Thursday, January 13, 2005

Beat on the Bart

The first Simpsons episode aired 15 years ago this Friday. That’s a year before the first time we went after Iraq. The term World Wide Web was as yet a few months from being coined. A Bush was president. I guess the more things change….

You do have to hand it to Matt Groening (and hand it and hand it—what a terrifically rich man he must be by now) and company, for the show still works after all these years. Sure, they’ve had to focus on Moe and Apu and secondary characters a bit too much, but unlike most cultural touchstones that tend to tank after too many years (think Saturday Night Live or the Rolling Stones or Michael Jackson since he’s had the number 5 after his name or the sad non-career of Mickey Rourke past Diner or Tucker Carlson's new MSNBC show--I know it hasn't aired yet, I just wanted to be the first), The Simpsons can still be funny and get in a satirical lick or two, and even manages to bite the Fox hand that feeds.

Besides, Homer gave me a motto: “Trying is just the first step to failure.”

So pop a Duff this weekend to a family that never gets old.

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