FOX5 Vegas - KVVUAy, caramba! 'The Simpsons' reaches 500 episodes

(RNN) - Dude! The Simpsons will reach a milestone this weekend – 500 episodes.

The yellow-skinned, mediocre "everyfamily" has been called vulgar, rude and hilarious. It also has produced sharp social commentary during its two decade-plus run.

The cartoon skewering the middle class debuted as short videos on the The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987 before expanding to half-hour episodes two years later.

The 23-year run makes The Simpsons the longest running primetime show in TV history. Gunsmoke has aired more episodes at 633 but was only (only?!) on the air for 20 years.

That means Bart – who has been in the fourth grade since 1987 – would be 34 years old today and either in jail, working at the Kwik-E-Mart or retired from skateboarding in the X-Games. His baby boomer parents, the bumbling Homer and doting Marge, should be retired and drawing Social Security in a Florida retirement village.

The show capitalized on the term "dysfunctional family." Generation Xers, who were coming of age as the show progressed, reveled in the sarcasm and could see themselves and their relatives in Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie.

Because the show was a cartoon, it could make jokes that weren't socially acceptable and get away with it. Homer's continual throttling of Bart would be horrifying if they were real people.

Teenagers loved Bart because he could venture into forbidden territory, mouthing off to his parents, to teachers and questioning society's rules. We looked forward (and still do) to seeing what he had to write on the chalkboard during detention– someone even made a few video montages of what Bart isn't supposed to do anymore.

(One of his sentences was "I will not celebrate meaningless milestones." D'oh!)

Lisa's intelligence showed the world it was OK for girls to be smart, but her opinions were often ignored, demonstrating society has a hard time embracing a brainy girl.

Marge and Homer worked through their differences, and we saw that too. No matter how often we wondered why Marge stayed with Homer – especially after he forgot her birthday and bought her a bowling ball with his name engraved on it - they got past the horrible behavior and remembered they loved each other.

The town of Springfield, "Anytown U.S.A.," offered a cast of characters we've met or could identify with and exaggerated them.

There was nerdy comic book guy, the stoner bus driver, the really cheerful neighbor who makes you hate yourself (because, really, who is that perfect ... stupid Flanders!), the horrible boss and his lackey, the overworked and underappreciated teacher who has given up and the childhood hero who lets you down by trying to murder you.

OK, that one's a stretch. But many of us have been let down by our heroes, and The Simpsons found humor in that disappointment.

The show spoke as we did – through pop culture references – a trend that continues on both dramas and sitcoms today. Audience members would need a guide to watch episodes from the early 1990s – especially the current 18- to 25-year-olds.

It hasn't all been juvenile delinquency, falling asleep on the job and gorging doughnuts though.

The Simpsons tackled bigger issues as well, ensuring the audience would get the overall gist of the episode, if not every joke and reference. Celebrities and politicians all lent their voices to episodes.

Sure, the program may not be quite as popular as it once was and the writing is not as witty and sharp. But for better or for worse, the animated show paved the way for more cartoons for adults who remember getting up every Saturday morning to watch Looney Tunes.

Without the Simpsons, there would be no South Park, Family Guy, Futurama, Cartoon Network or Adult Swim, to name a few.

So, don't have a cow man. Just sit back and laugh with a doughnut. Mmmmm, doughnuts.

Cecelia Hanley is a recovering Gen-Xer, and Lead Producer for Raycom News Network. Copyright 2012 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.