On Discussing The Simpsons

The following sample essay on Discussing “The Simpsons” have been up and running on our screens for fifteen spectacular years. Originally the idea for the “the Simpsons” came from a comic strip called “life in hell” ,as this was a comic strip hanging outside of James. L. Brooks office , the executive producer for the “Tracy Ullman Show”. “The Simpsons” cartoon was created by Matt Groening. Matt Groening decided to make 30 to 60 second clips of The Simpsons ,these were put on the “Tracy Ullman Show” leading in and out of the “Tracy Ullman Show” whenever there was a commercial break.

These little clips are also known as ‘bumpers’.

The bumpers were a huge success with the ‘Tracy Ullman Show’ audience ,as the bumpers were so successful Fox Network took a huge risk of producing a half-hour sitcom. This was a huge risk as it was not test marketed on any groups of viewers at any stage. The first ever Simpsons episode was aired on December 17th 1989, it was a half-hour long Christmas special called ‘The Simpsons roasting on an open fire’, although this episode was an Christmas special it had a little twist to the end ,Homer does not have enough money to buy presents for the children and in the end he ends up with a dog which they named ‘Santa’s little helper’.

In January 14th 1990 , Matt Groening made the first series consisting of thirteen episodes which cost Fox Network $10 million ,finally The Simpsons were here. The first series was a huge success with the audience , as it raced its way into the top 20 in the Neilson rating figures , this was a first for the Fox Network production.

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Within two months of The Simpsons being broadcasted ,it reached into the top 15 this was absolutely amazing as the Fox Network only reached four-fifths of all Americans .

Soon after The Simpsons became known as ‘Americas first family’ but in the recent years Americas presidential electron Dan Quayle went on national television to accuse ‘The Simpsons’ of being immoral and corrupting the American way of life and the values of the American way of life. I do not agree with the statement above as I think that it is only a television show and it should not be taken to heart, I say this because the Simpsons is just a sitcom which is aimed to make people laugh . I agree with the following statement which says ‘you can learn all of life’s lessons by watching the Simpsons’. The quote given above was by Mel Gibson, I agree with that quote because in the Simpsons they do something wrong but in order to solve it they must do something right which sets a good example on the viewers.

The Simpsons have been used as a single most important point by the launch of sky-one ,recently as concern has grown over sky-one’s audience rating, they now screen two half-hour episodes per week rather than one. Behind the television sitcom ‘The Simpsons’ is a whole line of production. The production starts from Matt Groening and his team brainstorming ideas together. They then write out a script ,they also have a good read through of the script.

After they have read through the script and checked for any errors they then record the script onto a tape , they then send the tape off to klasky-csupo in Los Angeles, where the animation process begins, they have 100 animators who draw approximately 2,000 drawings. However this is not the end of the production ,from klasky-csupo the drawings are sent to Korea where the show is animated ,a further 250,000 drawings are made. Then six to ten months later. The finished episode is sent back to Matt Groening which is then broadcasted to the viewers all around the world . ‘The Simpsons’ is an American show which is also an cartoon.

Although it is animated and the characters are yellow and are very exaggerated ,it is also very true to everyday life as it deals with everyday conflicts and arguments experienced by ordinary families and it also makes fun of the American way of life. This has played a huge part in ‘The Simpsons’ success as it is a funny yet a colorful cartoon for the younger audience but a typical day to day scene for the adult viewers ,it also takes the fun out of the American way of life. I think that Bart is highly loved by the younger viewers as he is a bad influence to them as Bart misbehaves . On the other hand Homer Simpson is very loved by the adult viewers as he should be the backbone of the family but he is like a forth child.

I say this because he swears, drinks, careless. The Simpsons are also a success because the family are always fighting but somehow in the end they are reunited again. The family mat not be human due to their yellow colors and three fingers but the situations they face are situations that families like mine and yours face. However the family altogether I think is split up into two categories itself as Bart, Lisa and Maggie apply to the younger audience and Marge, Homer apply to the older audience.

The Simpsons may not be a real life family and they may only be a sitcom but they have certainly touched our whether it be in a good way or a bad way. Many people have many opinions about The Simpsons this has led to so much controversy , arguments and disputes. Some people like to believe that the Simpsons are a bad influence not only to the viewers but also to the American way of life, however there other people who believe the ‘The Simpsons’ is the best sitcom ever to be produced .

