Simpsons at 35

Gather around children. I was there, oh so very long ago. It is hard to believe that The Simpsons has turned 35 years old. So much of our society has changed since the early 1990s. At the time, The Simpsons wasn’t just a television show, it was a phenomenon that embedded itself into the collective consciousness with an influence that, in retrospect, feels almost quaint. It’s surreal to consider just how monumental the early days of the show were. This wasn’t simply a popular cartoon catching on. It triggered what can best be described as a massive pearl-clutching campaign. The mere existence of a prime time cartoon family that dared to show dysfunction, irreverence, and a certain degree of raw honesty set off alarm bells in households across the US. Some parents, critics, and commentators truly believed that the show’s appeal would be the downfall of society. They warned that Bart’s mischievous catchphrases and Homer’s buffoonish antics would corrode family values, degrade social norms, and usher in a generation of poorly behaved, disrespectful children.

At the height of this moral panic, The Simpsons was everywhere. In the early ’90s, merchandise flooded stores: T-shirts, lunchboxes, posters, and bootleg knock-offs were all part of a media blitz. Fans quoted the show’s lines incessantly, and debates around it dominated talk shows and newspaper editorials. In the process, the series became a cultural lightning rod, a symbol of shifting tastes in humor and the boundaries of television content. While today it is largely accepted as a beloved institution that has spawned countless imitators and influenced generations of animated comedies, at the time it represented a seismic shift that many found threatening.

Now, 35 years on, it may feel odd that a family of yellow cartoon characters stirred so much anxiety. We live in an era that has seen controversies come and go, often with far greater speed and intensity. Yet I find looking back on the early controversy surrounding The Simpsons fascinating. You can see the changing social mores and the evolution of television as a storytelling medium through the initial seasons. What seemed like a threat to the fabric of society was just another evolution of popular culture. And, of course, each new generation will have its own moments of shock, innovation, and eventual acceptance.