Who here haven't watched
The Simpsons? Anybody? No? Well, that's not surprising, because it's the oldest show still going. Anybody here actually remember yellow-skinned Bart and Liz? The old gentleman in the back, perhaps?
*laughs from the audience*
Now, don't get me wrong, I love watching the old show, even though the image quality is absolutely rubbish. But to me,
the Simpsons are always living in a world without colour. Any of you know that Bart was once a kid in the regular show? Straight up, I'm not kidding, he was once a naughty kid, and not the hardworking daddy lawyer we all know him as. In fact, why don't we put a picture of kid Bart on the wall?
*picture is put up*
That's him, Bart Simpson! Don't recognise him? Why don't we do more? Put up one of Liz as well!
*picture is put up*
Liz Simpson, before she became a teacher! What's absolutely amazing about this is that people a hundred years ago would know only kid Bart and Liz, not the lovable adults they grew up to be. Imagine how different they imagine the show! With colour, yellow skin, and with the two as kids! Almost a different show!
*murmurs*
Any of you watched the newest
Yuletide Tales? Did you know it's a redoing of the very first episode? Yep, the story of Bart and Milhouse trying to find presents for their families is actually a redo of where it's
Homer trying to get money to do so. Any of you want to watch that? It's ready to go up if you want.
*positive murmurs*
*room goes dark*
*
Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire starts*
=====================
The Simpsons wasn't always The Show as it is seen today. Indeed, by the 2040s, it was seen as a rundown show with its great days long in the past. The cancellation due to the Apocalypse helped it significantly as new writers were taken in when it was restarted in 2072, but even with several really good streaks, it started to lag behind in the 2110s, and the 2110s-2120s seasons are seen as some of the most mediocre.
Enter Zooey Zyzzyva. A long-time watcher of
The Simpsons and rising cartoonist star, she decided that the show needed some big shake-ups. The restarted show already moved the ages up so that Bart and Lisa would be teenagers and Maggie the naughty but cute kid, and this helped the show as new storylines could be introduced. Zyzzyva decided that there should be another age-shift, and she decided to revamp the style, doing away with "needlessly retro" styles in favor of a colourless and modern one "which tells the audience this is a
new Simpsons."
The company that was producing it refused to agree with Zyzzyva's changes but sold the production rights to American Dream Studios, a studio which was open to doing so. The last episode of the "Middle Era" of the Simpsons aired in January 2131, and the first "New Era" one aired at Christmas. The viewing rate, low in the 2110s and 2120s, increased in the New Era.
The "New Era" radically redefined what "The Simpsons" was about. Instead of focusing on Homer and Marge and their kids, it now focused on Bart and Liz [the respelling intentional] and their families. Homer and Marge would still be characters as well, of course, but their roles were reduced in favour of the new characters, their grandkids.
After a lull in the 2160s, it has returned with a bang in the 2170s and entering 2182, it seems to be more popular than ever. The most popular New Era episode is "Springfield Dreaming" which first aired in May 2142.
