The Simpsons

I grew up on The Simpsons. My family would watch it on Sundays at 8PM or whenever it was, when we got home from Church. Even though I didn't understand all of the jokes, I would always watch the show. We even recorded episodes onto VCR tapes so I could watch the episodes over and over again. As I got older and watched the episode, I understood more and more of the jokes and related more to the storylines, and understood the literary and cultural references. Also, I developed an appreciation for how the animation was done and all the work involved to create an episode. But now I'm turning 19 years old soon, and the Simpsons are still coming out with episodes. I love the show, but am I going to be showing new episodes on Sundays to my kids some day? Come on.

The Simpsons started as shorts out on The Tracey Ullman Show with crude animation but good humor nevertheless. Three years later, the short was developed into a half-hour show for prime-time on Fox, and became an immediate hit while also being controversial (presenting a dysfunctional family). And when you look at clips from Season 1 as opposed to, like Season 10 (one of my favorites), the humor, storyline, character development, animation, and everything else has developed tremendously. Well, I guess everything developed and improved over time, or else the show would not be running.

The Simpsons have covered countless topics and conflicts and ideas over the years. With around 450 episodes, including 60 of Halloween themed shorts, they must have covered everything. The popular, more controversial show, South Park devoted an entire episode to portray that The Simpsons have done everything, rightly titled: The Simpsons Already Did It. Here's the full episode:

Click here to watch!

Despite the B-story being extremely dirty, the creators of South Park make a good point. The Simpsons have so many episodes, they really have done everything...

Personally, I haven't seen any episodes past Season 17. I think they're funny and relateable, but I wouldn't take the time out now to watch it. I think the best seasons are from 3-11, with some skewed episodes in between. I think it's amazing that they're doing so well and are the longest-running series with a full-length movie, but come on. When is it going to end? And when it does, what's gonna happen? Is it going to be this big controversy, that the longest running sitcom has finally come to its end? I guess it's gotta happen sooner or later...

But here's the evolution of The Simpsons over the years with some of my favorite clips. Enjoy!

Episode 16 on the Tracey Ullman Show:


Clip from the first episode, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"


Clip from a Season 1 Episode: "There's No Disgrace Like Home":


Clip from Season 2: "Bart Gets an F"


Clip from Season 3: "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington"


Clip from Season 3: "Bart's Friend Falls in Love"


Clip from Season 4: "Lisa the Beauty Queen":


Clip from Season 5 "Boy-Scoutz 'N the Hood"


Clip from Season 6: "Lisa on Ice"


Clip from Season 7: Treehouse of Horror VI "Homer ^3"


Clip from Season 8, "The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show"


Clip from Season 9: "Homer vs. the City of New York"


Clip from Season 10: "D'oh'in in the Wind"


After that, the only seasons on Hulu that were available are seasons 19 & 20. I haven't seen those seasons yet.