Favorite Touching Episode: And Maggie Makes Three
- The kids ask why there aren't any pictures of Maggie (the baby) around the house, and Homer tells the story of the surprise third Simpson child. Culminating in begging the evil Mr. Burns for his old job back. Mr. Burns agrees but puts a permanent plaque on the wall in Homers office that reads "DON'T FORGET, YOU'RE HERE FOREVER". At the end of the story, Homer (who has been unenthusiastic about the third baby all the way through the pregnancy) falls instantly in love with the new bundle of joy. The very end sees the kids ask where all the pictures of Maggie are, as Homer didn't answer them with his story. Homer says "I keep them where I need them most." and the camera pans to his office, where we see the plaque, covered in pictures of Maggie, with most of the letters obscured so that it now reads "DO IT FOR HER".
I got a little teary-eyed just typing that up. thats how good The Simpsons can be. Until tomorrow, Lovelies!
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