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First run of show: 1987 (shorts), 1989 (series) - present
Elton’s exposure of the show: 1987 - present
Like many of the fans who literally grew up with the series, I had stopped watching around the 10th season and that’s usually around the time most people in my age range had as well. Blame it on dating, school, cable, internet, or bad writing I didn’t really care watching the show in my early teens as I did when I was a child. It may have had to do with the line-up surrounding the show then, but in my heart of hearts I figured the show would still be around no matter when and how old I got. The Simpsons was like a childhood family pet in a sense that no matter where you went when you left home after you grew up, it would be there to greet you when came home to visit.
Sure there had been contract issues before and threats of replacing the actors or even ending the show. If anything, despite the ups and down of the show, it seems to be a labor of love for the actors, Creator Matt Groening, Producer James L. Brooks, and long-time Showrunner Al Jean and they were willing to keep the train moving previous times before. What scared me about this particular round of contract talks was Fox’s claim that the show was not making enough money in return for the cost it was to produce and cuts were needed. Fair enough. The actors seemed willing to do the cuts, provided they got a percentage of the back-end merchandising deals (why didn’t they have the sweetest plum before?) but the network wouldn’t budge and it looked like a real possibility that the show was going to end over a few (million) dollars.
Thankfully, everything got squared away and production rolls on. Since the movie came out in 2007, I have been watching it more frequently, but still sporadic. As my friend, comedian Jon Holmes would say (to the effect): “The show went from great seasons, to great episodes, to great lines.” I think this is a great summary of the series. On some recent viewings, some good things I have noticed were:
- Animation quality
- Topical humor
- Visual humor
As an animated show, The Simpsons has always been good about these things, but with the increase of commercial time (and decrease of show time), the show still packs some punches with it humor whether it verbal or non-verbal of the times I have watched it (again sporadic). While the recent episodes are far from “Deep Space Homer”, an episode from a few years back with Bart showing his G.I. Joe “with insufficient armor” had laughing and going “good stuff”.
Some not so good things I have noticed were:
- “Family Guy” like storytelling
- Ten year old children sounding like 50yr old adults
- Hank Azaria voicing multiple antagonists with the same voice.
I think Simpsons has gone away from that style of constant asides recently (or maybe Family Guy has just gotten rid of storylines all together?). But the most notable thing for me since my (sporadic) re-visiting of the long-running sitcom has been the aging of the character as heard in their voices. It is as noticeable as Homer from season one to season two. Maybe if I didn’t stop watching the show, it wouldn’t bug me as much, but I’ve come to realize that the actors are getting old and death is creeping up a little closer (for some more than others).
Quick note: Nancy Cartwright, a Kettering, OH, did speak at my college, Wright State, when I was attending. It was an emotional experience (one I’ll explore later) and she seemed to have no problem sticking around as a ten year old boy forever.
She said this back in 2007. Its 2011 now. “25” seems like a good number to end on. Eventually, the house pet at your parent’s house dies. For me, The Simpsons, like a house pet, got taken for granted as something that would never go away. Its something that was with you from the beginning. But as the house pet gets older and you visit the parents occasionally, you begin to get a sense of the borrowed time and realize death is very real possibility. I could be getting sentimental over nothing and the show could go on another twenty years, but my feeling is that I ought to enjoy what I got now before its put to rest for good – which I feel is sooner than later.
All reference information is made primarily from my memory, Wikipedia, and IMDB and will be stated as such unless otherwise noted. All images will primarily be used from Wikipedia and cited under Creative Commons with the intent of review and fair use
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