The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History (review)

People who follow The Simpsons whether for some, most, or all of its now two-decade reign have started to sound a lot like Homer Simpson's father, the elderly, cantankerous Abe Simpson. These Simpsons' acolytes bemoan the deteriorating quality of the show, metaphorically shaking their fists and muttering: [and the reviewer is paraphrasing one of the best Abe Simpson quotes here] "The Simpsons used to be with 'it.' Now they don't know what 'it' is." Or, to translate, the show's initial irreverent and counterculture vibe has been gone for years. The Simpsons, by becoming iconic, has lost its essence and its edge.

John Ortved, author of The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History, agrees, unabashedly so, with those folks. He argues that after the initial first year, the show hits its stride. For somewhere between five and eight years, according to Ortved and countless others, the producers/animators/writers made an interesting, funny, sarcastic, and satire-rich show almost each and every week.

In an early review of Ortved's book, the critic parallels Ortved's claim of the show's decline to Ortved's own work, meaning like the show, the first half of Ortved's book hits a homerun and the last half strikes out. This reviewer agrees with the criticism of both the show and this Simpsons book. It starts strong but fizzles out at the end.

Ortved tells the story of The Simpsons, for the most part, chronologically. And the book's strength lies in its initial chapters and the initial story of the creation of and launch of the series, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2009. Ortved uses the interviews he did, along with other interviews conducted by others, to tell how Matt Groening's "Life in Hell" (as well as his wife's marketing acumen), James Brooks' Hollywood success (and the tenacity of Brooks' real-life Wayland Smithers, Richard Sakai), and Sam Simon's writing skill (and ability to bring together a cadre of great sitcom writers) combined to create a great TV show and a part of Americana. Moreover, the book's first half (if not a bit more) offers interesting insight into the behind-the-scenes making of the short features that appeared during The Tracey Ullman Show, as well as the tension between the Ullman Show's writers and producers, including Ullman herself, when The Simpsons debuted and soared and the Ullman Show crashed (i.e., was canceled).

On top of that, Ortved covers the "Golden Era" of the show, as mentioned above seasons 2 through 6, if not through seasons 8 or 9, with great aplomb. For people who followed The Simpsons religiously during those years, these sections will bring smiles and laughter. And for those folks who perhaps came to the show later (or for those who never watched but will read this book only to add more fodder to their unending criticism of the show), they will get a competent history of the late 1980s/early 1990s U.S. pop culture. And not just in terms of an overview of the show but how it helped changed the milquetoast TV landscape of President George H.W. Bush years and how its marketing changed how TV shows' owners merchandised them (or how other folks merchandise them, with or without permission). Ortved tells the story of the late 1980s through the mid-1990s through the myriad folks he interviewed and published interviews done by others with The Simpsons' key players over the years.

The book's second half (or at least last third) becomes much more a diatribe on what has gone wrong with the show. The focus shifts from people involved in the show to those who currently study or criticize it. Part of that stems from Ortved's lack of access to the show's current inner circle. The title word, Unauthorized, comes from the fact that no current producers/writers would speak to Ortved. So, part of...