This Sunday, Feb. 16, “The Simpsons” cartoon series will air its official 300th episode. The episode, entitled “Barting Over” will guest star skater Tony Hawk and musical guest Blink 182.
“As scary as it might be, ‘The Simpsons’ is the show that that most people can relate to the best,” Sophomore Brandy Leggett said. And that is part of the beauty of the longest-running prime time animated show in history, “The Simpsons.”
In this episode, Bart finds out that as a baby, he acted on a baby mouthwash commercial, but his money from the commercial was spent on naming a star after their family. This causes him to want to leave his family.
With a gigantic host of zany characters, extremely unique story lines, and a humor that’s all its own, it is easy to see how “The Simpsons” made it to their 14th season.
“If you look at an animated show on prime time that has run for so long, you have to ask yourself why. I think the main reason is because the writers were able to change the show even though the characters never change,” MSU staff member Jeremy Brown said. “In the first few seasons of ‘The Simpsons,’ Bart was the focus of the show. Evidently, the writers quickly realized that Homer was the character that could get the most laughs. ‘The Simpsons’ went from being a show about a mischievous boy on a skateboard with a handful of catch phrases to a show about an overweight, balding father that reminds everyone about the goofiness inside of us all. I’ll definitely be looking forward to Sunday’s episode as well as the next 300.”
The geniuses behind the show are creator executive producer Matt Groening, executive producer, James L. Brooks, and executive producer/head writer Al Jean. Since the cartoon’s debut in 1989, they have been responsible for entertaining America through the outrageous situations of a not-so-simple family from the town of Springfield.
Before he created “The Simpsons,” Groening began writing the cartoon strip, “Life in Hell” in 1977, which still runs in over 250 newspapers weekly. Groening is also responsible for the animated series “Futurama” and comics based off of the aforementioned television show such as “Itchy & Scratchy Comics,” “Bartman,” “Radioactive Man,” “Lisa Comics,” “Krusty Comics” and many books about the cartoon itself.
Brooks has an amazing repertoire of success. He has won three Academy Awards, and he is also a 12-time Emmy Award winner. He has produced television shows such as “Taxi,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Rhoda” and others. He also produced and directed “Terms of Endearment,” executive produced “Jerry Maguire” and co-wrote, directed and produced the movie “As Good as it Gets.”
Jean, a graduate of Harvard College, worked on television shows such as “Alf” and “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” Jean has received three Emmy Award, and the Peabody Award. Currently he is the head writer for ‘The Simpsons.’
“What I like about The Simpsons is that you never know what’s going to happen. The show will start off with one story line and then BAM-they’re off into something else,” sophomore Kristin Davis said.
There are a million reasons why ‘The Simpsons’ is the longest running prime time animated show of all time and watching the 300th episode Sunday night should prove to give many more.