The Simpsons as a Sitcom

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The Simpsons as a Sitcom

"The Simpsons" is an example of an American sitcom. A sitcom is

situation comedy, which is when the same setting and same characters

appear in every episode. Examples of sitcoms are programs such as

"The Crosby Show" and more recent sitcoms such as "Friends". Sitcoms

surfaced in the 1950's in America showing the "ideal" family. Slowly

sitcoms started to show the reality of life and dealt with social

issues such as divorce and unemployment. Sitcoms have become very

popular because people could relate to the program and sitcoms show

problems, which happen in every day life in a light-hearted way. These

are some of the reasons why "The Simpsons" is very successful and

popular. In this essay I am going to use the example of "The Simpsons"

and evaluate to see how it follows the conventions of the sitcom

genre.

The opening sequence of "The Simpsons" introduces us to the main

characters and we can see the stereotypes, which are used in the

programme. In the opening sequence we see Homer at work. This is what

a stereotypical father's role is. We are also shown how Homer goes

against the stereotype because he takes some radioactive waste with

him showing that he is careless. Marge is shown doing the shopping and

looking after the baby Maggie. Marge fits the stereotypical role of a

mother in the sense that she is a housewife and takes care of the

house. In the programme Marge sometimes goes against the stereotype

because she seems to be the authority figure of the family and this is

what the man of the house is supposed to do. Bart is shown in

detention in the title sequence. Bart does not fit the stereotypical

...

... middle of paper ...

...f the air because people would take offence to it.

"The Simpsons" is a very successful programme and has been running for

a very long time. Many people have different views on "The Simpsons"

some think that it is rude and stupid others think that it is funny

and realistic. I think that "The Simpsons" shows the reality of life

in a light-hearted way. I think this is why it is a successful

programme and also the humour kind of hides the rudeness and that is

why people don't take offence to it. In some ways "The Simpson" is a

sitcom because it has a family in it and has the same characters and

the same setting in every episode. In some ways it isn't a sitcom

because it goes against stereotypes and does not set a good example to

others. Despite this I still think it is a very good programme and

should be called a sitcom.

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