When Fred Flintstone went to work at the rock quarry 30 years ago, all he had
to worry about was his yelling boss. Mr. Slate.
These cartoon cousins will mark a milestone tonight as "The Simpsons" ties "The
Flintstones" for the number of original prime-time episodes. With Sunday's 8
p.m. broadcast of episode No. 167, "The Simpsons" becomes the longest running
prime-time animated series in television history.
Both "The Flintstones" and "The Simpsons" are based loosely on the classic
sitcom "The Honeymooners" (boorish, stupid husband paired with down-to-earth,
clever wife).
"The Flintstones" parodied American life in a stone-age setting during its
six-year run on ABC between 1960 and 1966. But most of the plots and jokes were
standard sitcom issue.
"The Simpsons," by contrast, is more layered and centered on popular culture.
The show debuted as a weekly series in 1990, developing from a series of
animated shorts on "The Tracey Ullman Show." The yellow-skinned family from
suburban Springfield (state unknown) represented a backlash against TV's happy
nuclear families of the 1980s ("The Cosby Show" and "Growing Pains").
Both shows use animated versions of celebrities. On "The Flintstones," the
celebs had Bedrock-style names (Ann-Margaret became Ann-Margrock) and weren't
always voiced by the real celebrity. On "The Simpsons" famous actors frequently
play themselves (Leonard Nimoy, for instance) or re-create cartoon versions of
characters they've made famous (David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson gave voice
to animated versions of their "X-Files" characters last month).
When "The Simpsons" first appeared, parents groups were in an uproar over the
depiction of young Bart Simpson, a self-proclaimed underachiever. It was also
no accident that his name is an anagram for "brat."
Never mind that "The Simpsons" almost always ends with a moral and that the
family members really do love one another.
What these viewers missed was the show's most startling trait--the ease with
which "The Simpsons" skewers and depicts almost every institution as,
disorganized or just plain incompetent. The police force, politicians,
government, organized religion, media, the school system, corporations and even
convenience stores all come under fire in hilariously subversive ways.
For instance, a 1996 episode featured a parody of the "Schoolhouse Rock"
song "I'm Just a Bill" with these lyrics: "There's a lot of
flagburners, who have too much freedom, I want to make it legal for policemen
to beat'em."
Bart and his sister, Lisa, listened to the song, but Bart was unfamiliar with
"Schoolhouse Rock."
Bart: "What the hell is this?"
Lisa: "It's one of those campy `70s thowbacks that appeals to Generation
Xers."
Bart: "We need another Vietnam to thin out their ranks a little."
Subversive depictions of stereotypical characters are also common, including
chief of police (overweight imbecile), Reverend (self-righteous and Jim
Bakker-like), senator (Ted Kennedy sound-alike with a drinking problem and
propensity to chase women) and TV news anchor (empty-headed blowhard).
In all, there are more than 40 recurring characters on the show, including fan
favorites kiddie TV show host Krusty the Clown and Apu, who works at the local
Kwik-E-Mart.
Jokes about Vietnam? Blatant ethnic stereotypes? More than a dozen characters?
"The Simpsons" seems to be able to get away with things that would never be
acceptable in a live-action show.
Another notable example is the penchant for characters to break into song,.
"The Simpsons" has featured enough musical numbers to spawn a soundtrack: "The
Simpsons: Songs in the Key of Springfield," which will be released by Rhino
Records March 18. The album title is a parody of "Songs in the Key of X," an
album from "The X-Files."
Richard "Pete" Moss, a professor at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, talks
about "The Simpsons" in his American Cultural History class.
Moss said the most significant running theme in "The Simpsons" is its parody of
consumption as the route to happiness.
"Both Bart and Homer are rendered almost muscleless by the prospect of food or
drink or candy or a new car, and when they get what they want, it almost always
ends badly," Moss said. "It's an incredible indictment of American culture
that's obviously being paid for by advertisers, yet they really take on
advertising and all aspects of consumer culture and lambaste it in a clever
way."
While "Simpsons" imitators such as "Fish Police" (CBS, 1992), "Capitol
Critters" (ABC, 1992) and "Family Dog" (CBS, 1993) premiered and were quickly
canceled, "The Simpsons" has stood the test of time and the almighty Nielsen
ratings.
The reason for that is simple-- "The Simpsons" became a cult hit after its time
in the mainstream spotlight expired.
Sleeping bags emblazoned with Bart Simpson gave way to the Mighty Morphin Power
Rangers, but "The Simpsons" still has a devoted following. "Don't have a cow,
man" became passe, replaced in popular slang by "D'oh!" (scripts refer to it
simply as "annoyed grunt").
Internet geeks meticulously tape and watch episodes of "The Simpsons" with
their fingers only inches from the freeze frame button so they can catch minute
details.
Running gags include the opening credits featuring Bart writing something new
on the blackboard and the different ways the family gathers on the couch each
week to watch TV. Attentive viewers notice even more obscure things.
On one "Simpsons" World Wide Web page, the description of the May 1996 episode
"Much Apu About Nothing" points out such details as the initials of Apu's alma
mater-- Springfield Heights Institute of Technology. Another contributor noted
that the Simpsons' refrigerator contains no food and three boxes of baking
soda.
Casual viewers tune in, Internet geeks obsess over the show, academics take note
and kids watch (although they probably miss many jokes), which makes "The
Simpsons" unique in today's world of increasingly lame Must See TV comedies.
Few TV shows work on so many levels and appeal to such a diverse audience. "The
Simpsons" is the rarest of TV gems--a comedy series that makes viewers laugh
and think.