December 17th In History: The Simpsons Debut

JAKARTA - The Simpsons, is the longest-running animated television series in the history of the United States (US). This series is often the subject of discussion because many of its predictions come true. So, why is The Simpsons so influential in the development of popular culture, especially in the US?

Created by cartoonist Matt Groening, The Simpsons began broadcasting in 1987 as a series of cartoon short films for the Tracey Ullman Show. Two years later, as quoted by Britannica today, December 17, 31 last year or in 1989, The Simpsons debuted on Fox as a half hour prime time show. This cartoon began airing regularly in January 1990.

Under James Brooks, director of senior film production as executive producer, along with Groening and Sam Simon, the show initially had difficulty attracting audiences. But towards the end of the year, his popularity increased. Thanks to The Simpsons, Fox, which was recently established, has become a major competitor in the television broadcasting industry.

Set in the fictional American city of Springfield, The Simpsons centers on a story about a family set in the 1950s: two married parents, two children and a baby, a grandparent, aunt, and uncle.

The children are said to be extraordinary. Lisa, for example, is a talented saxophonist and tends to study philosophy and mathematics. Meanwhile, Bart is a person with a high level of prank, and likes chaos.

While adults, are the adult versions of their children. Homer Simpson, an operator at a nuclear power plant. He is a fan of beer, donuts, and meat. While his wife, Marge, is a family glue who has the healthiest minds among the others.

The family, according to Groening, is a picture of human consumption and jealousy, a portrait of laziness and opportunity, as well as stubbornness and liberation. Plus the series tells about strange townspeople, some tells of immigrants, and a series of depictions of real-world famous guest stars such as former Beatles personnel George Harrison and scientist Stephen Hawking.

That's The Simpson, the real life picture that people live in, especially in the US. However, with more dramatization. So what made The Simpsons important in the development of pop culture at that time?

If we observe, there are similarities in the films The Flintstones, Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Brady Bunch and Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. And in order to see what the similarities are, we have to really pay attention to every single episode of The Simpson over the past 25 years.

All the similarities between the series mentioned appear in every opening of The Simpsons film in each episode. One obvious factor is: attention to detail. That is one of the factors that is the common thread of how these shows are successful, and some of them attract large audiences.

"Matt Groening's iconic animated series turned hyper-referentiality into an art form, regularly packaged in 'one-time' references to high and low culture, from the start," says film critic Darren Franich in Entertainment Weekly.

The Simpsons, said Franich, is the newest and better version of The Flintstones. Even the Groening concept will become a reference that audiences will recognize since their childhood.

The magnitude of The Simpson's influence in everyday life can be seen from the frequency with which the film is discussed. Especially when this film seems to succeed in making predictions come true.

One of The Simpson's most excited predictions this year is when Tom Hanks is predicted to be exposed to the COVID-19 virus. As reported by the Mirror, in the 2007 episode of The Simpsons, Hanks appeared on the Cameo show promoting the latest Grand Canyon, because the previous advertisement was considered very boring.

The ad appeared in the Gorge claiming the United States government had lost credibility and borrowed part of it. Fans of The Simpsons believe that the author of this animation foresaw the fact that the 63-year-old actor will self-isolate.

Fans of The Simpsons think that this story hints at the fact that Hanks has to go into quarantine. As is known now, Hanks is positive for COVID-19.

Previously, The Simpsons also predicted the presence of the corona virus for a long time. This episode tells of the United States experiencing a severe flu outbreak when it received a package from Osaka, Japan.

At that time, Homer wanted to lose weight by consuming the juice he ordered from Osaka, Japan. After a few weeks, the juice arrived at the delivery location. However, the juice box contains a dangerous flu epidemic and is nicknamed "Osaka Flu" which came from Asia.

The surrounding community has a very excruciating flu. Until finally, the plague spread throughout the city. The Simpsons tells of the flu epidemic coming from Osaka, Japan. In fact, COVID-19 came from Wuhan, China.

Most recently, an animated piece of The Simpsons is thought to be predictive of the US presidential election. As quoted by The Sun, in the episode Mr Burns supporting Mitt Romney facing Barack Obama, The Simpsons series is deemed to have shown a map of vote acquisition in the state which has the same results as the 2020 US Presidential Election vote count.

There are still many other predictions of The Simpsons that make the world public excited. This then caused controversy. There are those who believe in the truth of The Simpsons' predictions, but not a few also think that it is just a coincidence.