preview

The Simpsons Essay

Good Essays

The Simpsons

The Simpson is now arguably the biggest sitcom and animation of TV history, but what is it that makes it so successful compared to traditional sitcoms. In order to answer this question, we have to look at sitcom as a whole; then the difference if any between modern and traditional sitcoms. Sitcoms when first released were aimed at families and it tried to show what American should be like. Sitcoms, are popular for many different reasons; some of these including that they were episodic in nature therefore you didn’t have to watch them from the beginning. Also the American had fought in world war two, so shows like “Leave it to Beaver” showed them what they want. The producer used …show more content…

Unlike families in traditional sitcoms such as “Leave it to Beaver”; the Simpsons family is far from perfection as shown by Homer, the unreasonably and lazy father. The main difference in storylines is that Simpsons is not afraid to talk about controversial topics and make fun out of politics. This makes the Simpsons more realistic then traditional sitcoms were therefore audience got more involved with the family

The Simpson’s trademark when compared to others sitcoms is it opening sequence; there is no other like it. It has different functions; one of the main functions is to clearly establish the setting and the main character The Simpsons family. They are introduced visually; we see Homer work in the power plant and leaving as soon as the whistle blows; Marge doing the shopping; Bart writing up lines and Lisa playing a saxophone solo. We learn a lot from this opening sequence such as that Homer is not passionate about his work or maybe lazy; Marge is the traditional housewife looking after Maggie; Bart is not the perfect child like Beaver and Lisa is a rebel and more intelligent then most students. It also shows that the TV is the centre of their family life as they mostly gather around it. The opening sequence also informs the audience that “The Simpsons” is also a comedy because it creates humour such as the couch gag. It also involves the

Get Access