The Golden Age Of The Simpsons: The Flintstones Era
I did a series of posts on the first nine years of The Simpsons on the show's fansite, NoHomers.net, under my username C.MontgomeryBurns. I reposted my deconstructions here in a series of posts below. They provide a general overview of each period of the show. All of the posts together are 8,000 plus words.
When you think about the first two years of The Simpsons it really is not so much different from The Flintstones. Despite the gap in three decades that separated the two shows they nevertheless shared a timeless bond that has remained present regardless of the times they both came from. Before the fantastical plot lines, the kid centric focus of Pebble & Bamm-Bamm, and the science fiction element of the Great Gazoo of latter years the cartoon was initially a mature series that was realistically grounded through the way Hanna-Barbera treated the stories and personalities of the characters. The emotional pathos of Fred & Wilma’s troubled yet durable marriage, the pop culture references and sophisticated humor that reflected the times, and the strong bond both the Flintstones and the Rubbles shared were the classic hallmarks that made up for most of the series run, most especially in the early years of the show. Point being that The Flintstones was definitely not the type of series you would expect to see from the 1960’s where most of the shows were about ideallic families in the typical American suburbs of the Cold War. The same thing can be said of The Simpsons in its first two years in which, like America’s first family, was nothing you had ever seen or heard before. Those early years reflected the America that existed towards the end of the Cold War where it argued quite effectively that dysfunction in the family was actually a pretty normal experience that everyone had gone through in their lives. This very honest and realistic angle was not truly explored at the time since some did not see that as being representative of the country, but the show blew that misconception out of the water and immediately took up the mantle as America’s family as soon as it made it on the air. It is for that reason why the first two years of the show were the basic foundation of the show for the two decades to follow. When one watches those early seasons it is very important to view them through the lens of those who first watched the episodes back in 1989. Consider those episodes as stripped of the embellishments and varied interpretations that were added later by future showrunners of the series. In fact one can say that seasons one and two was the show at its purest and closest to the original vision of the series. This was at its heart all about an average family in how they dealt with each other, their personal problems, and their place in life. This grounded approach to realism mixed in with emotional relevance was rooted in the original showrunnership of creator Matt Groening, producer James L. Brooks, and the late great head writer Sam Simon. The trio’s influence was clearly felt during the first four years of the show. As showrunners of the first two seasons they created the series Bible for the show to follow in the years beyond their tenure. Groening brought in a very subversive sense of humor and satire along with a unique anti-mainstream style of drawing that was rooted in his background as an underground comic artist through his popular strip Life in Hell. Brooks’ creative clout as the acclaimed creator of the groundbreaking Mary Tyler Moore and director of Terms of Endearment allowed the series writers to do whatever they wanted without the intervention of the network executives. Simon had the biggest influence in creating the classic Simpsons style as it was he who picked up the original generation of writers from the Harvard Lampoon. He not only had a keen sense of story and humor but he also managed to design several of the characters too. People tend to forget the transition involved in adapting the characters from the Tracy Ullman shorts to the half hour format. Some fans look back at those first two years only through a contemporary perspective while ignoring the historical context behind them. In the shorts the family had more or less the same personalities…which were fine for one minute bumpers…but it would never have worked in a thirty minute series and the series crew knew that very well. So they opened up the characters by giving them their own unique personalities. As a result the characters evolved from being one note archetypes of brief interstitials to fully dimensional characters capable of carrying their own plots. Just as the dynamic relationship between the Flintstones and the Rubbles drove the early stories it was the endurable bond all of the members of the Simpsons family shared with each other that held the series together. Sure, some of the stories from that time may appear to be “out of character” or out of the shows’ reach. In one instance Homer actually contemplates suicide after losing his job in “Homer’s Odyssey” while in “Bart Gets Hit By A Car” Homer and Marge are literally at the brink of ending their marriage in the last few minutes of the episode. But we say all of this with the benefit of hindsight in knowing how the characters would act and behave later on. When you watch these episodes in chronological order you are viewing them with fresh eyes as you are gradually coming to know and understand who these characters are. Say what you will of those stories whether they are weak or strong, but regardless of that opinion they still demonstrate how the series could really pull in a viewer in with the pathos you shared with the characters in their time. The later seasons may have surpassed it on terms of quality in animation and writing, but it does not suggest that the early years were somehow awful…nor should it take away from the truly classic stories that were produced from that moment of time. "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", “Krusty Gets Busted” ,“Lisa’s Substitute”, and “The Way We Was” were just a few of the countless awesome episodes that were made back then. Most shows in their first seasons fall flat and hardly resemble themselves later down the road…but the first years of The Simpsons, even with the varied nature of some of their stories, still contained the crucial spark and heart that made people fall in love with the show in the first place. Without it you would have nothing in the end. That’s why I am very happy to place the first two years of the series within the Golden Age of the franchise. Another big gripe some fans have with the early seasons is the animation quality of the episodes compared to the years after this period. The episodes of the day carry the feel of the Tracy Ullman days: less detailed backgrounds, the use of gradient color schemes, and crudely drawn animation. While it is true that the episodes lack the fine refinements of later periods the animation was still very bold for its day along the lines of The Flintstones. If you saw the one minute shorts you would see that the show was progressively getting better in its animation and art direction. By the time the first year came on the animators had taken advantage of the large budget and time given to them to expand the canvas of the series. Even through its Tracy Ullman vibe the episodes contained some really cool dynamic camera shots along with the quirky way the characters moved their bodies and mouths around that have since not been repeated. Some off model drawings of the characters really stand out from that period. Those neat aspects of the animation were phased out as the animators were already refining their craft for the better into the second season. An argument however could be made that the show lost those special touches in the animation that first set the series apart in the first place. So the only way to appreciate the animation is if you watch them in the scheme of when they were made just like the silent black & white cartoons of long ago. Honestly I just love how all the creators, writers, and animators first set up the series back then. I fell in love with what they did during those two years as I watched them in reruns and on DVD. To me at least it is very cool to see how the show began back in 1989 and how it evolved during those important years. I give credit to that period for springing forth the series not simply because it was the first years but because they created the foundation for all to follow. Those years were groundbreaking then and they still are today. In the end the Flintstones couldn’t be more prouder than to pass the baton down from one trailblazing family to another with the Simpsons.
