Watch What We Say
The Simpsons
By Jason Lee
September 30, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
This week on Watch What We Say: More wacky fun and adventure in the town of Springfield.
There isn't much you can say about The Simpsons that hasn't been said before. There are people who still love the show, people who are no longer fans of the show, people who never liked the show in the first place and people who still smile fondly when the show comes up in conversation.
The Simpsons has certainly run the gamut with regard to public opinion since it debuted in 1989. From its early beginnings as celebrated, satirical, social commentary to its anointment as a ratings smash, followed by its inclusion on almost every list of "The Best TV Shows Ever" at the turn of the millennium, and then recently with accusations of declining writing quality and an overall lack of edginess in the face of new shows like South Park and Family Guy . . . after all this, I would argue that The Simpsons has settled into a cozy position of patriarchy in the TV landscape.
Though no longer the "coolest" show to be watching and with its trailblazing path populated with younger, more provocative shows that reap the benefit of having seen firsthand how to create successful primetime animated content, The Simpsons is a television institution. I would venture to say that there's nary a person in the United States (or around the globe?) that hasn't seen at least one episode of The Simpsons. And even if its ratings aren't as high as they once were, the Simpsons and their friends are always around to provide 30-minutes of humor and wit when someone's in need.
But enough of this congratulatory nonsense. We're here to celebrate the 20th season premiere of The Simpsons. With 421 episodes in the can, only Gunsmoke and Lassie have had more episodes than The Simpsons. Already out of its teenage years and heading into adulthood, the natural question for any TV watcher to ask is: "Twenty years later, is The Simpsons still funny?"
My answer to that is "Undoubtedly, yes." Granted, I am not one of those die-hard Simpsons fans who were fanatical about the show in the early 1990s and are now relegated to monotonous, whiny complaining that "The Simpsons isn't as good as it used to be" as they tearfully clutch their Season 5 DVD set. Nonetheless, as I watched The Simpsons 20th season premiere, I laughed. A lot.
The episode itself was quintessential Simpsons. The plot centers around new vocations for Springfield's First Couple. Marge is initially thrilled when a local small business owner takes a shine to her culinary prowess and hires her as professional baker in his shop. To her chagrin, she finds out that her delectable delights are actually being served as erotic edibles.
Homer, on the other hand, finds new work as a bounty hunter, tracking and apprehending criminals who've skipped out on their court hearings. In an odd twist (but in line with recent character developments) Homer teams up with neighbor, Ned Flanders, for his job because Ned is "kind and smart," while he is "cruel and strong." Together, they make the ultimate bounty hunter.
This allows Homer to bring his kids some fantastic gifts from his job – a bag of ammunition casings for Bart ("Wow, some still have bullets in them!" Bart exclaims) and a chemistry set for Lisa ("Is this from a meth lab?" Lisa questions). As you might imagine, Marge does not bring home anything from work.
But like all episodes of The Simpsons in recent years, the plot is merely a device that allows the writers of The Simpsons to deliver sly, humorous jabs at American life and the world at large. As the story lightly skips along from scene to scene, we are treated to quips about the feud between Northern and Southern Irish groups, anecdotes on spicing up one's married life and a hilarious courtroom scene in which the Incredible Hulk makes a case for moving his trial to a different town.
I think that what The Simpsons does better than anyone else on TV is mix witty dialogue with broad, slapstick humor. At one moment, you can be watching Homer flee from a fellow bounty hunter (parodying every over-the-top cinematic chase sequence in recent memory) and at the next, you could be laughing at dialogue like this:
Ned: If I'm your partner, you have to agree to do things by the book.
Homer: Then you agree that there'll be no ‘diddlys' or ‘doodleys.'
Ned: You have a deal-a-rooney!
Homer: D'oh!
After 20 years, either this stuff still brings a smile to your face or it doesn't. You either enjoy it or you don't. If you don't, then there are hundreds of channels with hundreds of TV shows that would be more than happy to have your attention. There are police procedurals, courtroom dramas, medical dramas, game shows, reality shows, sitcoms . . . a little something for everyone.
But if you enjoy strong writing, great voice acting, sharp satire, pop-culture parodies, musical sequences, cartoony violence, fat men who work at power plants, nagging mothers who mean well, unruly adolescent pranksters, eco-friendly nerds that also happen to be Buddhists, TV clowns, Kwik-E-Mart owners, bumbling police chiefs, emphysemic sisters, ugly bar owners, Disco Stu's, or Duff Men . . . if you like any of those, then there's only one Simpsons.
Watch What We Say rating for The Simpsons series: Four TiVos
Watch What We Say rating for The Simpsons 20th Season Premiere: Three-and-a-Half TiVos
Watch What We Say: Rating System
Four TiVos: This is television content raised to the level of a transcendent art form. Not only should you TiVo this program for yourself, you should keep it on your TiVo for future generations to watch and savor.
Three TiVos: This is a very good show with a regular spot in my TiVo rotation. I watch every week and will often invite my friends over to share the enjoyable experience.
Two TiVos: I'll TiVo this show if I need something to watch while I'm folding laundry or dusting furniture.
One TiVo: I actively dislike this show and never allow it to take up space in my TiVo. Often times, I'll gripe about the show's producers, ridicule the actors and lambaste the network for keeping it on the air.
Zero TiVos: If this show is on, I unplug my TiVo for fear that the show is accidentally recorded and my entire home entertainment system gets contaminated with this malignant, diseased trash.