No matter your age, this cartoon is an absolute classic. And if you don’t agree, you can eat my shorts.
Adult animation is all the rage these days, you’ve got Rick and Morty burping their way round space, the perils of puberty laid bare in Big Mouth, and potty-mouthed Archer as the spy who shagged everyone. But though they might try, none of them have quite reached the stratospheric heights of our favourite yellow family, The Simpsons.
It’s as if we’ll never tire of this show – it first aired way back in 1989, and soon became a staple in most households, synonymous with Channel 4’s, after school/work six o’clock slot. Apart from for those boring people who watch the news instead.
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But we’d much rather unwind with this comedy cartoon. Created by Matt Groening, we follow the satirical American family of The Simpsons, comprised of the lazy booze hound Homer, his pushover wife Marge and their three kids: nerdy, feminist vegetarian Liza, always-in-trouble skateboarder Bart, and the mute baby Maggie. They go about their lives at school, work and home, and we sit and watch as they find themselves in various pickles and on misadventures, interacting with the local townsfolk as they go.
And we can’t get enough of this dysfunctional family with their relatable, if exaggerated, experiences in life. The humour is gentle and clean, and laughs at the everyday stupidity that we all see (and are sometimes guilty of), so it never gets old.
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And we mean that literally, too. Whilst the quality of animation has increased – or decreased, depending on your take – as the decades have passed, this lot never age a day, meaning that no matter what episode you watch you’re sure to know what’s going on, with no lengthy plotline to catch up on. And what a blessing this is for easy, family TV – on those days when you just can’t face a new drama, and the kids are squawking that they need entertaining, The Simpsons is a sure bet to get everyone on the sofa – reminiscent of those opening credits – and chuckling away.
First shown December 1989.
