Zombie Simpsons: How the Best Show Ever Became the Broadcasting Undead

by Charlie Sweatpants

By almost any measurement, "The Simpsons" is the most influential television comedy ever created. It has been translated into every major language on Earth and dozens of minor ones; it has spawned entire genres of animation, and had more books written about it than all but a handful of American Presidents. Even its minor characters have become iconic, and the titular family is recognizable in almost every corner of the planet. It is a definitive and truly global cultural phenomenon, perhaps the biggest of the television age.

As of this writing, if you flip on FOX at 8pm on Sundays, you will see a program that bills itself as "The Simpsons". It is not "The Simpsons". That show, the landmark piece of American culture that debuted on 17 December 1989, went off the air more than a decade ago. The replacement is a hopelessly mediocre imitation that bears only a superficial resemblance to the original. It is the unwanted sequel, the stale spinoff, the creative dry hole that is kept pumping in the endless search for more money. It is Zombie Simpsons.

Genres: Nonfiction, Tv

105 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 16, 2012

Reviews

[Thad Komorowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent critical overview of the series's rise and fall. THIS, rather than John Ortved's clumsy oral history, is the real springboard for a definitive book on The Simpsons. I can only imagine the job "Sweatpants" could have done if he had access to Ortved's sources.

A few caveats: he does some massive overgeneralizing about TV from the '50s to the '80s (especially before the mid-'60s); the charts done on fan reception are amusing but don't really give credence to his arguments (though the ones on writers and show runners certainly do); it could use tighter editing to remove some repetition, but the fact this was just done for the Internet makes it even more impressive.

The saddest part, though, is that so many of the moments "Sweatpants" offers as terrible (and make no mistake—they objectively ARE terrible) from Seasons 9-12 I actually remember somewhat fondly. But what do you expect from a show that's sucked for more than half of its run?

For a long time, though, it was THE show, and THE book, worthy of its subject, will one day be written. Whether it will contain any earth-shattering revelations, I can't say. But the genuine article on this industry-changer is long overdue.

[Alex Doenau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frequently interesting and fairly well reasoned argument about the degeneration of The Simpsons over its 22 seasons is slightly too "know it all", and backed by a pseudo-authoritative voice. A lot of this seems more conjecture than fact, and this material doesn't play as well on the Kindle as it does on the generally excellent Dead Homer Society.

Sweatpants, given the right resources, backing, and a real name, could potentially produce a legitimately hard hitting book on his clear passion. This isn't that book, but it's a good starting point.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The early chapters weaving decades of historical context around sitcoms and the entertainment history were a great read in of themselves. I was a little disappointed to see the later chapters move into a season-by-season chronology - not a *silly* choice for non-fiction, but emotionally dry.
I'd have loved to see a deeper account of the show "after the fall", to help contextualise the slow death of the show. It's mentioned in parts, but it's hard to appreciate the depth of the before/after comparison when the recounting focuses on the decline.

Interesting, and edifying, but less memorable than I was hoping for.

[Robbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been almost ten years since this bookette (like a novelette but less ambitious) was released and the Simpsons is still on tv. It will be on tv forever, and it will continue to have no viewers.
I am the target audience for this book: The number of episodes I have seen is now utterly dwarfed by those I have not. I will never watch the new episodes. I thought the movie was fine but unnecessary.
This entire book can be summarised as: the old episodes of a tv show are good, new episodes bad. There’s enough substance to be interesting but not enough to be compelling. It does what it sets it to do.

[While · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing analysis of the undeath of one of the greatest television shows of all time. The discussion of the show, along with the analysis of the transition of the shows writers brings back memories of a time when The Simpsons dominated my life. As I read the book I recalled a time when I would be attentively tuned in to my local Fox affiliate to religiously watch the show. At some point, I simply found it unfunny and would only sparingly watch reruns of the first 9 seasons. I recalled my "jump the shark moment" as being the Bart becomes a Jockey episode. Sweatpants discusses the radical departure from standard television, which the early episodes had to the eventual turn towards time tested tropes of television which the post season 10 "zombie" episodes pervade.

My only real criticism, apart from the brevity, is that the book attempts to pass Amazon reviews of DVD sales and IMDB reviews as as factual data as to audience reaction. I don't disagree that these are ways of getting data on viewership but these don't convince me that the ideas behind it are based on consensus.

