Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox Film Corp.
By Suneal Kolluri
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
There comes a time in every young adult’s life when fart
jokes just aren’t funny anymore.
For many college students, however, that time has not yet
come.
“I like comedy a lot better if it’s a little
grosser. I like dark comedies,” said fifth-year applied
mathematics student Jon Hong. “I like comedy to be kind of on
the edge.”
A few networks, most notably the Fox Network, capitalized on
this desire and created cartoons aimed at young adults. The plots
became thicker, the fart jokes became more sophisticated and all of
a sudden, broadcasting companies found a whole new market for
animated programs.
“The Simpsons” began in late 1989 and quickly gained
popularity among audiences of all ages.
“Kids love “˜The Simpsons’ because people are
getting hit on the head, whereas there are a lot of jokes that are
just flying over the heads of the kids,” said executive
producer/co-creator of “Futurama,” David Coen.
“The key is they found a way to have the show work on
different levels simultaneously … and most of the other animated
shows have tried to take from that.”
Hoping to emulate the success of “The Simpsons,”
many adult-oriented cartoons such as “Family Guy,”
“King of the Hill,” “Futurama” and
“South Park” came on the air.
“Obviously, the current wave owes its success completely
to “˜The Simpsons,'” Coen said. “If you look
at the other shows that have managed to stay on the air … I think
they all owe a huge debt to “˜The Simpsons.'”
And like “The Simpsons” did originally, many of
these shows tend to get a significant following from the college
age group.
“Our daily project is somewhat reminiscent of being in a
dorm room,” Coen said of his days as a writer for “The
Simpsons.” “You’re just kind of jammed in with
these people, and that sort of keeps us in our college frame of
mind.”
Cartoons also have the ability to write episodes about issues
that would otherwise be considered controversial.
“People don’t take things as seriously when they
come out of the mouth of a cartoon character,” Coen said.
An episode of “The Simpsons” that portrayed Homer as
homophobic actually won an Emmy for best animated show.
“Homer took what would be considered a very negative
viewpoint, and yet he’s such a lovable cartoon character,
they’re willing to forgive Homer when he learns his lesson at
the end,” Coen said.
These adult-oriented animated shows are in a category of their
own, and their uniqueness continues to attract viewers of all
ages.
“We write stuff that would amuse us, and who are we?
We’re 20-, 30- and 40-year-old writers,” Coen said.
“We kind of just assume that we’ll get the younger kids
and write to amuse ourselves.”