i'm 23. i was never allowed to watch the simpsons growing up. i watched all the family guys when i got to college and found it hilarious. compared to the one or two episodes of the simpsons i had seen, it was much better. but then last year i watched seasons 1-12 of the simpsons...holy ****. that is a brilliant tv show. like others have said, it doesn't have the smack-you-in-the-face humor that family guy has (and i do like that kind of humor), but it's so perfectly constructed and brilliantly written that you just HAVE to give the edge to the simpsons. plus - "the simpsons did it first." :grin:
I was allowed to watch it but pretty much from the beginning. There is no way I would have been allowed to watch South Park had I still been a kid when it debuted. Speaking of which, I guess I'm going to make a horrible stepdad as I forget about monitoring what the kids watch unless it has nudity, extreme violence or monsters. I realized this the other day when I watched the episode of South Park where Britney Spears blows the top of her head off and lives. My girlfriend's 5 year old daughter was watching too, I guess. The next day she did a dead-on accurate impression of what Britney sounded like with her head blown off. Only then, after laughing, did I realize that I suck as a parental figure.
I'll never understand why some parents want to dominate their child's life so much. My parents didn't let me watch violent or sexual movies at a young age, but as I got into my mid teens, they pretty much let me do my own thing. I'm surprised so many parents want to force their opinions regarding what is good and what is bad on children. My parents seemed to focus on teaching me to make smart decisions based upon what I felt was right. Obviously, as I became an adult, I saw many of the great characteristics of my parents and incorporated them into my life...but I don't think I ever was told "this is what you need to think." It sure seems like a lot of people that grew up in families that prohibited them from doing things like watching The Simpsons have big issues with their parents...
I can't go so far as to say that protective parenting (especially when it comes to things like language, profanity, sex, etc) leads to problems later on.... but I never understood, even as a child, why certain things were taboo... I watched the Simpsons for the incredibly clever writing, not to see naughty words or see bare asses... those things didn't make me want to watch it more... it was people telling me how WRONG those things were that made me even more curious about the show
Their initial appeal was that, at the time, they were the only cartoon catered towards adults. It gave them both a lower bar to meet humor-wise, and a little more plot and character flexibility than a traditional sitcom.
There was only one show I couldn't watch growing up. I don't really know why my parents allowed me to watch ANYTHING else except for...
Hahaha, this reminds me of an uncle of mine. He never seemed like he was overly racist, and didn't ban his kids from watching any other shows with primarily African-American casts, but he REFUSED to let his kids watch "Family Matters." Really, it was the strangest thing, he would go into loud racial tirades if he saw his kids watching that show. "Get that m'fn (n-word) crap off my TV!!!!" It was the only time I ever remember him using racial epithets...so weird.
I remember catching all kinds of hell from my racist family about watching Fresh Prince... Living Single... Martin...etc
It was probably that one episode where Urkel cooks up a big batch of crack in his basement laboratory and then he and Eddie start slangin' rock until Carl steals it all and blows it on a Watermelon farm. I miss Hangin' With Mr. Cooper... that show was the shizzzz.
oh man...me too. all of it. my dad was the worst. he wouldn't let us watch fresh prince even AFTER we told him uncle phil was a republican.
I'm almost the same age as the Simpsons so I've grown up with it. I think it really shaped my whole existence of comedy. Mixing with my love for Monty Python, I'm so happy that I was allowed to watch it. I don't think I go a day without quoting Simpsons in some way. Why wouldn't parents want there children to watch it? If it wasn't for Simpsons, I would have no idea what aurora borealis was. Chalmers: Good Lord, what is happening in there? Skinner: Aurora Borealis? Chalmers: Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? A this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen? Skinner: Yes. Chalmers: May I see it? Skinner: Oh, erm… No.
Well I remember there was a huge uproar over the whole "I'm an underachiever and proud of it" t-shirts with Bart. To think that was taboo and controversial at the time. Wow...have things changed.
Dude I remember being a freshman in high school and we were assigned to read the Lord of the Flies. Literally within that same month the Lord of the Flies parody of the Simpsons premiered (the one where they all get stuck on the island...episode title: "Das Bus"...CLASSIC) and throughout English all we would do is quote the episode. It tastes like....burningggggggg The Simpsons have so many literature references, unlike family guy's pop culture references, that it's a comedy at a higher level. Watching the old episodes from the 90s when I was a kid was funny because Bart and Homer were silly, but sometimes when I rewatch them now it's even funnier because of the subtle jokes or scenes that I would've never got when I was eight years old.
I can't remember my parents ever not letting me watch a tv show or movie. I am 20 now and grew up watching Married with Children, Seinfeld, the Simpsons, etc. I do remember having a friend that could not see a PG-13 movie until he was 15. I remember wanting to go see the Mummy Returns and his dad said he could not go.
I had a friend in high school who wasn't allowed to watch the Simpsons. I always thought that was really weird.
i knew kids who werent allowed to watch the smurfs b/c they were satanic. and kids who were not allowed to watch star wars b/c it was satanic.
Me, too. I remember watching Porky's with my dad at age 7. I won't say I'm going to do the same thing, but it did no damage. I'm manage to keep my serial killer urges down with some great meds. Wait... Crap. I forgot to take my pills this morning.
