12 responses to “Quote of the Day”

1. 

   Residents Fan

   1 June 2014

   I love the way Ned is always pestering poor Lovejoy.

   On a side issue…I was wondering has anyone raised an issue about ZS and True Simpsons
   that I haven’t seen discussed elsewhere. Yesterday I was chatting to my small cousins (9 and 7) from
   America about TV cartoons (Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, Ben Ten) and I mentioned
   “The Simpsons”. “Our mom doesn’t let us watch the Simpsons” the eldest replied.

   Their mother was right behind them, and she told me “It has swearwords and some unsuitable
   stuff for small kids in it”. (And she’s no Helen Lovejoy-she let them go to “Amazing Spiderman 2”
   and “Godzilla” since their dad went with them).

   The original “Simpsons” was clearly intended as a familiy show- a program adults and kids
   could watch together. And a large part of its audience was kids. Sure,at the time some people complained
   that the show was unsuitable, but these were usually people with a very strict worldview
   about what kids should watch (hello, Michael Medved).

   But over the years, we’ve seen Homer get raped by a panda, Homer with his internal organs
   hanging out, Moe making a joke about cunnilingus with Katy Perry…there’s just too much
   stuff in ZS that isn’t suitable for a family audience anymore. Which I think is sad.

   1. 

      Rembrandt Q. Einstein

      1 June 2014

      The Simpsons was never intended as a family show. It might have been watched by families, but it wasn’t for that audience.

      1. 

         Rembrandt Q. Einstein

         1 June 2014

         Also, I’d like to add that some moral guardians didn’t let their kids watch The Simpsons back in the ’90s for pretty much the same reasons.

         1. 

            Rob K.

            1 June 2014

            Damn right RQE! (Reminds me: my uncle Marty whom looks like Al Pacino and is the same age and a very successful guy once told my Mother in the 90’s that he didn’t like The Simpsons either for some reason, yikes, maybe b/c Bart calls his dad Homer).

   2. 

      Anonymous

      1 June 2014

      I grew up in the 90s, and as Rembrandt said, it was very common for parents to not allow their kids to watch The Simpsons. The swearing and Bart being a “bad influence” are the biggest reasons I remember. Then South Park came along and attitudes toward The Simpsons started to soften.

2. 

   Residents Fan

   1 June 2014

   “The Simpsons was never intended as a family show. It might have been watched by families, but it wasn’t for that audience.”

   I’m not sure- since both children AND adults were among the viewers of the early seasons, it stands
   to reason some of them would have watched the show together. Bart’s antics certainly would have
   appealed to children. Early “Simpsons” wasn’t an animated show that
   was aimed mainly at adults (like its near-contemporary, “The Critic”).

3. 

   jordan

   1 June 2014

   Well as it went on, it got more and more risque. At times (as in ZS case) for all the wrong reasons.

   I work with a bloke who won’t let his daughter watch it either. One week it was the one with Moe putting away his noose on Christmas saying “oh well, there’s always Thanksgiving”… something along those lines

   It is pretty full on stuff for a little ‘little’ kid.

   I think there’s a pretty hefty word missing here, too. DYSFUNCTIONAL. It was intended as a dysfunctional family show, for dysfunctional families. It may have been watched by ‘dysfunctional’ families etc. It puts things into a much greater perspective.

   The pure irony here is now unmistakeable. She won’t let her kids watch it, but clearly lets them watch more mature movies. Hint hint: dysfunctional behaviour. :P

4. 

   Mike Russo

   1 June 2014

   Sooo…the Simpspns wasn’t intended for kids…but…by the second season Mattel was producing action figures while Burger King was selling plush dolls and figurines in their Kids Meals.

   1. 

      invisiblesandwichtm

      3 June 2014

      A lot of franchises in the late ’80s and early ’90s that weren’t intended for kids had kid-oriented merchandise. The only one I can think of at the moment is Toxic Avenger, though…

5. 

   jbwarner86

   2 June 2014

   I was never allowed to watch The Simpsons when I was a kid – it was number one on my mother’s list of off-limits TV shows that would surely warp my brain if I ever laid eyes on them. Beavis and Butt-Head, Ren and Stimpy, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were also high on that list, so I was oblivious to just about every major television phenomenon of my generation.

   Worse, by the time I finally was allowed to watch The Simpsons, it was Season 11, and all the good episodes had already aired.

   1. 

      Rob K.

      2 June 2014

      I’m lucky that my Mother let me watch pretty much what I wanted, including Friday The 13th movies, with friends, as a child! I also loved watching The Power Rangers and Ren and Stimpy, didn’t really get into The Simpsons until the age of 15 in the year 2000.

6. 

   calonordic

   2 June 2014

   While my parents had no problem with me watching the show, my one uncle & aunt (but more the former) had a problem, or claimed to (& still does), with the show that he would forbade his daughter from watching it because he considered it rude just like “Married…. With Children” despite himself coming off a hypocritical hard-ass on a lot of issues.

   Still, perhaps it was all just a tough-guy act on his part as he had no problems with her having “Krusty’s Fun House” on her NES, giving me a copy of “Virtual Springfield” his nephews no longer wanted when I was looking for it frantically over a decade ago or just how he would give a speech on how he would allow me to watch the show at his house but he only allowed it as a treat of sorts because he would never allow it with his nieces & nephews (or so he says since he probably allows his own nieces and nephews to watch it too while also also throwing out harmless threats of how he won’t normally allow them or others to watch it).