This has led to endless controversy not only by viewers but also by politicians and celebrities , an example of this could be in 1992 American Presidential Electron Dan Quayle went on national television to accuse the Simpsons of being immoral ,corrupt and un-respectful ,as it made the fun out of the American way of life and other real life situations he also called the Simpsons dangerous.

I do not agree with that statement as I think he is being too harsh on the Simpsons, as they are only a cartoon in which they do not try to offend anyone in any way. Many other individuals like me would argue that statement for example Jamie Oliver as he said “Homer is the man as far as am concerned. My favorite guest was Barry White, who sang to charm the snakes into Homers house, to prevent them being killed on whacking day”.

Also Mel Gibson would disagree as he said “you can learn all of life’s lessons from watching “The Simpsons”. I highly agree with the statements given by Mel Gibson and Jamie Oliver because I also believe that the Simpsons are not a bad influence on viewers or the American way of life. As you can see from what I have written above that the Simpsons are very controversial ,which I think is a good thing for the Simpsons in a way as I think that the controversy has took a big part in the Simpsons huge success.

Everyday in the world of television we see many families if not having family crisis then just eating dinner round the table together. We see many television families either cartoon or real life ,solving problems. However “The Simpsons” are different to other families on television this is because The Simpsons family are very different due to the fact that whenever they go out it just gets from bad to worse. Even though their days out together are ruined ,somehow in the end they are always together. A great example of this could be the episode ‘There’s No Disgrace Like Homer’. In this episode believe it or not Homer was trying to be normal as he was invited to Mr. Burn’s party.

Homer clearly wanted to make an good impression on Mr. Burns but like always this was not possible as Marge ended up getting drunk, Maggie was left in the children’s play room and Bart and Lisa were fighting like always. Homer then notices a perfect family ,which then made Homer want to be like them. Therefore Homer takes the family to a therapy center but it all goes wrong and in the end Homer and his family go home together. We do not see this happening in other sitcoms whether they are real or cartoon I. e. ‘Eastenders’ and ‘Tom and Jerry’. This is what makes the Simpsons so different and special.

We also see all of our everyday problems in ‘The Simpsons’ I. e. bills, family crisis, Homer works , however the Simpsons are very different to any other family on television as I have explained above. The Simpsons in every aspect are loved by most of their viewers. This is what makes ‘The Simpsons’ different to any other television families whether they are real or fictional. The Simpsons is highly controversial as many people love it but a small majority of people find it abusive and inappropriate. Most people watch the Simpsons and they love it. The Simpsons is expressed in a very good way.

Matt Groening has made the Simpsons work by putting satire and parody in each of the Simpsons episodes. These two references are cleverly used in each Simpsons episode, an example could be when homer was chasing Bart down the stairs and they made it look like Indiana Jones. That could be an example of parody and an example of satire could be Mayor Quimby is criticized as a mayor all the time when you see him walking out with different ladies all the time and he doesn’t even concentrate on his role. The Simpson’s are trying to say that presidents/mayors are useless and don’t do there jobs properly.

Satire and parody is where the real comedy comes from and to make it even more funny Matt Groening tends to use elastic band reality, this is when they stretch reality into exaggeration I. e. death an example could be Homers cliff scene. Matt Groening uses elastic band reality to make the Simpsons even more funny. I would classify ‘the Simpsons’ as a sitcom (situation comedy) because ‘the Simpsons’ make the viewers laugh by what is going around in the world. Therefore I would classify ‘The Simpsons’ as a sitcom. The Simpsons maybe a sitcom but they are not human yet we love them. I personally

think that ‘The Simpsons’ are great even though they have three fingers but we normally tend to forget that the Simpsons are yellow and have three fingers because we are so engaged to the humor in the show. The bright vibrant color yellow attracts and engages the younger audience. ‘The Simpsons’ normally seems to be action packed from the start to end and all the action takes place in their home town of Springfield. The show is action packed from beginning right the way through to the end. We all mainly love ‘The Simpsons’ because they are very funny ,everyone finds ‘The Simpsons’ funny if not in one way then in many different ways.

The Simpsons base their comedy mainly on stereo-typical views and the things we find funny I. e. things like violence, making fun out of the celebrities, Bart’s mischief’s. We are made to laugh by the satire and parody which is used in many of the jokes but most of the time elastic band reality makes us laugh, a good example of this could be the episode “Bart’s New Dad”. The elastic band reality in this episode would be when Homer and Tom were fighting and they rolled down the cliff fighting and came up the cliff fighting too. That was a good example of elastic band reality in action.

