The Simpsons is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and even though the characters haven’t aged a single year, they have definitely changed a lot. Created by Matt Groening, The Simpsons were originally a series of animated shorts that became part of The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987. After three seasons, they were developed into a half-hour primetime show, and thus The Simpsons as fans now know it was born.
The Simpsons is currently enjoying its 31st season and can go on happily with its adventures as a 32nd one has already been confirmed. The Simpsons is the longest-running American scripted TV series and it has expanded to other media, most notably comic books, video games, and film with The Simpsons Movie. Although the show has been praised for its humor and depiction of various social issues, it has also gotten its dose of controversy over the years.
The series has been banned in several countries, Apu has been the subject of controversy for its “stereotypical nature”, and Bart has been labelled as a poor role model for children – among many other controversies. The Simpsons has evolved over the course of thirty years, sometimes learning from its past mistakes, others not so much, and it's not the same show viewers met in 1989.
How The Simpsons Has Changed
The Simpsons’ first episode, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”, aired on December 17, 1989, on Fox. This holiday special followed the family as they struggled to have a normal Christmas: Homer discovered he wasn’t getting a Christmas bonus and Bart got a tattoo, so the family had to use all their money (saved for Christmas presents) to get the tattoo removed. In need of money and after a failed job as shopping mall Santa Claus, Homer went to the dog-racing track hoping to earn some money, but ended up adopting an abandoned greyhound: Santa’s Little Helper. Though not the funniest nor one of the best Simpsons episodes, it was enough to draw the attention of viewers and critics, who would get to truly know what the Simpsons' type of humor was about in the following episodes.
The first episode showed how much of a dysfunctional family the Simpsons are, but also that they care a lot about each other, which in the end is what helps them get through most of their troubles. The Simpsons is also known for adding various pop culture references to its episodes, something that was funny at first but has now become tiresome, as the episodes are now more concerned with having as many pop culture references and celebrity cameos as possible than having a well structured story. The quality of the series has been in decline for years, with viewers not finding it clever, sassy, or even funny anymore. The tone of the show began to change in the late 1990s, around the time season 10 aired, and it has been attributed to most of the original writers leaving and different showrunners taking the lead.
On the other hand, the image quality of The Simpsons has improved over time, though that doesn’t necessarily mean that it has been well received by viewers, especially after Troy McClure. Still, The Simpsons shows no signs of stopping anytime soon, no matter what others say, and while it doesn’t have the same spark it had in its first seasons, it continues to entertain a good number of people all over the world – and those who lost interest in the series can always go back to the episodes they truly enjoyed.