Season Review: The Simpsons Season 30

The Simpsons have wrapped up its monumental 30th season!  How was it?

Many of us look back at the early ‘90s as the glory days of The Simpsons.  During the second and third season, the series became a phenomenon that you couldn’t hide from.  Delivering timeless episode, original characters, and showcasing a realistic look at the middle-class American dream, it is no wonder that The Simpsons became an instant classic.  But, even then it would have been impossible to guess that the show would be going strong heading into 2020.  Here we are still discussing the sitcom that has broken many television records and has been a part of our culture for three decades.

Despite most of us growing alongside the television family, Simpson’s popularity has taken a significant dip throughout the years.  We are a long way from the early years when over 20 million US viewers would tune in to The Simpsons on Sunday nights coming down to the range of a few million.  A lot of us have transitioned to streaming instead of watching cable, but considering Game of Thrones premiered this season to 17 million viewers, it seems television is alive and well.  Without the final numbers rolling in, it looks like The Simpsons has seen a slight rise in viewership from last season, but still leagues behind their height in popularity.

Regardless of who’s watching, there is a lot to be hyped about for Fox’s premiere animation.  We already know that The Simpsons will be returning for the next two seasons.  And, with the recent acquisition of Fox by Disney the township of Springfield may see a resurgence.  The show is a top drawing point for the upcoming streaming service Disney+, where you will be able to binge the entire series for the first time.  Who knows what else the House of Mouse has in store for this franchise, but how could they not utilize the long-running animation for all the money they can get.  So, The Simpsons may even see a rise in popularity over the next few years.

And, why not?  The things that made The Simpsons popular from the beginning hasn’t changed.  A lot of the characters have been fleshed out, the stories progress with the times yet remain timeless, and a lot of the talent and creators remain.  The creators and writers are dedicated to delivering the best episodes they can and don’t seem to have lost any steam at all.  The dwindling viewership numbers do not correlate with the effort being put in at all.  Which is ever evident with season 30.

Thirty years is a milestone and one that no one expects of any show ever.  It is an accomplishment that would give the series enough to be recognized as one of the best series ever created.  But, at no point did the creator’s rest on those laurels expecting fans to enjoy no matter what they produced.  The content is still fresh, the plots are original, and the characters continue to grow.  The show itself continues to be progressive, delivering the most episodes written by women this year.  Including, for the first time, a female cast member writing an episode in Nancy Cartwright’s “Girl’s in the Band”.  And, Stephanie Gillis managed to win a Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Writing in Animation for the season premiere “Bart’s Not Dead”.

The progressive attitude is evident within the show as well.  This year saw The Simpsons take on a few hot topics.  Marge and Homer both become drag queens in the episode “Werking Mom” which brought on celebrity guest star Ru Paul.  Grampa Simpson admits to having a homosexual fling in the ‘40s during “Mad About the Toy”.  And, even Itchy and Scratchy were victims of an all-female reboot in “Bart vs Itchy and Scratchy”, though it didn’t go over well.  This series has never shied away from taking on any topic occurring in society including metaphysical healing, eSports, and even took on some of Canada’s more pressing political agendas.

That’s not to say that The Simpsons can be incredibly guilty of repeating the same ideas and plots.  There are six episodes in this season that Marge and Homer’s relationship is tested.  Without going into the archives, I am going to guess that this is the hundredth time that this has been part of a Simpsons plot.  Though there adorable loyal relationship gives us all hope and fills our hearts, the idea that they go through these issues six-times a year comes off as toxic.  But, mostly, we are getting tired of watching this premise.  Additionally, their relationship history is getting complicated with all of the flashback episodes that we have been privy to over the years.  It also seems that the show has run out of places for the family to travel as they return to the great white north in “D’oh Canada”.

Repeated themes aside, season 30 did have some notable highlights.  The aforementioned “D’oh Canada” was one of the best of the year and included a lot of political discussions and debate over the term “Newfie”.  Of course, we have a soft spot for “Krusty the Clown” where Homer becomes a professional TV reviewer.  Sure, it may have been pandering to us in particular, but we’ll take it.  And, what would a season be without a memorable “Treehouse of Horrors”, this year giving us Cthulhu, plant body snatchers, and a retirement centre that sees it’s patients turn into dinosaurs.

Obviously, we need to talk about the impressive list of guest stars this season.  J.K. Simmons, Will Forte, Terry Gross, and Jon Lovitz all make returns in their varied roles.  A long list of comedians joined Simpsons alumni this year including Tracy Morgan, Ken Jeong, Chelsea Peretti, Jenny Slate, Billy Eichner, and Jane Lynch to name a few.  Some big-name celebrities came in to perform as themselves like Gal Gadot, Guillermo Del Toro, Ru Paul, and Marc Maron.  Needless to say, this was a pretty star-studded season perpetuating the endless list of talent that has performed on the show.

Thirty years of ups and downs all seem to have been imitated in this one season.  There are some low points, but overall it was a success.  The Simpsons continue to look at middle-class America in a humorous light while providing us with some healthy lessons and morals along the way.  Showrunner Al Jean recently joked that with 30 seasons down that the show was “halfway there,” and with content as reliable and relevant as this, we don’t see why that’s not a possibility.  Going forward it will be interesting to see how synergy impacts the show under the banner of Disney.  It is no secret that Fox has mostly given The Simpsons free reign to create the content they need to, and we can’t help but wonder how the protective studio Disney will play in that.  Regardless, The Simpsons is a show that has solidified its place in pop culture and the more seasons we can squeeze out of them, the better.