THE SATURDAY PROFILE/The Simpsons: The end of the world seemed nigh for 60 million Simpsons fans this week when the series creator, Matt Groening, hinted he was calling it a day. Then he seemed to change his mind. Róisín Ingle profiles a fictitious family whose antics have attracted a devoted audience of all ages and provoked obscure academic theorising
Life without Homer? Without Bart? Without, gulp, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon? Unthinkable, isn't it? Which makes one wonder why Matt Groening, anarchic creator of The Simpsons, was this week reported to be talking up the possibility that the longest running prime-time animation show in history may be coming to an end.
"I think we are closer than ever to winding it up," he told the Financial Times. "Although what happens generally if we win the Emmy for best animation show is that it gives us another couple of years to run it into the ground."
That splashing sound heard around the world shortly after the article was printed was Groening swiftly rowing back on his original comments. Probably, his initial contribution on the programme's shelf life was fuelled by the fact that Fox TV has been less than supportive of his other animation baby, Futurama, a much-underrated animation series that has not been commissioned for another series because of poor ratings. (Fox is owned by Rupert Murdoch and has made £1 billion out of The Simpsons.)
"I was misquoted and misunderstood," insisted Groening, the arms of Fox executives having been sufficiently twisted by his hints that the days of The Simpsons could be numbered. "I don't want anyone to think I am predicting the demise of the Simpsons. They will live on with new adventures for years to come. As long as there are things to make fun of, we will be around."
Well that's all right then.
For years now, 60 million of us in more than 60 different countries have been willing participants in the global Simpsons repeatathon. Station bosses would never get away with rerunning any other programme so much, but Homer-like, we sit slumped on the sofa thinking, "Oh, I've seen this one, it's hilarious, this next bit is great," with none of the irritation that might greet the reappearance of, say, a terminally repeated episode of Friends. Changing channel is not an option where the old episodes of The Simpsons are concerned.
Part of this is due to the fact that over 300 episodes of the cartoon have been produced. But mostly, the onion style of its comic appeal - there are layers upon layers of straight-up jokes, political jibes, musical and cinematic references - means fans delight in returning to the show. Moreover, it is a programme that appeals to all ages. It never seems to date and rarely disappoints.
At this point a brief explanation of the Simpson family may be required because it has come to our attention that there are still some people who have never watched an episode. RTÉ's Rodney Rice admitted as much two years ago on the occasion of the series' 10th anniversary, and a colleague of mine who shall remain nameless admitted the other night to being similarly ignorant. So here goes.
The Simpsons: blue-collar American family, incorporating lazy, fat yet loveable father Homer; long-suffering, blue-beehived mother Marge; overachieving, saxophone-playing daughter Lisa; school-hating troublemaker Bart; and baby Maggie. They live in the fictional town of Springfield USA. Now go and watch it, philistines.
The influence of Matt Groening's series has continued to be far reaching both in terms of popular culture and the impact on the TV animation genre.
The series paved the way for a whole new wave of animation series aimed more at adults than children, including King of the Hill and South Park.
Animator Rory Robinson, creator of the Oscar-nominated Fifty Percent Grey, says the programme is better than any of the other series that have followed.
"There would have to be something wrong with people if they didn't like it. In fact, I don't think I could be friends with anyone who didn't," he says. "It has got more and more interesting and increasingly better animated."
The cultural impact of the programme is not contained to the omnipresence of catchphrases such as D'Oh!, Ay Karamba and Don't have a cow man. In its 13 years, countless political points have been scored using the programme whether it is the Bush family saying they wanted Americans to be more like the Waltons or comparisons between Homer Simpson and former FG leader John Bruton.
In recent years, universities have been including The Simpsons on their curriculums. On the Internet, anorak Simpsonites publish deep theories about the programme, analysing lines, words and even the facial expressions of the characters.
James L. Hall wrote his thesis, "Religious Dialogues in Prime Time", on the programme. "Specifically I examine the nature of religion within Springfield in relation to the theories of Albert Camus," he wrote. "I also discuss specific characters from the show and how their characteristics help to create certain attitudes towards religious theories. In particular the theories of Kierkegaard and de Certeau are discussed in relation to notions of authenticity and Pascal's The Wager".
Well, yes.
Another staple of the Simpson Geek Library is a publication called The Simpsons And Philosophy which proves, according to one critic, "once and for all that The Simpsons is the most intelligent and intellectual show on TV".
The book is a collection of 18 essays exploring topics such as hyper-irony, the meaning of life, American anti-intellectualism, and existential rebellion, through the daily lives of the citizens of Springfield.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are happy simply to watch the repeats and spot the references we missed the time before. It is unlikely we will stop watching even if Groening does decide to quit because "it is becoming increasingly difficult as the years go by to keep on not only surprising the audience, but surprising ourselves".
More worrying than the idea of no more new Simpsons, is the prospect of The Simpsons: The Movie, a notion which was also put forward by the series creator in his recent comments. Groening has said he is not sure whether Fox wants a movie or not, the implication being that if they did, Groening would be happy to oblige.
It is hard not to be concerned that a 90-minute production could succumb to Ali G syndrome - funny on the TV, embarrassing at the movies.
But one thing is certain: old or new, The Simpsons will continue to make Rupert Murdoch even richer. D'Oh!