How ‘The Simpsons’ lost its edge
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/12/17/how-simpsons-lost-its-edge/?utm_source=reddit.com
On the eve of its launch, Disney Plus — Disney’s online streaming service — aired trailers prominently featuring “The Simpsons,” the groundbreaking cartoon and longest-running scripted prime-time series.share
In one trailer, the Simpson family is happily attired in popular Disney character costumes — save for Bart, who enters half-dressed as Mickey Mouse and laments, “I won’t do it. I don’t care how much they pay.” Homer, garbed in ill-fitting Iron Man armor, threatens Bart, who capitulates by placing Mickey Mouse ears atop his signature spiked hair.
Homer orders the family to smile, and as a flashbulb goes off, Bart moons the camera but quickly is censored by the Disney Plus logo zooming in over his posterior. Bart’s sophomoric gesture is indicative not only of Bart’s incorrigible nature but also of his — and the series’ — depleted power as a counterculture icon. The longevity of “The Simpsons” has rendered its satire ineffective, for it has become — and perhaps always was fated to be — the very thing it once ridiculed so effectively.
Dec. 17 marks the 30th anniversary of “The Simpsons.” In 1989, the show was a bold and risky choice for the then-fledgling Fox network.
Fox had had modest success, most notably with the irreverent sitcom “Married With Children” (1987-1997) and the sketch comedy series “The Tracey Ullman Show” (1987-1990), on which “The Simpsons” began as a series of popular shorts. But the rest of its programming had failed to resonate at a time when television was dominated by NBC’s Thursday night comedy slate, which featured three of the four highest-rated series in prime time — “The Cosby Show” (1984-1992), “A Different World” (1987-1993) and “Cheers” (1982-1993).
Moreover, none of the Big Three networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) had aired a cartoon in prime time with any measurable success or longevity since ABC’s “Wait Till Your Father Gets Home” (1972-1974). NBC most recently had tried a cartoon, but “Jokebook” lasted a paltry three episodes in 1982. Factor in that “The Simpsons” was a parody of the family sitcoms then dominating the airwaves, and it becomes even more obvious how much of a gamble it was.
Timing was on the show’s side, however: The 1989-1990 television season saw “Roseanne” (1988-1997) narrowly defeat “The Cosby Show” in the ratings. With its working-class, occasionally crass protagonist and bickering family, “Roseanne” — along with “Married With Children,” which was a modest hit — not only countered pristine, cheerful family sitcoms like “The Cosby Show” but also carved out a space for “The Simpsons.”
For more than a decade, the cartoon showcased uproarious, effective satire of virtually every aspect of American society. No target was safe — especially not the corporation that today owns it. The series frequently jabbed at Disney, often playfully but occasionally venomously.
For example, season six’s “‘Round Springfield” (1995) — often considered by critics to be one of the series’ best episodes — features a brief gag that took a sharp dig at Disney. The episode is centered on the death of Lisa’s musical mentor, Bleeding Gums Murphy. After an extensive search, Lisa spends the bulk of the episode trying to procure his only album and get it played on a local station as tribute.
Upon doing so, Murphy appears in the clouds to thank her. As a play on a similar scene in Disney’s “The Lion King” (1994), Murphy is joined by “The Lion King’s” Mufasa, who states, “You must avenge my death, Kimba, I mean, Simba.” The line is a reference to “Kimba the White Lion” (1965-1966), a Japanese anime series with striking animated and thematic similarities to “The Lion King.” Today, thanks to online video, accusations of plagiarism regularly hound Disney, but “The Simpsons” was among the first to take Disney to task for flagrantly borrowing without attribution.
The inclusive nature of the show’s satire — no target was off limits — had the dual effect of making it popular among disparate groups while also centering it in national political discourse. Pointing to its willingness to make fun of both political parties, showrunners often positioned “The Simpsons” as politically neutral. But the show once engaged in a public feud with President George H.W. Bush, which resulted in Season 7′s “Two Bad Neighbors” (1996), in which Bush moves to Springfield and engages in a tete-a-tete with Homer and Bart. Bush’s laments about the show exemplified how frequently it nailed satire in its first decade, offering takes that were subversive and critical of authority — wherever that authority might lie.
“The Simpsons” sparked an adult cartoon renaissance. Shows like “Family Guy” (1999-present) and “South Park” (1997-present) owe a debt of gratitude to “The Simpsons” for their existences despite, at times, making “The Simpsons” seem less cutting-edge.