Machiavelli Meets Mayor Quimby: Political Commentary in the First Season of The Simpsons [Paperback]

Nathan Thoms (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2006

Since its 1989 independent debut The Simpsons has enjoyed phenomenal success in both domestic markets and internationally, but very little academic notice has been paid to this series and the messages it broadcasts daily now that it is in syndication to its millions of fans worldwide. This book focuses on an analysis of the political messages contained within the episodes of the first season of the series from 1989-1990 with the goal of identifying, analyzing, and understanding the message, or messages related to politics contained within each episode which millions are exposed to each year. Note that this book does not analyze The Simpsons in terms of its Machiavellian content; the title is meant to suggest the rich political undercurrents of The Simpsons, though not necessarily from a Machiavellian perspective.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Nathan Thoms was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, but has resided in the Belfast, Maine area since 1990. Nathan graduated from Belfast Area High School in 1999.

Majoring in History, he entered the University of Maine in the fall of 1999. He switched to the Political Science program shortly after beginning the spring 2000 semester.

In 2005 he graduated with high honors from the University of Maine and subsequently entered its graduate program in Public Administration.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Simpsons is the longest running animated television series in history and with the Fox Network’s renewal of the program until 2005 it will inevitably become the longest running comedy series in television history before the series ends. From humble beginnings as animated shorts featured on The Tracey Ullman Show to its debut as its own series in 1989 it has earned more than one billion dollars for the Fox television network and is currently watched by 60 million viewers weekly in sixty countries around the world and has beaten Baywatch as the most watched television program in the world.

As the world’s most watched television program, the massive political messages and commentary included in episodes of The Simpsons reach millions of viewers each week and with the show’s popularity its messages are received by those millions of viewers, helping to shape their understanding of the world, politics, and government.

Currently entering its sixteenth season The Simpsons has not only garnered the attention of the television industry since its inception, the series has quickly become a staple of academic study in nearly every discipline ranging from media studies, to political science, to inclusion even in medical journals. Millions of books are currently in print dealing with the content of The Simpsons including "The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh of Homer" and "The Gospel According to the Simpsons." At least two university courses are currently offered which deal specifically with the content of the show: "The Simpsons: Sitcom as Political and Social Satire" at the University of California, Berkeley, and "Animated Religion and Philosophy" at Sienna Heights University. The Simpsons is becoming an important resource in the study of society, religion, and political science, and it is important to recognize its impact and therefore attempt to analyze the messages that the show broadcasts weekly.

While the title of this book is "Machiavelli Meets Mayor Quimby: An Analysis of the Political Commentary of The Simpsons 1989-1990," please note this title was selected because it symbolically encapsulates the scope of the paper with a representation of politics in the form of Ma-chiavelli, and a representation of politics within The Simpsons in the form of its corrupt, Kennedy-accented Mayor Quimby, and not because it will provide a Machiavellian analysis of the content of the television program. The question this thesis answers is: What are the political messages in the episodes of the first season of The Simpsons?

Product Details

• Paperback: 84 pages
• Publisher: Lulu.com (June 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1411678273
• ISBN-13: 978-1411678279
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,613,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, thought provoking book - a must read, March 11, 2008

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Arykah "book lover" (Raleigh NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Machiavelli Meets Mayor Quimby - Political Commentary in The First Season of The Simpsons (Kindle Edition)

This is a phenomenal book that I couldn't recommend more. We all watch the Simpsons, and we all know it is a highly political show, but how much thought have you really given it? Well this book does a superb job of identifying and analyzing the political messages within the show.