Word: homer
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...They stick with one another through thin and thin. Father Homer, mother Marge, 10-year-old Bart, eight-year-old Lisa and baby Maggie seem to be a typical sitcom family -- the Honeymooners with kids, the Flintstones in suburbia -- with typically outlandish dilemmas to face and resolve each week. But there the similarity ends. Since it sprang in 1990 from cartoon spots on The Tracey Ullman Show, The Simpsons has proved uniquely dense and witty. And thanks to top writers, directors and actors in the care of creator Matt Groening and comedy veteran Jim Brooks, it has stayed that...
...family of underachievers, the Simpsons have achieved quite a bit. In the show, Homer has been a monorail conductor and a baseball mascot; he won a Grammy (for Outstanding Soul, Spoken Word or Barbershop Album) and survived eating a deadly blowfish. Marge sang Blanche Dubois in the musical O Streetcar! Lisa created her own talking doll, mastered the saxophone and the Talmud, was a Junior Miss Springfield, uncovered political corruption and saved the Republic. Bart adopted an elephant, fell down a well and was rescued by Sting, and was tried for murdering Principal Skinner. Maggie had her first word voiced...
...Homer isn't bright, but he loves his brood. The poor patriarch is so dull witted that he probably couldn't count to 16 if he used all his fingers and his toes. But he is a faithful husband, and if he often derides his kids, he will do anything -- go skateboarding off a cliff, defy his boss, buy Lisa a pony -- if the tots scream loud enough and if Marge gives him a lecture...
...They're reliable. "Animated characters don't get busted," says Groening, "and they don't get old." Maggie has not aged a day. Homer can't get much fatter or balder. Marge's bouffant will always look like a neatly trimmed blue fir. Bart frets about graduating from fourth grade, but fate and good ratings will keep him there for life. Lisa, the poor stranded sensitive intellectual, will never escape Springfield...
...They have heart. One of Brooks' cardinal rules: Let's not be afraid of emotion. The strongest episodes are those (like "Lisa's Substitute," "Homer Alone," "Like Father, Like Clown" and "Bart the Lover") that reveal the bedrock fondness, desperation and loyalty that bond this or any other frazzled clan. A viewer can feel awe at the show's cascading wit and still purr at the sweet, deep sentiment. Hail, Simpsons! May you live another 100 episodes at the same apex of quality...