[Kevin Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Zombie Simpsons" is going to be an easy book to review/discuss because it was an article that turned into a feature, that turned into a bi-weekly column, that turned into a mini-book. Charlie Sweatpants wanted to write a thorough examination of why "The Simpsons" - once one of the most beloved shows of all time - managed to turn into something so mediocre and bland. He went through several terms to describe what happened before settling on 'Zombie Simpsons,' as it drew a clear line between 'Classic Simpsons' episodes (which are usually still praised to this day) and the modern episodes, which exist but don't add a lot to our culture. The idea is that the show walks the Earth, new episodes being made every year, but does so in the most lifeless form possible.

As someone who still watches the show I will admit that I rarely laugh out loud at it. There are a few chuckles and even a genuine laugh here and there, but nowhere am I blown away by the humor and drama that the show used to have. The characters once had a lot of edge and (what I like to call) 'bite' to them...but now, well, everyone's a lovable loser. This mini-book touches on these feelings and a lot more. It goes into the creative overturn that resulted in a shift in tone. It touches on people who died. You know "The Principle and the Pauper" is going to be given it's own chapter. Included are some old arguments for why the show got to be as bland as it did and some fairly new ideas. Nothing about the book is truly revolutionary. I mean, really, to understand what happened to "The Simpsons" all one needs to do is watch "The Simpsons."

What "Zombie Simpsons" does provide is a single, focused argument for what went wrong and how it really was unavoidable that it would get bad. It laments on the fact that only two things can really kill it (I won't spoil those things here because its one of the biggest laughs of the book), and it also is fair in pointing out the show is rarely terrible, it's...just not very good anymore. This likely isn't going to be a fascinating read if you never really liked the show to begin with, but it may provide a great argument that the reason for you not liking it may be in the fact that you never watched it when it was great.

[Anand Mohan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential reading for anyone who grew up with the Simpsons

Anyone who grew up with the Simpsons has lamented on how bad it has gotten, but it’s has never been expressed so eloquently as it has been put here.

[Jeremie Meisel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great and concise

Very well written, heartfelt piece. The author describes the highs and lows of the show from a place of respect for a show he loved at one time.

[Gavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A clever outsized blogpost. The points are true, the arguments fine, and personally I like that rabbit-hole mania when a smart person spends way too much time on something. But who's the audience? The fan who knows that Zombie Simpsons sucks, but wants to indulge in hating the studio? The youngster who hasn't seen it pre-reanimation? Someone was going to say it, and now they have.

[Adam Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short (<50 pages) book argues that The Simpsons is the most culturally impactful TV show ever created.

It's hard to remember this now, but when The Simpsons went on the air in 1990, "TV" meant content created by the three major networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS). Shows followed just a handful of tried-and-true formulas: workplace sitcoms (Cheers), gameshows (Wheel of Fortune), mid-brow dramas (Dallas), detective shows (Miami Vice), and feel-good family sitcoms (The Cosby Show). The family sitcom was by far the largest category by number of shows, and viewership.

Since their introduction in the 1950s with Leave It To Beaver, family sitcoms were a perpetual reinforcement of traditional American values. Loving parents, adorable children, and a moral lesson to be learned from every episode.

Then The Simpsons arrived, mercilessly satirizing every thing about not only the family sitcom, but American values. It depicted lazy and inept government, teachers who didn't give a damn about their students' education, soul-crushing employment, and a family of lazy underachievers who could most succinctly be described as total losers.

The show had a huge and immediate impact on US viewership. The people who loved the comfort and familiarity of the values-reinforcing family sitcoms that had ruled the airwaves since Leave It To Beaver were aghast and outraged. (The Simpsons would later satirize these folks' reaction to the show with a character known for the line "will someone please think of the children!")

But it was also immensely popular, unlocking a whole new audience of people who simply didn't care about TV before. I was among this group. TV was non-existent to me in the late 80s and early 90s; there was simply nothing for me there. With the arrival of The Simpsons, I suddenly cared about owning a TV and getting home from work on Thursday nights in time to watch the latest episode.

One example of the show's impact on wider culture is that it managed the unparalleled feat of bringing three new words into the English language. Those words are "yoink," "doh," and "cromulent." All three made their way into English dictionaries a few scant years after being introduced by the show.

