Leaving Springfield

This is a study of the television programme ""The Simpsons"" which focuses on the show's dual roles as subversive political satire and mainstream mass media hit. Since its first appearance as a series of cartoon vignettes in 1987 and its debut as a weekly programme in 1990, ""The Simpsons"" has had multiple, even contradictory, media identities. Although the show has featured biting political and social satire, which often proves fatal to mass public acceptance, ""The Simpsons"" entered fully into the mainstream, consistently earning high ratings from audiences and critics alike. ""Leaving Springfield"" addresses the success of ""The Simpsons"" as a corporate-manufactured show that openly and self-reflexively paraodies the very consumer capitalism it simultaneously promotes. By exploring such topics as the impact of the show's satire on its diverse viewing public and the position of ""The Simpsons"" in sitcom and television animation history, the commentators develop insights into the ways parody intermixes with mass media to critique postmodern society.