Hi, I’m Troy Mc Clure. You may remember me from the classic animated series titled The Simpsons. Throughout the years, this yellow, blue-collar American family created by Matt Groening has influenced, entertained and even poked fun at society.

People like Tracy Favela, a 28-year-old Business major at Palo Alto College, and her 5-year-old son, Ronin, are life-long viewers of The Simpsons.

“During my pregnancy with Ronin I would watch The Simpsons every day! He went from inside me to beside me, laughing right along," said Favela.

The Simpson family debuted on the Tracy Ullman Show, April 19, 1987. Soon after, the show received its own time slot on Dec. 17, 1989, where season one’s "Simpsons roasting on an Open Fire" kicked off what was soon to become an entertainment phenomenon.

Visit The Simpsons website at: http://www.thesimpsons.com/

One of the most popular aspects of The Simpsons’ success has been their relation to everyday life problems that their audience relates to. A trip into The Simpsons archives reveals that the show is based not only on the Simpson family, but also the characters that surround them. Each member of Springfield, the city where the show takes place, is given his or her own identity, which easily allows the audience to connect with one or more of the characters.

Becky Luna, a Palo Alto student said, "Bumble Bee Man has to be my favorite character. He personifies The Simpsons’ twist on Spanish television. Their uncanny mocking of Spanish TV is gut busting."

Episodes have pushed topics ranging from homophobic fear to questioning church attendance every Sunday.

The Simpsons are among the first animated television series to bring controversial topics into scripting. However, they were not the last. Creators of animated shows such as The Family Guy, King of the Hill and South Park have all been influenced by the show.

Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of South Park, recently aired a tribute episode to The Simpsons entitled "The Simpsons Already Did It."

Covering an abundance of topics and with more than 200 episodes, the show holds records for the most guest star appearances and the longest running animated series.

However, to students like Amanda Biemer, an 18-year-old freshman at Palo Alto, it’s the show’s hidden jokes she finds interesting.

"I’ll watch an episode about 12 times then see something I never noticed in the background, or a joke. Then it’s like ‘Oh! I can’t believe I never noticed that!’"

The witty scriptwriting of hidden jokes has transcended from television into publishing. The Simpsons have spawned a variety of books, from a comedic version of the Bible to "The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D‘oh! Of Homer” by William Irwin, used by Dr. John Hernandez, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Palo Alto. Hernandez said it was his students’ fan base that led him to use the book as reference in his classroom.

Hernandez explained he uses the book "to reach out to students and use something they are familiar with and enjoy as a point of departure for something that they are unfamiliar with, philosophy."

Still, books have been the tip of the iceberg in merchandising. Almost anything can be found with a Simpson logo on it.

As student Miguel Espinoza, a 21-year-old Art major at Palo Alto, said, "I remember wearing a Bart Simpson shirt that said, "Eat my shorts, man!" when I was four. Now, I’m 21 and I still have shirts with their characters. Most people could call you childish for wearing a cartoon shirt at 21; only they probably have one, too! The Simpsons showed that a cartoon could be mature and childish at the same time."

With more than 60 countries watching worldwide, The Simpsons have achieved recognition no other animated show has ever accomplished. So what will the future hold for them?

Stop and smell the popcorn. The Simpsons’ movie is coming. Although it’s incomplete, it is in the works. The expected release date for the movie is in 2008.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Groening said, "What The Simpsons does is try to see if you can take a genre that nobody takes seriously, and jam in some counter cultural messages. Now the show is so powerful that when Fox [Broadcasting Company] tells us not to do something, we do it anyway."

Sadly, the rebel creators have hinted new episodes are scheduled to end in 2009
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Until then, The Simpsons remain America’s favorite, longest running animated show, or as the comic book guy, the show’s obese comic shop clerk, would say, "The worst show ever!"