TELEVISION: Simpsons Forever!

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7) They're smart. Well, anyway, their writers are. "There are jokes you won't get," says Groening, "unless you've actually attended a few classes in college." Lit. 101 will teach you that Lisa's poetry is inspired by Allen Ginsberg's and that the prison number (24601) worn variously by Marge, Principal Skinner and Sideshow Bob is Jean Valjean's in Les Miserables. It also helps if you know old movies. Simpsons plots have plundered King Kong, Citizen Kane, Thelma & Louise, Cape Fear and the entire Hitchcock oeuvre. "If you steal from a black-and-white film," Brooks told the writers, "it's an hommage."

8) They're reliable. "Animated characters don't get busted," says Groening, "and they don't get old." Maggie has not aged a day. Homer can't get much fatter or balder. Marge's bouffant will always look like a neatly trimmed blue fir. Bart frets about graduating from fourth grade, but fate and good ratings will keep him there for life. Lisa, the poor stranded sensitive intellectual, will never escape Springfield.

9) After all these years, they can still surprise you. Part of the fun of watching is trying to figure out what the main plot line will be; the first few minutes of any episode are so packed with comic detail that the story could go in any of a dozen directions. This is one show whose writers seem to have too many good ideas.

10) They have heart. One of Brooks' cardinal rules: Let's not be afraid of emotion. The strongest episodes are those (like "Lisa's Substitute," "Homer Alone," "Like Father, Like Clown" and "Bart the Lover") that reveal the bedrock fondness, desperation and loyalty that bond this or any other frazzled clan. A viewer can feel awe at the show's cascading wit and still purr at the sweet, deep sentiment. Hail, Simpsons! May you live another 100 episodes at the same apex of quality.