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Homer’s wisdom

Simon Hoggart

Wednesday, 7th May 2008

The Simpsons (Channel 4); Midnight Man (ITV); World Snooker Championship (BBC2)

This week marked the start of the 15th year of The Simpsons (Channel 4, often). The other day I went to a talk by Tim Long, the executive producer of the show, who said that it was popular in almost every country in the world, with the exceptions of Germany and Japan. He thought that failure in Japan could be due to the fact that the Simpsons have only four fingers on each hand, which might imply they were gangsters — Japanese yakuza have a finger chopped off at initiation. ‘I like to believe that because it’s cool,’ he said. My guess is that these are two societies which exert strict control over their children and who might find Bart Simpson an alarming role model.

This international popularity brought in vast sums to Fox television. This means that the writers can poke fun at Fox as hard as they like, the network being terrified that they might take their talents elsewhere. And they are considerable talents. Watch an episode and you’ll see that not a single line is wasted. There is no filler. Homer: ‘What are you two kids fighting about?’ Bart: ‘We’re arguing about who loves you most, Dad.’ Homer: ‘Aw, gee!’ Lisa: ‘Yes, he says I do and I say he does.’

Celebrities — show-business types, politicians, and so on — queue up to appear on the show, and the producers have the fun of humiliating them. One of Long’s favourite stories is about Mick Jagger. When he came to LA they put him up in a cheap motel. An aide phoned to say that Sir Mick expected, at the very least, a whirlpool bath. So they found him a room with a Jacuzzi, but he had to feed it with quarters.

This week’s episode, based on Hallowe’en — so we’re only six months late — was not a classic, though it had wonderful moments. Homer kills the Grim Reaper with a bowling ball, but inherits his scary cloak and scythe, which give him the power to deal death. He’s uncomfortable. ‘I might occasionally kill out of anger, or to illustrate a point, but I am not the Grim Reaper!’ he pleads. I loved the scene in Stockholm: ‘Nobel Prize Ceremony,’ says the marquee. ‘Winners Drink Free.’

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