The Simpsons is Good Again
New York magazine|June 05 - 18, 2023
After 34 seasons, 750 episodes, and a decades-long funk, the beloved show innovated its way back to popularity and relevance
By Jesse David Fox
The Simpsons is Good Again

In recent years, the producers of The Simpsons have undertaken a significant renovation of the show, which, our legal department requests we make clear, is the point of this ilustration of the family's home. Ilustration by Giacomo Gambineri

In May, I visited the offices of The Simpsons deep inside the Fox Studio Lot in Century City. I was the first reporter in many years to document how the show comes together. More precisely, I was the first reporter in many years to care. After eight seasons, from 1989 to 1997—what connoisseurs agree is the classic period, the years of “Marge vs. the Monorail” and “Cape Feare” and “Mr. Plow,” from which an endless fount of memes is drawn even today—The Simpsons entered what you might call its Dark Ages. Whereas the classic period was a joke-a-minute spectacle that veered between absurdist physical gags and heartfelt family squabbles, the Dark Ages tried to maintain the joke density but lost the show’s emotional core. The result was an overwhelming blahness and deepening cultural irrelevance just as many shows directly inspired by The Simpsons took off.

この記事は New York magazine の June 05 - 18, 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は New York magazine の June 05 - 18, 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

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