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>including all 30 seasons of The Simpsons; Never thought I'd see the day when a Disney service would air the Simpsons. The idea of the simpsons airing on the d

>including all 30 seasons of The Simpsons; Never thought I'd see the day when a Disney service would air the Simpsons. The idea of the simpsons airing on the disney channel back in the day would have been ridiculous. Seems so strange to go from being considered one of the most notorious shows around to being carried by Disney. The very antithesis of what it was when it started. Not sure what that says more about though, Disney or the Simpsons.

dmos62 7y ago
To my understanding, it's widely considered that The Simpsons have not been a veritable satire (in the spirit of the first seasons) for the past 20+ years. With success it quickly became what it started out ridiculing; so Disney endorsing Simpsons is normal.
- shantly 7y ago
  The Dead Homer Society's take on it is basically exactly that—the show became what it was satirizing. Throw in a little TV-embraces-criticism-and-makes-it-the-new-normal (cf. David Foster Wallace) and everything else got more like The Simpsons, too. It looks a little ranty at first glance but ends up being pretty damn thorough and convincing. By season 8 or 9 the show was transitioning away from its old self, and past that it's not really delivering the same thing it was in seasons 1-7 at all, so if you were really into that the later seasons may not scratch the same itch (or itchy the same scratchy?). https://deadhomersociety.com/zombiesimpsons/ https://deadhomersociety.com/zombiesimpsons/
  - grawprog 7y ago
    I'm not sure if it was that one or not, I tried looking through it and couldn't find it, but I remember there was a good comparison between the joke setup and execution of old style simpsons and the later seasons that really put the difference between the two into perspective. I just remember it summing up all the things I disliked about the new Simpsons in a single joke that I'd never really been able to notice in detail until it was laid out like that.
  - cortesoft 7y ago
    > TV-embraces-criticism-and-makes-it-the-new-normal That was the most chilling and realistic part of the black mirror episode from the first season... where the guy goes on this passionate rant against the reality show culture... and the reality show responds by saying how much they love that fire and passion, so they give him a reality show.
smaili 7y ago
I still remember growing up as a kid, my parents would constantly monitor the CRT to make sure I wasn't watching the Simpsons because it was "not for kids" :) I haven't been following much of the show but it could also be the writers toned down the content as the show progressed through the years to the point where Disney wouldn't mind airing it? It could also just be them recognizing the pull the Simpson has on viewers and they're using it as the initial bait to attract subscribers but have it pulled once they have enough customers? Who knows, but either way I do agree this combination was one I would've never imagined as a kid.
- scarface74 7y ago
  It may be that the sway of the “Moral Majority” has lost its clout. When Ellen first came out as gay on her show it was a big deal in the 90s and Murphy Brown having a child out of wedlock was a talking point by the Vice President. Now even cartoons aimed at kids show same sex couples (I can’t remember the name of the cartoon) and Disney and most corporations are ignoring them - including protest about an interracial couple.
  - AJ007 7y ago
    You also have cartoons on Netflix and Hulu with full frontal nudity and graphic violence (decapitation, disembowelment, etc.) I think what happened was the kids who weren’t allowed to watch The Simpsons, grew up, and realized the entire thing was silly, and they are the ones with kids now.
  - bitwize 7y ago
    They've been displaced by a new moral majority. For example, the producers have decided to erase the Michael Jackson episode of The Simpsons from history. Now that the Right People are burning books, book burning is A-OK with the Simpsons crew.
    - bearcobra 7y ago
      The counter argument offered by the producers to this point is there’s a difference when the author(s) decide to make an edit. If you believe the accusations against Jackson it doesn’t seem unreasonable that living people may want to dissociate from him
nabla9 7y ago
Just wait until they buy pornhub.com :) Disney is not just Disney+. It's Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, ABC and many other delivery channels and insane amount of franchise. They can merge or create more channels over time. Whatever maximizes the profit. They are even producing Black Mirror trough Endemol Shine (House of Tomorrow). Netflix just has the distribution rights.
sosborn 7y ago
I think says volumes about how our social norms have changed. Remember, today’s decision makers grew up on the Simpsons.
chrisseaton 7y ago
The Simpsons was never really that controversial was it? It's fairly family-friendly. Didn't have any bad language, almost zero sexuality, zero nudity, any violence is very cartoon, its satire is pretty gentle, plot-lines are usually wholesome in the end.
- jhbadger 7y ago
  It totally was controversial in the beginning. It was considered worse than South Park or Family Guy are today. George H.W. Bush (the father) even made a statement that the American family should be "more like The Waltons and less like The Simpsons." ("The Waltons" was a series about a wholesome family in Virginia surviving the Great Depression)
  - chrisseaton 7y ago
    > George H.W. Bush (the father) even made a statement that the American family should be "more like The Waltons and less like The Simpsons." Yeah... I get that the plot is that the family in the show are chaotic. But that doesn't mean that the show itself is controversial, does it? It's not advocating for being like the Simpsons are.
    - wj 7y ago
      It's not now but is was 1990. The Simpsons and Married With Children were pretty much unlike anything else on TV at the time. The Cosby Show was pretty popular if that gives you a contrast.
    - jhbadger 7y ago
      I guess what people like Bush didn't like about it was that Homer was seen as stupid (and traditionally the father figure on shows was wise and could give good advice to his children) and that Bart was a troublemaker.
      - chrisseaton 7y ago
        Father figures have been buffoons and families have been chaotic on TV for decades - the Flintstones back in the 60s for example.
closetbch 7y ago
you are comparing an entire group vs one show. it's not even a little surprising. you probably get a boner when someone says hell in a tv show

dmos62 7y ago

To my understanding, it's widely considered that The Simpsons have not been a veritable satire (in the spirit of the first seasons) for the past 20+ years. With success it quickly became what it started out ridiculing; so Disney endorsing Simpsons is normal.

