‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Futurama’: behind the laughs | Television – EL PAÍS

Futurama has survived two cancellations and The Simpsons will begin its 36th season in September. To give you an idea of ​​what this means: In the first episodes, Homer was a man born in the 1950s. Now he’s a millennial from the mid-1980s. If he lasts a few more years, the character will have been born after the premiere of his own series.

How do they last so long? It’s not just because of nostalgia or because rewatches are good for taking a nap. Both series, and above all The Simpsons, They renewed humor and animation on television, and that is still noticeable.

The Simpsons It is characterized by a very complex, varied and culturally-referenced humor. As Jesse David Fox writes in The Comedy Book, In the same episode we can find clever wordplay, physical gags, dark references, incisive comments and funny voices.

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Example: Cape Fear. The chapter is a parody of Cape Terror, by J. Lee Thompson (and the remake (Martin Scorsese). There are movie references, but it also includes one of the silliest and most celebrated moments: supporting actor Bob trips over nine rakes. Even this same gag is not just a slap in the face, but is taken to excess through repetition, in something that we would later see exploited to the max in Family guy.

And of course there is a lot of satire in the series. Towards the sitcoms classics and the nuclear family, following in the footsteps of series such as Married with children, but also with an excellent ear for picking up on major trends and social debates, such as labor claims (“Dental insurance. Lisa needs braces”) or discussions about guns in America (“A gun is not a weapon, Marge, it’s a tool. Like a butcher knife, or a harpoon, or a crocodile”).

Because it’s so dense and has lasted so many years, the series has become an endless source of references and memes. The Simpsons They are part of the language we use to communicate (at least, those of us who are of a certain age) and their scenes and phrases continue to help us encapsulate and comment on any event. After all, can’t we compare Puigdemont to the character from The Incognito Guy?

The Simpson family, in a promotional image.

Another element that influences the mood of The Simpsons It is something that seems obvious today, but at the time it was not so obvious: it is an animated series aimed at an adult audience. Animation allows the format of the series to be respected even more than usual. sitcom classic, in which everything returns to normal at the end of each episode: the characters never age and the children do not go to university. And, at the same time and as Moritz Frink recalls in The Simpsons, A Cultural History, This also allows for more freedom: Homer can fly into space or turn Springfield into a canal-filled Venice without anyone worrying about production costs.

The success of The Simpsons paved the way for other animated series also for adults. Some followed the format of the sitcom family members (Padre de familia, King of the Hill, Bob’s Burger) and others tried new genres (Archer, South Park, Rick y Morty). They were all able to take even more narrative risks thanks to the fact that The Simpsons they did it before.

Among the series that followed the path of The Simpsons this Futuramathe second major production by Matt Groening, which is now airing its twelfth season (on Disney+) and which inherited a lot from its older sister: from cultural references to social satire, as well as the courage to dare with emotional episodes (this is where the obligatory mention of Fry’s dog comes in).

Fry shares pizza with his dog, ‘Seymour’, in ‘Futurama’.Pinterest

There are differences, of course. Futurama is both a parody of science fiction and one of the most interesting examples of the genre. Many of the series’ episodes revisit classic themes such as the grandfather paradox in time travel: what happens if I go back in time and kill my grandfather before my father is born? Fry solves the paradox in a, shall we say, unorthodox way… Although in his defense it must be said that he didn’t know that the young and attractive waitress was his grandmother.

Both series go through a moment of relative indifference: for The Simpsons Euthanasia has been called for for a couple of decades and Futurama It seems that it has been resurrected twice in an exercise, above all, of affection and nostalgia. But there are reasons for optimism: the last seasons of The Simpsons They have received good reviews (or at least better ones), thanks to a renewed team and the recovery of that good ear for capturing cultural and social trends.

It wouldn’t be so strange if both series were excellent again: they have nothing to prove and can dare to do whatever they want. They can be eternal, or almost, and they can still be something fun, comforting and, from time to time, unexpected. Like the Northern Lights. At this time of year. At this time of day. In this part of the country. Located exclusively inside my kitchen.