The Simpsons How does a television series keep going in this time of ever changing network schedules and shows that grow stale after twelve weeks?
The Simpsons have not only lasted, but it has also become a staple of
American life. Many tribute this longevity to the witty and hilarious satire that is present in every episode. By using incongruity, sarcasm, exaggeration, and other comedic techniques, The Simpsons satirizes most aspects of ordinary life, from family, to TV, to religion, achieving the true essence of satire.
Homer Simpson is the captivating and hilarious satire of today's "Everyman."
With each passing season, Homer has emerged more and more as the central character in the series. In one episode, a previously unenforced 200-year-old prohibition law is found on the Springfield books. Liquor then becomes outlawed and Homer becomes the city's "Beer Baron." At the end of the episode, the law is simply done away with and Homer toasts the townspeople who have gathered in the park: To alcohol! The cause of - and solution to - all of life's problems!" This statement is a very ironic social commentary from the writers of The Simpsons. Much of life's problems can be blamed on the excessive consumption of alcohol, but the bigger picture is gluttony in general. Too much money, or food, or power, or alcohol can leave one with an empty happiness. If a person is ignorant, they might try to remedy their problems with more false fulfillment. This quote is also comedic because it shows Homer's stupidity. Though the writers are attempting to prove a point, the character of Homer is totally sincere. Homer Simpson is, at once, the best and worst of American dadness. Another episode of The
Simpsons satirizes parents who push their children to succeed in athletics at the expense of good sportsmanship. Bart is the star player on a youth hockey team that has advanced to the league championship. His sister, Lisa, is the star goalie on the opposing team. This sparks a vicious sibling rivalry and
Marge, the mother and sole proprietor of good sportsmanship in the town, tries to soften the competitive edge by saying," We love you both! You're not in competition with each other! Repeat: You are not in competition with each other"! Just then, Homer comes rushing into the room shouting," Hey! Your coach just called. This Friday Lisa's te...
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...ything that is different (as in Allegory of the Cave). The writers are using Homer's crude and up-front mentality as a persona to display this form of bigotry. This unwillingness to accept anything different does not only apply to religion. The writers have also satirized society's problems regarding ethnicity and sexuality. It is also ironic that Homer would criticize a religion considering he had just started his own that served more as an excuse to get out of church than anything else. The Simpsons has made a mark on television and social history that is ever-growing in distinction, and may never fade. Through very intelligent writing, the series not only makes the viewer laugh, but also makes them think. The Simpsons will always appeal to a young audience because of its ever-present pratfalls and stupidity that is, at times, nothing short of brilliant; but, it appeals even more to young adults, or adults who are young at heart, who can laugh at the low comedy, yet understand the biting satire that truly drives the series. By poking fun at family, television, religion, and basically the American lifestyle, The Simpsons is a satire that may not grow old for a long time to come.
Move over Jetson there is a new beloved animated family in town, the Simpsons. The Simpson’s originally aired on December 17th, 1989 and has yet to make us stop laughing. The Simpson’s follow a not so typical American family from the fictional town of Springfield. The episode follow the satirical lives of Homer (Dad), Marge (mom), Bart (brother), Lisa (sister), and Maggie (little sister). Though this is a satirical TV show many episodes provide excellent points and example of material covered in a sociology class. The episode “Marge not be Proud” gives multiple examples of deviant behavior and this essay will discuss two of them.
It was hilarious whenever Fred Sanford of the hit series Sanford and Son used to fake his heart attack saying that famous phrase, “I’m coming Elizabeth” or what about him telling Aunt Ester how ugly she was. No one took that type of comedy to the heart and it was intended to hurt no one. It was all for a laugh. Now in today’s time there are new shows on television such as The Chapelle Show, which is hosted and directed by the comedian Dave Chapelle. The object of this show seems to be how much fun he can make of a different race. Times have changed and so have peoples’ since of humor. People went from the laid-back type sitcoms such as Sanford and Son, The Three Stooges, and The Little Rascals, which are all types of shows that people can watch with their entire family, to shows even adults feel turned away from. Some examples include The Chapelle Show and In Living Color.
Socialization plays in important part in the passing on of culture from generation to generation. It is defined as the lifelong process of social interaction through which we acquire a self-identity and the skills needed for survival. The agents of socialization provide the necessary social interactions to teach culture to individuals in a society. The four primary agents of socialization include parents, education, peers, and media. The most pervasive one, media, has a major role in teaching messages about the norms in culture. The purpose of this project was to observe the subtle messages that a TV series, like The Simpsons, send about gender, class, disability/ability, and age.
