Happy Birth'Doh!' to The Simpsons: 30th Anniversary

If I asked you to think of a yellow-skinned, animated family of five, I bet I know exactly who you’d picture.

The Simpsons have been around now for thirty years. They earned their own half-hour long showings, and hit screens with their first episode "Simpsons roasting on an open fire" in 1989. It has since become and continues to be a beloved series, gaining immense popularity across the world.

The comedy series introduced Homer, the irresponsible, dim-witted, hyper-enthusiastic father; Marge, the typical housewife and loving mother; Bart (which is an anagram of brat), the eldest and worst-behaved child; Lisa, the overachieving, smart middle-child, and Maggie, the baby. America's favourite family remain as one of the much-loved television shows, bringing humour and laughs galore to all ages.

The reason for the outrageous skin colour of The Simpsons characters is to grab attention of channel surfers. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, decided that the skin tone of the characters would always be recognised, and people would know exactly what show they had come across. The same goes for their electrocuted-like hairstyles and head shapes, meaning that they would be identifiable even in silhouette.

Let’s take a look at just a few of the main reasons how The Simpsons have progressed and survived the last thirty years while still remaining a favoured show.

It's no secret that the creators behind The Simpsons are basically fortune tellers, as some episodes have miraculously 'predicted' the future. When big world events have happened, some of them have been shown in a Simpsons episode years before they have occurred in real life, such as the horse meat scandal, three-eyed fish and robotic librarians. Remember when the episode aired about Donald Trump becoming president of the USA? Everyone laughed because they didn't think it would ever happen, but much to some of the nation’s dismay, this soon became a harsh reality.

Moving on briskly from Donald Trump, there have been a considerable amount of other celebrities that have been featured in the series, being made into yellow animated characters. Chris Martin, Ellen DeGeneres and Seth Rogen, to name three. It's almost seen as an achievement if you've made it as a Simpson character as a celebrity, as the characters are so popular anyway even without the celebrity endorsement. Justin Bieber was particularly proud, and shared a picture of him and his wife, Hailey Bieber (was Baldwin), to his Instagram page.

If you’re a huge Simpsons fan, and can’t quite be made into a character, you can experience the next big thing, or something even better – exploring Springfield. The fictional town has been brought to life and introduced to Universal Studios theme parks in both Florida and Hollywood. This is a truly amazing experience, as you can enjoy a Duff beer or a flaming Moe in Moe's Tavern, grab a Squishee in the Kwik-E-Mart and even get an iconic pink ring donut from Lard Lad Donuts, and believe me, they don't disappoint. After walking through Springfield, you then approach Krustyland, and it's exactly what you’d imagine it to be. A simulator ride takes you through an adventure with the Simpson family, who are running away from Bart's enemy, Sideshow Bob. And of course, you will get to see other characters, such as Itchy & Scratchy, Apu and Krusty The Clown. What an experience!

Photo credit: Unsplash

With its colossal popularity throughout the years, The Simpsons was finally made into its own movie in 2007 after 18 years of the show being aired. It was without a doubt very popular, and brought a new lease of life back to the series.

It's interesting to see how The Simpsons has been so successful for so many decades, as none of the characters have aged at all in the last thirty years. You would think that the audience would want to follow the family as they grow up, but I suppose no-one wants to see them die out. I know I certainly don't! There have been some mixed opinions about the show as it's reached the thirty-year mark - some believe that The Simpsons isn't as great as it once was, but it's been going on for so long that there's no doubt it would be missed. The content that's been thought of and produced has been entertaining nonetheless, and it’s particularly impressive how the producers and writers have kept the series alive with brand new ideas over this long period of time.

After three decades of The Simpsons on our screens, thankfully there are no plans for it to come to an end.