The Simpsons Philosophy

What separates the comedies that were shown on television fifty, forty, or even twenty five years ago from those of today? First, we may notice technological differences, the difference between black and white and color, the difference between film stock (or even kinescope) and video. Then there are the numerous social differences. For instance, the myth of the universal traditional two-parent family is not as secure as it was in the fifties and sixties, and the comedies of the different eras reflect changes in its status — although even early comedies of the widow/widower happy fifties, sixties and seventies were full of non-traditional families, such as are found in The Partridge Family, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Julia, The Jerry van Dyke Show, Family Affair, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, The Andy Griffith Show, The Brady Bunch, Bachelor Father, and My Little Margie. Also, one may note the ways in which issues such as race have received different treatments over the decades.
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