30 years ago today I was at my friend Mike's house and we were watching an episode of Married With Children featuring Sam Kinison as an angel. That sounds messed up, but it wasn't nearly as messed up as the TV show we were eagerly waiting to air afterward—the first full-length episode of The Simpsons!
Mike and I were into all things "underground" and subversive, and the notion of something created by Matt Groening—who we knew largely through his Life Is Hell comics and the original Simpsons shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show—was about to take a major television network(-ish at the time) prime time slot was outrageously, otherworldly, and super exciting.
I loved that first episode, and for years no matter where I lived, Sundays were a gathering time to take in every new episode of The Simpsons. This lasted well over a decade.
It's been a while since I was BFFs with Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie; but I still check in with them every once in a while. I'm glad they're still around, and barring any more run-ins between the show's voice talent and the network, it appears they'll still be around for quite a while longer.
So happy 30th birthday to The Simpsons! You changed my life and you changed the culture around us, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
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