Simpsons Celebrate 20: The Fountain of Youth Does Exist

The longest running cartoon. Ever. That says it all. It’s  an impressive achievement for a show whose creator had admittedly “failed” at everything else. Now, as part of the culture as the characters they feature/parody, this show is competing with Law and Order for longevity. As Animation Guide, an online animation resource site, says:  ”The Simpsons first appeared in 1987 as a series of 30-second shorts produced by Matt  Groening for the FOX series “The Tracey Ullman Show.” The first of these shorts aired on April 19, 1987, during the third week of primetime broadcasts on FOX. Soon they had their own series, premiering on FOX as a half-hour Christmas special on Dec. 17, 1989 (20 years ago today), and then as a regular series on Jan. 14, 1990.”

I never actually caught on to watching the show although I do certainly consider it entertaining and iconic. I guess there was just something else on at that particluiar time that I prefered watching. My college roommate freshmen year was a Simpsons freak! and had everything from blankets to mugs to furniture. I learned to appreciate this show more than I though I would. And although I wasn’t into like everyone else seemed to be I did catch a few episodes over the years that I would consider my favorites. “Stark Raving Dad” (seen below) features the “greatest entertainer who ever lived” which automatically puts it at the top of my list. The other is a Halloween episode  which is rather hard to describe but features Lisa most of the time.

As for what I will remember most? The arcade game of course! Back in the day,  Bart was the most popular character butover time it seems that Homer has eclipsed him an taken over the lead role.

Check out their original look in the gallery below.

PS: Hey, how did that picture of Ben Bernanke get in there? :)