Elements of Comedy in The Simpsons

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Elements of Comedy in The Simpsons

The TV show, "The Simpsons" is considered by many to be one of

the greatest animated shows ever made. Incredibly popular with people of

all ages, creator Matt Groening combined numerous elements of humor to

produce a truly original program. His goal is to never repeat the same

joke twice. The year 2000 will mark the 10th anniversary of the show

(which adds up to a lot of original jokes), and highlights its

achievement as primetime TVÕs current longest running series. In

addition, "The Simpsons" was selected to be the feature presentation at

the Sixth Annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. There,

members of the cast will re-enact a previous episode in front of a live

audience.

"The Simpsons" is watched specifically for its humor. Never

before has a TV show combined so many elements of humor together and

still contained enough original ideas to run 10 seasons. Although some

people do not care for "The Simpsons" humor, the show still has a

significant following. One of the reasons "The Simpsons" is so popular

is that the show addresses a wide variety of stereotypes through its

characters. People can relate to the stereotypes. Many of the

characters are recognizable by name from week to week, and those that

arenÕt either take the form of a stereotyped profession, or the typical

John Q. Public. The result is rather amusing as everyone from the nerdy

scientist to the ambulance-chasing lawyer makes appearances. Another

reason "The Simpsons" has lasted so long is that much of its comedy comes

from takeoffs and parodies of other shows or movies. Most viewers are

familiar with a substantial number of old shows or movies, s...

... middle of paper ...

...jokes that never would have existed

otherwise: exchanges between characters, comments on society, and various

events in the show all take an ironically-humorous twist. This type of

humor is a defining characteristic of the show. Combined with the other

aspects, "The Simpsons" will truly go down as a classic series of all time.

Works Cited

Carlisle, Henry C., ed. American Satire in Prose and Verse. New York: Random House, 1962.

Feinburg, Leonard. Introduction to Satire. Ames, Iowa: The Iowa State University Press, 1967.

Groening, Matt. The Simpsons A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family. Ed. Ray Richmond. New York: HarperPerrenial, 1997.

Kim, James, and Cade Whitbourn. The Simpsons. "Matt Groening." 1998. School of Media and Communication. 23 Nov 2002. http://mdcm.artsunsw.edu.au/Students98/WhitbournC/innovate1/creator.html

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