Nathan Thoms

Machiavelli Meets Mayor Quimby: Political Commentary in the First Season of the Simpsons Nathan Thoms

Since its 1989 independent debut The Simpsons has enjoyed phenomenal success in both domestic markets and internationally, but very little academic notice has been paid to this series and the messages it broadcasts daily now that it is in syndication to its millions of fans worldwide. This book focuses on an analysis of the political messages contained within the episodes of the first season of the series from 1989-1990 with the goal of identifying, analyzing, and understanding the message, or messages related to politics contained within each episode which millions are exposed to each year. Note that this book does not analyze The Simpsons in terms of its Machiavellian content; the title is meant to suggest the rich political undercurrents of The Simpsons, though not necessarily from a Machiavellian perspective.