It’s amazing that the quirky middle class family – The Simpsons have been on air for over 20 years, with no sign of an ending in site.  I did not discover t his clever, side splitting series until about 1995 (I was only 5 when it started airing on the Tracey Ullman show and 7 when it started airing in its own series on television).   I remember my older brother would watch it every week and laugh his face off and I always wondered what was so funny.  It took me a few more years after I started to watch it regularly to really understand this mastermind cartoon series… and then I was hooked.   

Like most television series, the third season is where the show really starts to become interesting.  By this time, characters have been developed, the actors are comfortable working with the same cast and crew, the writers find their niche, etc.  You may have noticed the voice of Homer Simpson, voiced by Dan Castellaneta, changed from the first season to a more defined, less annoying Homer Simpson voice by the third season.   The comic artists also changed the characters themselves from a loose drawing (more circles, squiggles, less definition) to a more defined (squared, sharpened) character look.

Some of my favorite episodes came from Season Four: Kamp Krusty, A Streetcar Named Marge, I Love Lisa, and Lisa’s First Word (to name a few).   My most favorite of those is “I Love Lisa”; the Valentines episode.  The fact that Ralphie takes Lisa’s Valentines card out of context (she only gave him one because she felt bad that he did not get any Valentine cards from his classmates), “I Choo Choo Choose You” with a picture of a train on the front, is absolutely hilarious and realistic. I know there have been times in my life where I’ve felt bad, given a boy a Valentines card, or gift and it horribly backfired.  Because of this gift or card, said boy(s) then thought I was interested or liked them, when in all honesty, I just felt bad for them.  And just like in the episode when Ralph takes Lisa to a play and confesses his love for her and Lisa screams back that she’s not in love with him and the truth on why she gave him the Valentines card, this too has happened to me – lesson learned – do not give boys you do not like gifts or extra attention.

I must say that I have to give the writers of The Simpsons oodles of credit!  The way they incorporate current events, plays, other television series, movies, celebrities and more into each episode is what keeps it funny, current and still on the air today.  Here’s to another 20 years of America’s favorite cartoon family, The Simpsons!