Elements of Comedy in The SimpsonsThe television show "The Simpsons" is considered by many to be one of the greatest animated shows ever made. Incredibly popular with people of all ages, creator Matt Groening has combined many elements of humor to produce a truly original program. His goal is to never repeat the same joke twice. The year 2000 would mark the series' 10th anniversary (along with many original jokes) and mark its success as the longest-running current primetime television series. Additionally, "The Simpsons" was selected to be the feature film presented at the Sixth Annual American Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. There, cast members will re-enact a previous episode in front of a live audience. “The Simpsons” is watched specifically for its humor. Never before has a television show combined so many elements of humor and still contained enough original ideas to last for 10 seasons. Although some people don't like the humor of "The Simpsons", the series still has a large audience. One of the reasons "The Simpsons" is so popular is that the show addresses a wide variety of stereotypes through its characters. People can identify with stereotypes. Many of the characters are recognizable by name from week to week, and those who aren't neither take the form of a stereotypical profession nor that of the typical John Q audience. The result is rather amusing since everyone, from the nerdy scientist to the ambulance-chasing lawyer, makes appearances. Another reason "The Simpsons" has lasted so long is that much of its comedy comes from takeoffs and parodies of other shows or films. Most viewers are familiar with a significant number of old shows or movies, from the middle of paper... jokes that would never have existed otherwise: exchanges between characters, comments on society, and various events from the show. take an ironic and humorous turn. This type of humor is a defining characteristic of the series. Combined with the other aspects, “The Simpsons” will truly go down as an all-time classic series. Works Cited Carlisle, Henry C., ed. American satire in prose and verse. New York: Random House, 1962. Feinburg, Leonard. Introduction to satire. Ames, Iowa: The Iowa State University Press, 1967. Groening, Matt. The Simpsons A complete guide to our favorite family. Ed. Ray Richmond. New York: HarperPerrenial, 1997. Kim, James, and Cade Whitbourn. The Simpsons. “Matt Groening.” 1998. School of Media and Communication. 23 November 2002. http://mdcm.artsunsw.edu.au/Students98/WhitbournC/innovate1/creator.html