Waltons v. Simpsons

Last week, it was Harry Potter. This week, it’s The Simpsons that’s caught in the media cycle. (You may have heard, there’s a Simpsons movie coming out.) And the best bit I read on it comes from the Washington Post today:

On the campaign trail in 1992, George H.W. Bush promised voters that if he were reelected president, “we’re going to strengthen the American family to make it more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons.”
     The Simpsons won. Good night, John Boy.
     “When Bush said he wanted us to be the Waltons, we thought, what? He wants us to be poor and sleep in the same bed?” This is Al Jean, one of the [show’s] founding writers. “We also wondered, why the Waltons? Weren’t they, you know, set in the Depression?” [adds] David Silverman, one of the original animators for the show.