shantly 7y ago
The Dead Homer Society's take on it is basically exactly that—the show became what it was satirizing. Throw in a little TV-embraces-criticism-and-makes-it-the-new-normal (cf. David Foster Wallace) and everything else got more like The Simpsons, too. It looks a little ranty at first glance but ends up being pretty damn thorough and convincing. By season 8 or 9 the show was transitioning away from its old self, and past that it's not really delivering the same thing it was in seasons 1-7 at all, so if you were really into that the later seasons may not scratch the same itch (or itchy the same scratchy?). https://deadhomersociety.com/zombiesimpsons/ https://deadhomersociety.com/zombiesimpsons/
- grawprog 7y ago
  I'm not sure if it was that one or not, I tried looking through it and couldn't find it, but I remember there was a good comparison between the joke setup and execution of old style simpsons and the later seasons that really put the difference between the two into perspective. I just remember it summing up all the things I disliked about the new Simpsons in a single joke that I'd never really been able to notice in detail until it was laid out like that.
- cortesoft 7y ago
  > TV-embraces-criticism-and-makes-it-the-new-normal That was the most chilling and realistic part of the black mirror episode from the first season... where the guy goes on this passionate rant against the reality show culture... and the reality show responds by saying how much they love that fire and passion, so they give him a reality show.

smaili 7y ago

I still remember growing up as a kid, my parents would constantly monitor the CRT to make sure I wasn't watching the Simpsons because it was "not for kids" :) I haven't been following much of the show but it could also be the writers toned down the content as the show progressed through the years to the point where Disney wouldn't mind airing it? It could also just be them recognizing the pull the Simpson has on viewers and they're using it as the initial bait to attract subscribers but have it pulled once they have enough customers? Who knows, but either way I do agree this combination was one I would've never imagined as a kid.

scarface74 7y ago
It may be that the sway of the “Moral Majority” has lost its clout. When Ellen first came out as gay on her show it was a big deal in the 90s and Murphy Brown having a child out of wedlock was a talking point by the Vice President. Now even cartoons aimed at kids show same sex couples (I can’t remember the name of the cartoon) and Disney and most corporations are ignoring them - including protest about an interracial couple.
- AJ007 7y ago
  You also have cartoons on Netflix and Hulu with full frontal nudity and graphic violence (decapitation, disembowelment, etc.) I think what happened was the kids who weren’t allowed to watch The Simpsons, grew up, and realized the entire thing was silly, and they are the ones with kids now.
- bitwize 7y ago
  They've been displaced by a new moral majority. For example, the producers have decided to erase the Michael Jackson episode of The Simpsons from history. Now that the Right People are burning books, book burning is A-OK with the Simpsons crew.
  - bearcobra 7y ago
    The counter argument offered by the producers to this point is there’s a difference when the author(s) decide to make an edit. If you believe the accusations against Jackson it doesn’t seem unreasonable that living people may want to dissociate from him

nabla9 7y ago

Just wait until they buy pornhub.com :) Disney is not just Disney+. It's Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, ABC and many other delivery channels and insane amount of franchise. They can merge or create more channels over time. Whatever maximizes the profit. They are even producing Black Mirror trough Endemol Shine (House of Tomorrow). Netflix just has the distribution rights.

sosborn 7y ago

I think says volumes about how our social norms have changed. Remember, today’s decision makers grew up on the Simpsons.

chrisseaton 7y ago

The Simpsons was never really that controversial was it? It's fairly family-friendly. Didn't have any bad language, almost zero sexuality, zero nudity, any violence is very cartoon, its satire is pretty gentle, plot-lines are usually wholesome in the end.

jhbadger 7y ago
It totally was controversial in the beginning. It was considered worse than South Park or Family Guy are today. George H.W. Bush (the father) even made a statement that the American family should be "more like The Waltons and less like The Simpsons." ("The Waltons" was a series about a wholesome family in Virginia surviving the Great Depression)
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  > George H.W. Bush (the father) even made a statement that the American family should be "more like The Waltons and less like The Simpsons." Yeah... I get that the plot is that the family in the show are chaotic. But that doesn't mean that the show itself is controversial, does it? It's not advocating for being like the Simpsons are.
  - wj 7y ago
    It's not now but is was 1990. The Simpsons and Married With Children were pretty much unlike anything else on TV at the time. The Cosby Show was pretty popular if that gives you a contrast.
  - jhbadger 7y ago
    I guess what people like Bush didn't like about it was that Homer was seen as stupid (and traditionally the father figure on shows was wise and could give good advice to his children) and that Bart was a troublemaker.
    - chrisseaton 7y ago
      Father figures have been buffoons and families have been chaotic on TV for decades - the Flintstones back in the 60s for example.

closetbch 7y ago

you are comparing an entire group vs one show. it's not even a little surprising. you probably get a boner when someone says hell in a tv show