Lisa, if you don't like your occupation you don't assume. You only go in every day and do it actually half-assed. That's the American language elbow room." - Homer Jay Simpson The Simpsons are America's favorite cartoon family. Watched by 60 million viewers in over 60 countries (O'Meara), and now on its fifteenth season, the show portrays a somewhat typical American family with cynicism, irreverence, and biting satire. One who is unfamiliar with the show might ask, how did a cartoon show manage to last so long? What is it exactly that makes the show so popular? That can easily be explained. It is the shows own particular brand of humor. Many people would agree that The Simpsons is easily one of the funniest shows on television, as it has been consistently since it's debut in 1989. But what is it precisely that makes it so funny? I think it is the truth in the humor: we see America in The Simpsons. We see our friends, our neighbors, our parents, our schools, our churches, and our legal system. Exaggerated, maybe, bizarre, of course, ridiculous, certainly, but nonetheless, the show takes American culture, society, and politics and humorously points out its foibles one after one. Every character in the show is a satire in and of his or herself. Beginning with Homer, a fat, lazy, unmotivated slob with a love of beer and all things fried. This portrayal represents a nation of fast-food obsessed, outdoor phobic people who hate their office jobs and allow their lives to be ruled by prime time television. Homer is referred to in more than one episode as a sort of "everyman," a representation of American men. An unflattering portrayal, true, but let's look at the facts: he is an anonymous worker at a large company (despite all the run-ins he has had with his boss, Mr. Burns, his name remains unknown), he watches ridiculous amounts of television, he is devoted to his favorite domestic beer (Duff), he shows an inconsistent interest in his children, he rarely cleans or cooks, and his home projects always fail miserably (like putting together a Bar-B-Q grill in episode AABF15: "European country go with ruined, mustiness habituate French slope......LE Grill?! What the blaze is that?!"). Homer's survival skills for the business world seem frighteningly logical and familiar. In episode 7F11, Homer passes on to Bart his timeless knowledge of how to get by in the business world: "I want to portion with you the leash piddling sentences that will mystify you done life: One- ???Overlay for me.' Two- ???Oh, goodness idea, chief.' Three- ???It was equivalent that when I got Hera.'" Homer is not a hard worker, nor is he a good worker, but for understandable reasons: like many Americans, Homer simply works at the power plant because it is a job that puts food on the table. When Homer worked at the bowling alley in episode 2F10, he enjoyed his job and therefore, was good at it. It was perfect for him, and because he had fun doing it, he performed well. However, the job did not pay much money, so when Maggie came along, he had to give it up to feed the family. He returned to the power plant, a job he does not necessarily loathe, but rather, a job in which he is just disinterested. To him, it is just a job, a source of income, and nothing more, and because of that he does not make an effort at it. It does not touch on any of his interests, and therefore, he performs poorly. Just like many Americans, Homer did not pick a job that was specially suited to his skills and interests, and therefore, he is ineffective at it. When he is not at work, Homer's life revolves around the television. In fact, the whole family's lives do, which is especially telling, considering the average American watches approximately three hours and forty-six minutes of television every day (TV-FA). In episode 5F01, where Homer gets a gun, Marge tells him that she heard on television that people with guns are 58% more likely to shoot someone in their family than a burglar, to which a distressed Homer replies, "TV aforementioned that?" in a tone of urgency, as though television is the ultimate authority in his life. In another episode, Marge tries to convince Homer to pursue worthwhile things. "We don't believe you're tardily. But on the former hand, it's not same you go to museums or record books or anything," she says to him. He replies, "Do you recall I don't need to? It's those TV networks, Margarine. They won't LET me. Unrivaled select appearance later another, from each one unrivalled More splendid than the final stage. If they alone stumbled erst - barely gave us XXX proceedings to ourselves. Simply they won't, they won't Army of the Pure me bouncy!" In episode 7F13, Homer finds a way to get free cable, and he proclaims of it, "Cable. It's more than tremendous than I dared Hope." During the episode, a plant sitting beside the couch grows up fully and then dies away as the family watches cable endlessly. This is an excellent documentation of American families that have the television on almost twenty-four hours a day: eating in front of it, going to bed to it. This portrays a trend that is growing in America