The Simpsons first started as an animated series all the way back in 1989, with the Fox animated series running for decades ever since. Thanks to Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie needing to remain the same age throughout the seasons, meaning that as time has marched forward, past stories have needed to be changed. In a recent interview, the series showrunner Matt Selman discussed characters’ ages while also touching upon the fact that Homer and Marge are millennials in this brave new world.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Selman didn’t mince words when it came to changing the characters’ past, “My creative process is: I don’t give an eff. The options are: we don’t do flashback shows ever and we don’t mention the past ever, which creatively handcuffs us, or we are playful and silly, which is the DNA of the show, and we have fun with whatever generation the show is airing in. If the show only took place in the present with a kind of vague 1970s-high-school Homer-and-Marge backstory that seems increasingly impossible — that would be much worse for telling good stories.”
The Simpsons‘ Great Age Debate
Selman ripped the band-aid off further, explaining why it’s important to explore characters’ earlier years while mentioning how it might have been interesting to lock The Simpsons into one timeframe, “Part of telling stories is people remembering things from their youth, their childhood. Everyone’s childhood is directly responsible for how they behave as an adult. You can’t ignore childhood if you’re going to be a storyteller. So we’re not ignoring childhood. It would’ve been interesting as an experiment to just lock into the ’70s and have them be like, ‘Well, Lisa, when I was a kid in the ’70s…’ and then just have it all be about the ’70s, even though we live in the f—ing post-apocalyptic future now.”
The showrunner has, in the past, shared his thoughts on continuity, with Selman once again doing so in this recent interview: “I would also like to point out that in no way are we saying that the beloved other flashbacks didn’t happen,” he explains. “We’re not saying that. None of it happened! It’s just a silly little show! So I like it all. Everything happened and didn’t happen with the same level of historical veracity. If it brings you pleasure as a fan to pick apart the timeline of a 40-year-old show where the characters do not age, please pick it away,” he says. “Pick, pick, pick. Have fun, pick at it, go crazy, pick it away. Everyone’s favorite joke from season 4 is ‘Cartoons don’t have to be 100 percent realistic.’ And then another Homer walks by the window.”
Selman then confirmed that he still believes older episodes still happened, confirming that the showrunner has no plans of saying previous events aren’t canon, “No one wants their childhood to be altered, although I don’t see how we altered it, ’cause those episodes are still there. It’s not like we’re taking the other ones off, or we’re saying like, ‘Oh, that was all a dream in the ’70s, but we never tried to explain it.’”
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Via Entertainment Weekly
