6. The Simpsons The Simpsons
At the 1992 Republican National Convention, President George H.W. Bush famously promised his electorate that he'd strengthen the American family to make them 'more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons'. To the conservative politician, the Simpsons present a cynical parody on traditional working and middle class family values. There's Homer the lazy, incompetent and intellectually defunct bread winner, Bart the rebellious ten year old who's spent most of his education in detention, Lisa the insufferably liberal hippy and Marge, who hasn't got Maggie past the crawling stage in over twenty years. The problem with this assessment and of course with Republicans in general is that they take themselves and by extension their television far too seriously. If George Bush Snr cared to take the rod out of his arse for five minutes he might notice that with all of his flaws, Homer is faithful to his wife and family and never fails to provide for them, Bart is naturally boisterous but very much capable of doing the right thing for a good reason and Marge is a ray of sunshine who always looks for the best in people and never has a bad word to say about anyone. The Simpsons by and large are church-going, active contributors to the society they live in and have an indelible impact on life in Springfield. As a show that's been running for so long, The Simpsons approached the dysfunctional family theme in a completely unique way and set a new precedent for prime time television that others have tried to emulate ever since. And with the mix of slapstick, cultural and observational humour, there's enough going on for everyone to enjoy. So spare a thought for the Simpsons while they might not be the poster family for efficient, disciplined harmony, if more people embraced their ability to go with the flow and accept people for who they are the world would be a much better place.