In 1987 I was 12 years old. The USA and USSR were in the wanning years of a "cold war". Ronald Regan was my countries president. Lethal Weapon and Good Morning Vietnam were top films. Wang Chung was popular while bands like Nirvana and Alice in Chains were just being formed. The first Mega Man game and the first Legend of Zelda game was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. While the Cosby Show was what everyone was watching, the Fox network also made it's debut this year and gave us shows like "21 Jump Street" and "Married With Children". Alongside those offerings was the Tracy Ulman Show -- a variety show that included some crudely animated shorts about a family called the Simpsons.
20 years later I am 32 years old and the Simpson family is still with us. There are few things in pop culture with that kinda staying power. I basically grew up with that show. I was watching the Simpsons before I was Bar Mitzvah. Which I think means I was close to Bart's age. Now I'm closer to Homer's age.
In 1992 when Bart falls in love for the first time I was dating my first girlfriend. A television experience that provided valuable insight for years to come.
A year later Homer returned to college the same year I entered UOP as a freshman. Certainly this program would prepare me for all the exciting challenges that were ahead.
hmmm....funny because it's true.
It's true that the quality of the Simpsons program has declined a bit since it's heyday. I don't watch the show religiously like I once did. I still catch it now and than and it's still good for a chuckle or two. Tonight I'll be going to see the new Simpsons movie to see how 20 years of solid character development, smart satire, and jokes about donuts translates to the big screen.
My expectations aren't really all that high, but they aren't all that low either. I'm really just sorta curious to see how it all plays out. I do feel like at this point it's probably time for the Simpsons to retire and take it's place in Pop Culture history. I'd rather it go out like Brett Farve a couple years ago (still got something to offer but on the downward slope) rather than Brett Farve now (what the fuck!?) *shudder*
