The Simpsons

Here are some ideas I pulled from "The Birth of the Simpsonian Institution" by Chris Turner: Television shows, especially those that grow extremely popular, have the ability to influence society and the actions and routines of people on a day to day basis. Television shows can bring people together to enjoy a single episode. In order for a show to be successful, it must relate to society and comment on aspects of modern culture. Rock and Roll eventually declined as a means of expressing modern opinions in the 1990's and was replaced by the Simpsons. Pop music has the ability to unify and divide people as it attracts a wide variety of people but each can be divided up into sub-categories of preference. Once an idea that is countercultural grows to the point where it becomes mainstream, it loses its value as something critical of the mainstream media. The Simpsons was a language you spoke/ a worldview you adopted and it was used to discuss a wide range of topics. Resonance is important to the success of a cultural product as it allows an audience to connect and absorb that idea. Pop-culture quickly moves on from one trend to the next. The Simpson's maintained its resonance not by continuing with the same old, but by doing something entirely new, like the violence of Itchy and Scratchy and also through the introduction of Krusty the Clown. Such advancements made the animation crisper, smoother, and iconically whole, and the pace and density of the writing increased dramatically, and the plots were now looping and multi-leveled, all of which established the Simpson's golden age. 

Various inspirations for The Simpsons include Warner Bros. cartoons, Rocky & Bullwinkle, The Flintstones, All in the Family, M*A*S*H (and other "socially conscious" sitcoms), Saturday Night Live, SCTV (and other sketch comedies), and Late Night with David Letterman.

Various descendants of The Simpsons include Capitol Critters, Fish Police, Family Dog, The Critic, The PJs, Sammy, Family Guy, The Ren and Stimpy Show, Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, and South Park.

The Simpsons also influenced Spongebob as the vast audiences it attracted for its colorful cartoons and humor created a base of supporters for shows like Spongebob Squarepants which utilized similar colorful cartoons and humor.