However different age range will find different things funny. I think that the younger audience would find most of the violence and arguments funny whereas the older audience would find that funny too but also they would find the visual and verbal jokes funny. The younger audience love it when Homer strangles Bart. They also love the slapstick comedy in the show, slapstick comedy is comedy that u laugh about when someone is getting hurt an example of this could be when Homer strangles Bart.

They also love itchy & scratchy and krusty the clown. I have not just made this up as I have back up evidence for my points, as I asked my cousin jay who is ages eight what he thought of the Simpsons. This is what he had to say ” I think that the Simpsons are very funny and I love it when Homer strangles Bart and when Bart pranks Moe”. From my cousins statement you can see that the younger generation follow Bart as a role model. Furthermore the older audience would be a bit more mature and would find the film references funny and also the parody of older movies, role rehearsals, stereotypes. There you see two collaborations of audiences which are made to laugh by ‘The Simpsons’. ‘The Simpsons’ are probably the most stereotyped family in the world of sitcom. I say this due to their characteristics I. e. Homer brings all the money into the house.

Marge is a typical housewife who takes care of the children and who is in charge of the money. Bart is a mischievous and Lisa is the clever one out of the two. Homer is a typical stereotype of a man who brings all the money into the house and who tries his best to keep everyone happy, I think that these stereotypes were used for Homer because they are trying to give an impression that Homer is a good father who is kind of mentally dopey but tries his best to keep the family together.

In whole Homer is a good stereotype when he wants to be but most of the time I think he is a bad stereotype. Marge is a typical stereotype of a good housewife, although she tries her best to contribute to the families financial status. I think these stereotypes were given to Marge because she is an example of a typical housewife who takes care of the children I. e. sends them to school on time, makes their packed lunches. She also has control over some of the houses financial output and input. In whole I think that Marge is a good role model to see because she hardly does anything bad.

These scenarios are like real life situations as the wife does the housework ,takes care of the children and the husband brings the money into the house. Bart is a stereotype of a mischievous boy who loves to play pranks on other individuals of the community. He is also a stereotype of a older brother who bosses his little sister around all the time but although he bosses his little sister around, he still loves her and cares for her. An example of this could be when she gets bullied I. e. the episode ‘Bart The General’, when Lisa makes cupcakes and one of Nelson’s friend eats them Bart still sticks up for Lisa.

Although Bart maybe bossy towards his sister, he still loves her and cares for her. I think these stereotypes are used for Bart because they are trying to show brotherly and sisterly love between Bart and Lisa. Lisa is a stereotype of a hardworking, sensible schoolgirl who tries her very best in school and tries to keep herself out of trouble. I think that these stereotypes were used particular for Lisa because they are trying to give an impression of a good school girl who wants to make herself but more importantly her parents proud by achieving her ambition in life. I think that Maggie is a stereotype of a innocent baby who is very clever as she shot Mr.

Burns, but little do the Simpsons family know that Maggie is more brainy then Lisa as she shot Mr. Burns. Maggie is like a finishing touch to “The Simpsons” as she lives in her own world. Furthermore the audience know something that The Simpsons family don’t. The Simpsons family on the whole is highly stereotyped and criticized not only by the media but also by the politicians. I think that the Simpsons family on the whole is a stereotype of a hardworking family who earn their living. I think that these stereotypes were used for ‘The Simpsons’ family because they wanted to show the world real life situations but also instead of making them feel sad about it they make them feel happy and bring a smile on their faces.

The Simpsons sitcom is filled with many characteristics, each having their own appearances, personality and their own characteristics. Homer Simpson is a fat, bold working father/husband who brings the money into the house. His characters personality is very funny as he is very dumb and dopey. However his wife Marge Simpson is completely the opposite of Homer Simpson, as she is very clever and not dopey. Marge Simpson has big afro type hair, always wears a green dress and a red necklace. Marge’s personality is very different to her husbands personality as she is very intelligent and always awake.

She also believes in second chances for example in the episode where Bart shot the bird and he had to win Marge’s trust back by being very kind to her and helping her do housework. Marge’s personality is very sweet as she would do anything for her children. Bart is a spiky hair, mischievous boy who wears an orange t-shirt and blue shorts, he is nearly always seen on his skateboard. Bart’s personality is a typical naughty boys personality. Bart is a mischievous young boy I. e. when he prank phone calls Moe’s tavern. Furthermore Bart has a soft spot in his heart as he loves his sister and cares for her e. g. when Nelson and co bully Lisa, and Bart sticks up for her and takes the beatings. Lisa is a bright young girl.

