The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
The Simpsons is the longest running scripted program in television history and much has been written about the show, its origins, its attitude, its premise, its characters, and its universe. It has been the subject of treatises, articles, seminars, college courses, and all types of analyses. John Ortved sets out to write a history of the program from its origins in Matt Groening's mind and Rupert Murdoch's wallet up to about its 20th season. Ortved's approach is to use oral histories of the people most influential in the show's development, growth, explosion and inevitable decline. However, Ortved does not get the cooperation of show's founder James L. Brooks as well as any of the current writing staff or voice actors (with the exception of Harry Shearer and Hank Azaria). It leads to a gap in the story. Ortved calls the golden age of The Simpsons the time period ending around 2000 and that what came after was a decline in quality. Since none of the current staff can respond, the assertion goes unchallenged. The book does illuminate the show's early history and glory years and is well worth discovering how and why this animated show has had the cultural impact it has. There were some great aspects to this book, such as reading about how the show came about from the perspective of the people involved, and it was cool to see some names and events that were later parodied and referenced in the show itself. But some of the writing was shoddy, poorly researched, repetitive and toward the end it seemed like the writer had abandoned the show, which is TREASON! Also to be fair, at this point the book is out of date by far, with the show currently on its 25th season, and Futurama having been resurrected and cancelled again since its publication. It was bittersweet to see all the bickering that went on behind the scenes, but as stupid as it sounds it has made me feel more affection for the show.
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