The Simpsons is the most successful animated feature in television history. In this essay I will discuss some of the features of The Simpsons that make it so successful from the brilliant and intelligent Mini-narratives

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The Simpsons Essay

The Simpsons is the most successful animated feature in television history. In this essay I will discuss some of the features of The Simpsons that make it so successful from the brilliant and intelligent Mini-narratives to the predictable but hilarious stereotypes.

Although The Simpsons is entertaining it also has a very fascinating history which actually reaches back to 1987when the show was only a weekly comic strip for a set of regional newspapers such as "life in hell".

Cartoons have specific codes and conventions. For example cartoons often tend to be bright. This is especially effective because it will draw in a young audience and is extremely "friendly" to young children. In addition to this, another code or convention of another cartoon is that the main characters never die. To me, this suggests that most cartoons are designed for young children who don't have despair or sorrow in their lives. Cartoons, in this sense, keep young children from seeing the dark and terrible things that happen in real life.

Sitcoms usually tend to be brimming with hilarious jokes which will leave you with you in Hysterics, but is also very watch able. There is usually one setting for the characters which is where they live. For example, in the Simpsons we are mainly shown the characters house. This exemplifies the idea that the show is based on one family. Furthermore, this could suggest that this family is much more different from the average family because the Simpson family rush home from either work, school or shopping (shown in the title sequence) so the can sit on the sofa and watch television.

The Simpsons is a sitcom because it contains the key Components of the sitcom genre. For example, the Simpsons is very funny and always ends happily. This suggests that the Simpsons is definitely a sitcom, but it is not always classified as a sitcom. One could refer to it as a sitcom but then other ingredients of the show suggest that it is of an entirely different genre.

However, The Simpsons is different to many sitcoms because it breaches some of the rules of the sitcom genre. For example, the show is animated, it has guest characters, makes jokes about the media and contains surreal humour. An example of the shows tendency to contravene the rules of the sitcom genre, can be found in "the Springfield files". During this episode, we see the use of an alien which is something we won't see regularly in sitcoms. This shows that the Simpsons isn't exactly an ordinary sitcom. This could also mean that the show has accidentally inherited the qualities of the sitcom genre. To me, this suggests that the Simpsons can be graded as a generically composite programme for it contains other generic qualities. As a result, you can never expect or predict what the next episode's genre will be.
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The Simpsons is a exceedingly humorous programme. An example of humour in "Homer Badman" is when Homer explains to an infuriated mob of protesters that he is a decent guy. Then a second after his dressing gown flies open and exposes his genitals, making him look like a flasher. This suggests that this kind of joke is aimed at adults because it contains a mild theme of an adult nature. However, this could also mean that Homer is a really unlucky guy for bad things seem to happen to him. To me this implies that the creator of ...

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