Lisa also has spiky hair and wears a yellow dress. Lisa’s personality is very like Marge’s and sometimes can be like Bart’s. She tries to keep her family together and she is very jolly and well mannered. Lisa’s role in the family is to be a hardworking young girl who has a bright future ahead of her. She also loves her family and is a genius. Maggie has a blue dress and spiky hair like Lisa, however Maggie maybe a baby but she is more clever than Lisa as she was the one that shot Mr. Burns. She also knows how to do scientific equations with her building blocks.

This is one thing that The Simpson family do not know and that the audience do. I also think that she adds the finishing touches to the family. I think that The Simpsons are both a dysfunctional family and also a realistic family. I say this because they are dysfunctional family when they went to Mr. Burns party but they got split up as Marge got drunk, Maggie got put into a television room and Bart and Lisa were fighting. However in the end they got back together.

I also say that they are a realistic family because they face everyday real life issues like paying bills, doing house chores, going to work. There I have given you two examples of my viewings about The Simpsons, dysfunctional or realistic?. These both come down to the relationships between the family members. Homer’s relationship with his wife Marge is excellent as every night before they go to sleep they say that they love each other. They also have a good sex life too. This shows that Homer and Marge love each other very much.

However Homer’s relationship with the other members of the family is not all love, as he shares a love hate relationship with Bart. I say this because sometimes Homer and Bart spend quality time together but sometimes they are arguing, shouting and at each others necks. Homer’s relationship with Lisa I would say is not too weak or not too strong. I say this because when Lisa gets an A grades Homer does not take notice but when Bart gets an F grade he puts his paper on the fridge. Even though Homer is unfair to Lisa, he is always there for Lisa for example, when Lisa was going to do a performance in school and Homer did not want to come but in the end he came because he wanted to see his little girl happy.

Homer does sometimes manage to take no notice of Lisa I. e. when he was too busy watching TV and Lisa asked homer if she can use the phone and homer without letting her finish the sentence said yeah. Homer’s relationship with Maggie is weak as he does not spend no time with her and he constantly forgets her name. Marge’s relationship with Homer couldn’t be any better as they love each other, do things together like go to the spa together. Marge’s relationship with Bart is a typical mother and son relationship as they have their ups and downs together, sometimes they love each other and spend time together but sometimes they fall out I. e. when Bart shot the bird and Marge was upset with him but she gave him a second chance to improve.

Marge’s relationship with Lisa is great because she acts like a role model for Lisa to follow. Their relationship is also great because when Lisa is in trouble or worried about something. Marge is always there for Lisa, if she needs a hug or just a little chat. Marge’s relationship with Maggie is excellent as wherever you see mare you always see Maggie with her, so you can tell that Marge really loves Maggie with all her heart.

Bart has and unusual relationship with Homer as sometimes they love each other and spend quality time together however they always seem to be at each others necks and they argue over little things like what to watch on TV. Bart’s relationship with Marge is a typical mother and son relationship as they have been through a lot together. Bart’s relationship with Lisa is very sweet as he picks on her, makes her cry at home, but in school Bart helps Lisa out if she is being bullied by anyone. I don’t think that Bart shares a relationship with Maggie because I have never seen Bart playing with Maggie or spending time with Maggie, therefore I think that he does not have a relationship with Maggie at all. Lisa’s relationship with Homer is a typical father and daughter relationship as they have their ups and downs but in the end they are always together.

Lisa’s relationship with Marge is great because she can talk to Marge whenever she has a problem that needs solving or when she’s in trouble. Lisa’s relationship with Bart is a typical brother and sister relationship as they are always fighting but they love each other and care for each other. I font think that Lisa has a relationship with Maggie because she is never seen with Maggie. I also think that Maggie does not share a relationship with anyone in the family apart from Marge. I say this because I have never seen Maggie with anyone else in the family apart from Marge.

The family in whole I think are not a good role models for families to follow because the family do not spend enough quality time together which does not set a good example, although each person in the family has their own role which they play, they are more or a bad family than good. I say this because in vacations everything goes wrong and Bart does not listen to Marge and Homer.

Homer forgets Maggie’s name, which is not a good sign because if he was a good father and they were a good family this would not happen. In conclusion The Simpsons is a spectacular sitcom that has been on our screens for over fifteen spectacular years. Which is a heck of a long time for a cartoon, but then we ask ourselves the question how do they do it?. Well The Simpsons are different to any other sitcom family although they are cartoon characters, they deal with real life situations like bills, house chores, going to and from work.