One day, Bart Simpson pushes Lisa to her limit. Their parents Marge and Homer go away for the weekend to a retreat and leave Bart in charge. Bart continues to torment and bug Lisa to no end. After reading a book at the library, Lisa puts the perfect plan together to train Bart. Their parent will be gone for three days, the weekend went as follows:
The definition of what consitutes a “family“ has definatly changed over time. Usually, what constitutes making up a family is relative to a specific culture, but as always, there are exceptions to the rule. Ever since the golden age of television had sprung upon American culture, it has tried to mimic the "ideal" American family through it's programming. Even as early as the 1950's, television producers made
The Simpsons first aired in 1980 as a hilarious, sarcastic, and exaggerated satire of everyday life. With depictions of politics and politicians, bad parenting, greedy industry owners, and the faults in everyday society. The show really brings to life the thoughts and sometimes unrealistic views we have of everyday people.
Matt Groening is very smart, hard working and argumentatively one of the best comedic animation masterminds of all time. As you may know, he has created the longest running US animated T.V. series ‘The Simpsons’. They first aired on the ‘Tracy Ullman Show’on April 19, 1989. I think Groening has done a lot for the world of adult animation comedy or even animation all together. Spawning a lot of new shows like ‘Family Guy’ probably from ‘The Simpsons’ show although Groening is only one man, getting where he is today undoubtedly took some hard work and most definitely had to overcome some grim times or road blocks. Even withThe Simpsons, 'his comic strip 'Life In Hell’ in which he draws himself and futurama Groening still comes out on top.
cower in fear and a thriller should keep you on the edge of your seat.
We are all here for a spell, get all the good laughs you can. –- Will Rogers
Who do you think suffers more in Touching the Void, Joe or Simon? How does Simpson make you feel as you do by the ways he writes? Throughout the book a great sympathy is created for Joe as we learn about his pain and struggle between life and death. So in the short period of less than a week Joe is found to be the one who we should depict as the one who suffers more. But that is short-term even Simpson himself says "at least the wounds in my mind had healed" therefore conveying the message that he is not mentally scarred by his experience and instead appears to be completely un-phased about his extremely close scrape with death and instead just feels a bit disappointed that he had "dropped out of the summit attempt".
Programs for young children are great because they allow children to learn in a fun and interactive way. However, it causes inactivity. Inactivity is not the only downside of children’s programs. Programs for young children may cause them to struggle to separate fantasy from reality in their daily lives (Feldman). I choose Blue’s Clues, Doc McStuffins and Sesame Street to analyze. These three shows catches children attention by the colors, characters, and storyline.
“Do’h” has been a hallmark of American culture since 1989, when The Simpsons first aired. They have influenced our lives if we noticed it or not. I would create an honors seminar class focusing on the satire and cultural diffusion of The Simpsons. I would call this class The Simpsons: Mocking Our Lives Since 1989.
with real life problems in a comic way. I think that the show can is
The American version of The Office debuted in 2005 with the start of its six-episode first season. After the airing of the “Pilot” episode, a reviewer from the Deseret Morning News commented, “Maybe […] after The Office dies a quick death on NBC, the network will decide that trying to Americanize British TV comedies isn’t such a great idea” (quoted in Pilot (The Office)). Despite its original negative reception, The Office went on to run nine successful seasons and has become a television favorite of individuals across America. The show focuses on the misadventures of the lost souls employed at Dunder-Mifflin Scranton, a branch of a paper-selling company located in Pennsylvania. Under the management of clueless Michael Scott, characters such as Dwight Schrute, Jim Halpert, and Pam Beesly must hold their jobs in the corporate world while facing company failures, romantic encounters, and lost dreams. Despite their seemingly superficial appearance, the characters of The Office reflect complex ideas about morals, existence, and free will through their comical fallacies. The popular television show The Office demonstrates existential ideas such as Sartre’s “bad faith,” Kierkegaard’s stages of life, and the theater of the absurd.
A television is defined as “a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic (black and white) or color, usually accompanied by sound” (Webster’s). Since the invention of this device in the 1930’s, people have been able to be entertained by various television shows in the privacy and comfort of their own home. Although each of these shows relate to different age groups, nationalities, race, and genders, they all seem to have one thing in common. They all act out and portray the stereotypes placed on people because of their age, sex, job, culture, race, look, and position in the household. Due to these different categories being presented in the media pre conceived notions are formed about how people should behave, specifically men and women. Women generally take care and men take charge. But why does the television represent this “take care” and “take charge” image of women and men? In this paper, I will focus on one of the highly popularized television shows that viewers watch today; Desperate Housewives. Using this television show, I will be able to show and analyze how women are represented in the media and why they are represented this way.