My favorite episodes, however, remain the ones that allow an evergreen question such as "is it folly to be wise where ignorance is bliss" to be examined in a more up-to-date phrasing such as, "is it too difficult to be intelligent in a dumb man's world?" You take one Homer Simpson, explain his stupidity with a head x-ray showing a crayon that has been lodged in his brain since he was a child, and have said crayon removed. Suddenly he gets a 50-point bump in IQ, realizing his potential and finally achieving hero status in his brainy daughter's eyes. He even develops a love for reading, elementary and Seuss-ish though it is ("It was so tragic the way they hopped on Pop"). Gradually, however, his friends shun him, he becomes too smart to enjoy basic entertainment, and his increased work ethic leads to layoffs at the power plant. He contemplates how to go about returning to his old self. Near the end of the episode, Lisa notices a single crayon missing from her box. Marge explains that a missing crayon could be anywhere. Just then, Homer jumps through the living room window and pops up yelling, "Who wants lottery tickets!" To which Marge must acquiesce, "Okay, it's in his brain."

And what about all this Homer Simpson buffoonery? Is it damaging, as some have suggested, to a proper understanding of today's man? In movies and in many TV shows like Everybody Loves Raymond, Family Guy, Two-and-a-Half Men, etc., fathers and husbands are continually represented as doltish, clueless, incapable clods. It's a question deserving its own article and defense, but for my part I answer no, at least in Homer's case. His antics are so over-the-top and impossibly stupid that they are beyond the bounds of reality. I don't get the same warning signs watching Homer jab himself in the eye with a hammer and allowing Bart to get away with not brushing his teeth so long as he washes his mouth out with soda as I do at watching Ray Barone yet again get beaten down by his wife for wanting to play golf. The satire is obvious and escapist rather than all-too-familiar.

Looking Ahead

So what's to come this season? Well, that's a question this article didn't spend much time exploring for a reason, which is: "more of the same." Thanks to our society, The Simpsons will never run out of material, even though it would seem they've already covered just about everything. Other animated shows like Family Guy, South Park, and more that have already come and gone not only owe much to The Simpsons' trailblazing, but often find it hard to be original in their shadow. South Park even did an episode once where nobody could come up with any fresh ideas because, "the Simpsons did it." This show has been there cataloguing our American life and times since 1989 to the point where you could write a version of Billy Joel's 20^th-century revue "We Didn't Start the Fire" including all the Simpsons-eye views of events, issues, technologies, and celebrities that have come and gone. Oh…wait…

They already did that, too: 

Ullman shorts, Christmas show,
Marge's fling, Homer's bro,
Bart in well, Flanders fails,
Whacking snakes, Monorail,
Mr. Plow, Homer in space,
Sideshow Bob steps on rakes,
Lisa's future, Selma's hubby,
Marge not proud, Homer chubby,
Homer worries Bart is gay,
Poochie, U2, NRA,
Hippies, Vegas, and Japan,
Octuplets, and Bart's boy band,
Marge murmurs, Maude croaks,
Lisa Buddhas, Homer tokes,
Maggie blows Burns away,
What else do I have to say?!

You'll never stop the Simpsons,
Have no fears, we've got stories for years like...

Marge becomes a robot,
Maybe Moe gets a cell phone,
Has Bart ever owned a bear or...

How about a crazy wedding?
Where something happens, and do-do do-do-do
Sorry for the clip show!

Have no fears, we've got stories for years!

Have no fears indeed. You don't even need to have a crayon up your nose to enjoy it for what it is while we have it.

Shawn McEvoy is Senior Editor at Crosswalk.com and a contributing editor for Christianity.com and theFish.com. He holds an M.A. in Writing from Virginia Commonwealth University and enjoys pop culture and the discussion thereof.