The Simpsons Television Show as a Pop Culture Icon

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Recommended: American image of the ideal family

The definition of the "typical" American family has changed considerably over time. Ever since the age of television dawned on American culture, situation comedies have tried to portray the typical American family in an attempt to reach as many viewers as possible. In the 1950's, there was "Leave It to Beaver" which represented a generic view of the American family during its time. There was a father whose responsibility was to financially support the family and be a role model for his children. There was a mother whose job was that of a typical housewife, taking care of the home and caring for the children. And there were the children who had no responsibilities, except to respect their parents and listen to their advice when anything went wrong. Most early sitcoms centered on this generally accepted idea of the typical family.

Things changed as America became more liberal, and in the 1970's, "All in the Family," which lacked a typical white collar father and focused on the internal spats of the what would today be called a dysfunctional family, was revered by many and hated by others. "All in the Family" made a dent in the American view of the typical family, but many were still reluctant to acknowledge the notion that not all households were as happy as that of "The Brady Bunch". In the 1980's "typical family" television programming continued to dominate. Sitcoms such as "Family Ties" and "The Cosby Show" are still considered American classics, but the dysfunctional trend returned in the late 1980's with the popularity of the raucous "Married With Children." However, no non-traditional American family sitcom has been as well as received and critically acclaimed "The Simpsons", which began in the 1990's.

"The ...

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... now and will remain an important part of American popular culture, as are the many classic sitcoms that preceded it.

Bibliography

Http://thesimpsons.com/frameset.html?content=/index.html TheSimpsons.Com (Various pages from this website were used but because of its frame design, all pages have the same URL.)

http://www.snpp.com/guides/chespirito.html The Bumblebee Guy File

Delingpole, James. “What ‘The Simpsons’ can teach us about life”. The Telegraph (London, UK). Jan 5, 2010. Web. 16 May 2015.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6872394/What-The-Simpsons-can-teach-us-about-life.html

Feltmate, David. “It’s Funny Because It’s True? The Simpsons, Satire, And The Significance Of Religious Humor In Popular Culture. “Journal Of The American Academy Of Religion 81.1 (2013): 222-248. Humanities International Index. Web. 16 May 2015.

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