The Simpsons, which debuted in 1987 on The Tracey Ullman Show, was created by Matt Groening. Groening brought to the drawing board a warped satire on pop culture, which produced ripples in prime-time animation forever. Prime-time animation now contains spoofs on not only Western culture, but humanity as well. Due to these satirical, stereotypical views on Western and pop culture, and their irreverence, (prime-time) animated sitcoms have become unsuitable for children. This was all because of the work of one man and his sketches of a typical nuclear family. The Simpsons and Matt Groening lead a revolution: Prime-time animation now presents a mockery of pop culture.

The Simpsons was a watershed cartoon and will be remembered for its warped sense of humour and satirical views. "The show will definitely have a permanent home in the pantheon of American culture (Martin, C5)." It quickly became the most influential cartoon in prime-time animation. "(It) is no longer the novelty it was when The Simpsons expanded from itty-bits of cartoon fun on The Tracey Ullman Show into a sizzling Fox series phenomenon in the early months of 1990 (Duffy, )." The Simpsons paved the way for

Groening, Matt. "Chat with Matt Groening, creator of Futurama and The Simpsons." www.Fox.com. 6 April. 1999.

Duffy, Mike. "'Simpsons' soul lives in Futurama.'" www.Freepress.com. 26 March.

Zerbisias, Antonia. "'Terrific' 'toon tackles everything." The Toronto Star. 6 April. 1999: F8

Futurama is another of Groening's animations. Like The Simpsons, it too "has all the sly Groening hallmarks for subversive, amusing, sharply written pop culture fun. Besides those Planet Kevorkian curbside suicide booths, loopy life in New New York in the year 3000 includes the Church of Robotology, JFK Jr. Airport and a chain of silicon convenience stores called the Implant Hut (Duffy, )." Futurama, however, takes place well into the future. This is owing to Matt Groening's aspirations to create a farce of science fiction in a distinctively warped animated series (Groening, ).

It is because of these satirical views and overall warped sense of humour that prime-time animation is not intended for children. A child simply cannot understand, say fifty five percent of the people who were surveyed (Kresta, Prime-time Animation). It is because of the irreverence of content like The Itchy and Scratchy Show, where a classic movie like 2001: A Space Odyssey is spoofed, with the cat and mouse reenacting the service-pod mishap, where Itchy's pod rips off the top of the other's and Scratchy's head implodes. On Family Guy, Peter was involved in a deadly chase with a chicken that spoofed all major chase scenes from big-budget Hollywood movies. These movies are too old for young children to have seen and thus, miss the entire point. They may think that Itchy got Scratchy and that it was funny that Peter fought a giant chicken, but they find it funny for different reasons. On Futurama, Bender is a cigar-smoking, alcoholic robot with an attitude who steals everything from wallets to his friends' jewelry. This entertainment may seem suitable for an adolescent or adult, but it does not promote positive values for our children to grow up on. With King of the Hill airing at seven thirty p.m., followed

Some common words found in the essay are:
Family Guy, Matt Groening, Groening Groening, Guy Peter's, Zerbisias F8, Lou Anne, King Hill, Wong Prime-time, Itchy Scratchy, Futurama Bender, prime-time animation, pop culture, family guy, king hill, fox 1999, matt groening, satirical views, itchy scratchy, family viewing, simpsons family guy, family roles, guy prime-time animation, family guy prime-time, 6 april 1999, warped sense humour,
Approximate Word count = 1428
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)