The premise of the book, and the term "Zombie Simpsons," is that the show fell off a cliff starting around the 9th and 10th seasons. Few shows, even the biggest hits, go beyond seven or eight seasons. By then, every possible storyline with the show's premise and characters has been explored. But The Simpsons, because of how it had completely transformed both American TV and culture, was such a massive money-maker that it continued on. Today it's on its 23rd season with no sign of stopping.

The book concludes by positing that, while the show will eventually go off the air, The Simpsons will have a big a place in US and world culture that they will be with us for a very long time. Homer Simpson is likely to join the ranks of Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny as a character that continues to be evolved and applied to new contexts (video games, theme parks, books, and endless merchandise) for the next fifty years, and beyond. Just as Mickey Mouse is a cultural icon who has survived and thrived for decades beyond the deaths of his creators, so to will The Simpsons join in the pantheon of brand characters which define western culture.

[Giddy Girlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the author and his pals are absolutely on to something, namely that The Simpsons isn't as good as it once was and it isn't likely to be that good ever again. The author has gone through some painstaking data gathering to prove his point -- you'll see charts and graphs and stats of the declining sentiment over the years. The author and his collaborators don't seem to have any actual inside knowledge of the staff, actors, or production teams so most of their information is based on fan ratings and gut instincts. Some of that is easy to see, such as in the early years FOX was a fledgling network and was willing to "push the boat out" on their shows. They were not concerned with censors or standards and gave their creative staff a lot of leeway to create the show that they wanted to see. Which made the series very authentic and "real" to viewers, however over the years the network has gotten much more involved and pushed their own agendas (celebrity voices, product tie-ins, crossover episodes, etc.). Subsequently, the original staff of writers had turned over and so the show continued to lose its "original" talent and as the years have gone on, the copies of copies are just not as crisp as the original.

I really agree with these assertions and I, too, think it's evident that by seasons 9 and 10 *something* has changed with the show. It is still entertaining, but it's not as authentic. And I think this author has done a good job postulating what those changes were but beyond that, there really isn't much to talk about. It becomes a general beratement of the series beyond season 10. I am not looking to defend the show, but there's only so many times that you can re-state "the show isn't the same" - even with the addition of random curse words - to make it more interesting. You don't like it, you've shown us why, let's move on.

Two things that bothered me about this book: 1) the overuse of footnotes -- the author would frequently stash a pithy remark as a footnote, which is a hassle. It disturbs the flow of the reader and, really, the comment could have been made parenthetical (know what I mean?). 2) Toward the end, it gets repetitive. I think by that time, most of us would agree with your theory but to rehash it over and over was a bit too much. Also, it referred to a lot of specific instances in later seasons to prove it's point of how the show isn't as good any more. But shouldn't the author expect that if the show wasn't/isn't that good that people won't have seen those episodes? Especially since those are the seasons that aren't available for purchase -- how can any Simpsons fan be expect those to have the same place in our memories if we've only seen them on air and in re-runs? We can't know them as well as the time-worn copies of our VHS tapes and DVDs of seasons 1-9.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Internet commentators spend a lot of time forming opinions on their favorite shows, most of which are not worth reading. However, if nothing else, Charlie Sweatpants has Done His Homework. He cites, references, provides examples, and everything to make the case of what's happened to The Simpsons in recent years.

Some argue that he's spent too much time thinking about this and pontificating on a show he's merely a fan of. If you're inclined to think that way, don't read this. If you liked The Simpsons and were always wondering just what the hell happened, this book makes an excellent, well written and thought out case. I enjoyed it for what it was.

[Forrest Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a supremely well researched and written essay about the decline and fall of The Simpsons. There is a great deal of value for money, and for those who were born around the same time ZS began (like me) this essay is an incredible experience of what it must have been like to see the show as it happened. I'd highly recommend it with anyone who has any interest in the show, or critical analysis as whole. One suggestion I would have is a few more analysis of earlier or recent episodes.

[Holly Raymond · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why did I read this? Because it was literally handed to me. Was it worth it? No. Is the title a combination of two words that I have zero interest in and I have always had zero interest in? Yes. I guess the negation of a negation is NOT a synthesis!

[Colin Whiteside · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweatpants' brief analysis of what made The Simpsons great and why it went rubbish about 9 seasons in is worth a read.