The Simpsons Generation

[The Captain]

I was having this discussion with some friends and one of them coined the term, "The Simpsons Generation" to refer to anyone who is born there about 1980 or so and grew up with The Simpsons and other shows of it's ilk, "Married With Children" et al, that were at once straight comedies but also perfectly captured a mood and a place in society. People now come to expect their entertainment to be at once whip smart, full of pop culture references, zany, absurdist AND yet, still attempting a story and I think that can be attributed to The Simpsons.

The show spawned countless other shows from Family Guy, Futurama and South Park to Arrested Development and Community, as rapid-fire comedies that can also have a deeper pathos and message sometimes seamlessly layered in.

Plus, I could argue, that from about season 3 until season 9, it was the funniest show EVER. That's a run that no other show will ever rival. The fact that it's still putting out new episodes, at granted, diminished returns, only speaks to the longevity that was started way back in the, wow, 1980's!

It left me wondering, specifically, about "The Simpsons", could this well be the greatest achievement in American TV comedy? I have yet to meet someone who hasn't at least HEARD of Homer or Bart, or tries to do a Mr. Burns impression.

So, I wanted your take on this, and also, I'm very curious what our non-American members think of "The Simpsons". How do you view the show? Is it a very American-ized show and thus a bit gets lost in translation? Or is funny just funny? (Which is what I believe)

Take care all.

[Del Murder]

The Simpsons is the greatest TV show ever made. I agree that they had an amazing run that will probably never be matched by any show.

I am proud to be part of The Simpsons generation. I watched the very first episode the night it aired and haven't stopped watching since.

[Loony BoB]

It's not a strictly American show. Almost all of the gags work internationally, which is great. If there are gags that only work for Americans, they are probably few and far between or just not very noticeable... which to me says that the writers are very good at what they do. In the case of the Simpsons, funny is just funny. A lot of American shows translate very well to the rest of the world when it comes to comedy. Now that I think about it, I wonder why many American stand-up comedians don't translate nearly as well as the comedy TV shows? Huh. Oh well.

Ditto Murd, I'm proud to be part of the Simpsons generation. It is a great achievement that it's still running, although sometimes a TV show needs to know when to quit and many will say that the Simpsons is just now living off past glories rather than continuing to shine. I think a good example of knowing when to quit would be that of Friends, which for me was on the wane when it stopped, still managed to have a proper finish to the series and didn't get to the point where I felt it wasn't worth keeping up with anymore. But obviously The Simpsons and Friends are two very different shows, so yeah. I would say it's safe to say that The Simpsons will not be overtaken when it comes to the length of it's success throughout the world. At least not anytime soon.

[Del Murder]

The Simpsons is certainly past its peak, but every now and then an episode comes along that reminds me of its former glory. This season it was the episode where Bart took the family on a cruise. It wasn't about guest stars, gimmicks, or Homer doing some idiot thing, just The Simpsons plopped into an amusing situation that they can't seem to get out of. Some of their greatest episodes (including Itchy and Scratchy Land--my favorite episode) were about just that.