{"id":1377,"date":"2026-07-24T02:35:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T02:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=1377"},"modified":"2026-07-24T02:35:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T02:35:49","slug":"why-simpsons-night-with-your-kids-should-be-mandatory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=1377","title":{"rendered":"Why Simpsons Night With Your Kids Should Be Mandatory"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Why<\/div>

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Robert Scucci<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t | Updated

<\/figure>\n

I\u2019m not a religious person, but I consider myself blessed to have grown up in real time as The Simpsons<\/em> was airing its Golden Era. It was that magical time in my life when the show was still appointment viewing, and Sunday night meant it was time for a new episode. It was my favorite part of the week by a long shot.<\/p>\n

My love of The Simpsons<\/em> translated well into adulthood, where I\u2019d get invited to social occasions and suss out the people I\u2019d actually want to hang out with by saying things like \u201cDental plan!,\u201d or \u201cAre you saying \u2018Boo\u2019 or \u2018Boo-urns\u2019?\u201d and waiting for the appropriate response. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a perfectly cromulent way to make friends that will embiggen even the smallest of men.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\u201cI was saying Boo-Urns\u2026\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By the time The Simpsons<\/em> hit Season 12, it was no longer appointment viewing for me, and until Disney+ came along, I was relegated to watching the DVDs I\u2019d accumulated over the years, all of them from Season 10 or earlier. Suddenly, I could fire up every single episode with the click of a button, and it dawned on me that I could watch some of my favorite episodes with my kids.<\/p>\n

Now that my son and daughter are 5 and 7 years old, respectively, I\u2019m reveling in the fact that I can corrupt their blank slates with some of my favorite episodes. What I didn\u2019t expect was for my daughter to barrel into the later seasons and actually pick out some certified bangers that are now in my regular rotation, even though I\u2019m still a purist who barely dares venture past Season 10.<\/p>\n

\"\"
If you\u2019re not watching classic Simpsons<\/em> on a screen this big, it might as well be radio. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The moral of the story? If you grew up during the Golden Era and have kids of your own now, Simpsons<\/em> night should be mandatory.<\/p>\n

Transcends Generations<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As somebody who chose to die on the \u201cSimpsons<\/em> haven\u2019t been good since the \u201990s\u201d hill, one thing I really admire about the Golden Era is that it became the perfect time capsule. Everything about The Simpsons during that stretch is so undeniably \u201990s that you can\u2019t ignore it. I\u2019m pretty sure my kids learned what a payphone was by watching The Simpsons<\/em> with me.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\u201cLike, you know \u2026 whatever.\u201d <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But it\u2019s not just about educating your kids on what a great animated sitcom looks like. Episodes like Season 7\u2019s \u201cSummer of 4 Ft. 2.<\/a>\u201d land especially well with my daughter, who\u2019s about Lisa\u2019s age and navigating some of her first friendships at school. My son, who\u2019s so into dinosaurs that he has a Jurassic Park<\/em>-themed bedroom, loves \u201cTreehouse of Horror XXIX\u201d for its third segment, \u201cGeriatric Park,\u201d which revolves around Grandpa Simpson turning into a Grampasaurus.<\/p>\n

Ironically enough, it\u2019s one of my favorite modern Halloween<\/a> specials in the entire series, and I have my kids to thank for that.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\u201cGeriatric Park\u201d is a lowkey, late-season banger that any diehard fan can get behind. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now that the kids are older, and they actually let me choose the episodes with a little more authority, I\u2019ve been shoving them headfirst into the Golden Era because I want them to grow up to be superior human beings.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how it\u2019s working out for me.<\/p>\n

The last time we went to the zoo, my daughter said, \u201cRemember, we\u2019re in the Itchy lot!\u201d when we parked the car, and nobody batted an eyelash because even my wife, who\u2019s a casual Simpsons<\/em> fan at best, knew it was an \u201cItchy & Scratchy Land\u201d reference.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\u201cNow remember, we\u2019re in the Itchy lot.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The last time I cooked burgers at home, my son started ranting about the Northern Lights being localized entirely in my kitchen. He couldn\u2019t quite enunciate \u201cAurora Borealis,\u201d but credit where it\u2019s due.<\/p>\n

Those little moments are honestly my favorite part. Half the fun of introducing my kids to The Simpsons<\/em> isn\u2019t watching the episodes. It\u2019s hearing those jokes come back days or weeks later in completely unrelated situations, knowing they landed the same way they did when I was their age.<\/p>\n

Let Them Get On Your Level Sometimes, They\u2019ll Surprise You<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

I\u2019m beyond guilty of showing my kids The Simpsons<\/em>, South Park<\/a><\/em>, Futurama<\/em>, and Rocko\u2019s Modern Life<\/em>. Obviously, I\u2019m not showing them the extremely risqu\u00e9 episodes, and they\u2019re not watching unsupervised, but if you show your kids something that\u2019s even remotely adult adjacent while you\u2019re just vegging out around the house, they\u2019re surprisingly receptive to shows that aren\u2019t Bluey<\/em> or Paw Patrol<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But the real party starts when I barge into their rooms at midnight on a Friday yelling, \u201cKids, I don\u2019t want to alarm you, but there may be a boogeyman, or boogeymen, in the house!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Me, barging into my kids\u2019 rooms at Midnight so we can watch The Simpsons<\/em> (dramatized)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I, of course, follow this upsetting, Jerkass Homer, statement with, \u201cJust kidding, we\u2019re watching The Simpsons<\/em>,\u201d and then we all pick an episode and let it rip on the projector we have set up in the apartment.<\/p>\n

Sidebar: if you want your kids to not watch TV during the day, get a cheap projector, because you physically can\u2019t use it when the sun is pouring into the room.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re able to bond over one of my favorite shows, but for different reasons. I love the scathing satire of yesteryear, while the kids are mostly into slapstick humor. It feels like a full-circle experience because when I was their age, I valued the show for the exact same reasons they value it today. When a joke flies over their heads, I get to offer sage-like advice like, \u201cYou\u2019ll understand when you\u2019re older,\u201d knowing full well I used to hear the same thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"
\u201cAuwowa Boweawis\u201d \u2013 My 5-year-old, probably<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One day, they\u2019ll probably outgrow our midnight Simpsons<\/em> binges. They\u2019ll have their own friends, their own hobbies, and eventually they\u2019ll think hanging out with Dad isn\u2019t nearly as exciting as it is now. That\u2019s just part of growing up. But for the moment, I get to share something that meant the world to me with two little people who are discovering it for the first time, and that\u2019s a pretty incredible feeling.<\/p>\n

At my house, Simpsons<\/em> night has become a staple. It starts with doors getting kicked open in the middle of the night and ends with everybody quoting along in real time before I tell them to promise me they\u2019ll let Mom and Dad sleep in because they got to stay up way past their bedtime.<\/p>\n

Ninety-nine percent of the time, it never works.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Robert Scucci | Updated 4 seconds ago I\u2019m not a religious person, but I consider myself blessed to have grown up in real time as The Simpsons was airing its Golden Era. It was that magical time in my life when the show was still appointment viewing, and Sunday night meant it was time…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.giantfreakinrobot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/The-Simpsons-S9E17.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}