"The Simpsons" and Me

When "The Simpsons" started, my parents let me stay up an extra half hour late on Sundays to watch it. Which I am still thankful for. Getting to watch a series like this from the beginning means that I feel a very close connection to the show, a connection that means a lot to me.

I found out later that my mom's dad hated the show and was appalled that she let me watch it. She explained that while the animation was awful (which, as we now know, was not Groening's intention), the show had a lot of morality to it (at least at the time). I'm glad she was able to recognize that.

While I don't remember discussing the show a lot with friends in elementary and middle school, it seems likely I must have - all kids discuss the tv shows they watched. When I really remember it coming handy was high school, especially the last two years, when my friends and I would endlessly quote it to each other. I even recall sitting at home on a Sunday night (after they'd moved it from Sundays to Thursdays back to Sundays) and writing down all the best lines from that episode so I could quote them at school the next day.

Unfortunately, by the time I was in the later part of high school, the series had started to wane. It was still funny, still entertaining, still occasionally heartwarming, but not the extent it used to be.

So in college, when I didn't have tv in my dorm and I often found myself doing homework on Sunday nights and I missed some episodes, it wasn't the end of the world. After all, they'd rerun, right?

And then my boyfriend at the time wasn't that into them, so I missed a lot then. But after we broke up, I found myself watching the new episodes, and the reruns and being so happy to have them back. I'm still watching the rerurns, and the new episodes with my husband.

The above picture was taken a couple years ago at Hollywood and Highland, where, during the celebration of the show's 500th episode, they had a challenge where they'd invited fifty or so people to watch all seasons of "The Simpsons" without falling asleep. When I dropped by before getting on the subway, they were about eight or nine seasons in. Now, I myself couldn't do that (sleep and I are very dear friends) but I applauded their commitment to the show (and the cash prize).

In some ways, I want the show to end. It can't quite go out on a high note anymore, but it can go out with dignity. In other ways, I'm proud that something I loved so fiercely from the start is still going. This show is a huge part of my life and my childhood. I'm glad I can share that with so many others.