Dissecting the Greatest Animated TV Shows List

Vanity Fair just put out a list of “The Greatest Animated TV Shows Since the Simpson’s Premiered” list which you can see for yourself here.

“The Simpson’s” will be starting its 30th season later this month. As far as I’m concerned, “The Simpson’s” is the greatest animated TV show of all time (yeah, yeah, I know a lot of you think it “jumped the shark” during the “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” storyline. You are wrong.)

Here are my thoughts on some of the major points of the VF list.

1.) South Park is Number 1
I absolutely agree with this. South Park has always been funny but, more importantly, subversive. Unlike “Family Guy” (which I will go into shortly) “South Park” doesn’t only choose easy targets. Sure, Mormons are fairly easy targets and SP has had more than one field day with them. But, they’ve also satirized “off-limits” topics such as transgenderism and PC culture.

2.) Family Guy Didn’t Make the Top 30 List
And for good reason. It’s excessively derivative, it’s preachy and the humor is lazy (especially the cutaways). “Family Guy” is the “Big Bang Theory” of animated television. I know a lot of people like it but that doesn’t make it good.

3.) Mike Judge Deserves Better
Judge’s 2 most famous shows, “Beavis and Butthead” and “King of the Hill” both fall short of the top 20, coming in at 22nd and 21st respectively. Beavis and Butthead paved the way for all the animated shows that MTV aired after it. And “King of the Hill”…I can’t say I watched every episode like I did with “The Simpsons”. But, I watched plenty and I liked it enough that it deserves higher than 21st.

4.) Spongebob at #10
“Spongebob Squarepants” is a cartoon that I only started watching after I had kids, when it had already been on for several seasons. Lots of great memories here: from making my kids laugh with my Patrick impersonation to us singing the Spongebob and Plankton duet, “The F.U.N. Song” while driving home from Pre K. It’s my number two and, NO I AM NOT CRYING! SOMEBODY MUST BE CUTTING UP ONIONS!!

5.) Some That Didn’t Make the Top 30 that Should Have
The Tick, X-Men, Ren and Stimpy, and Phineas and Ferb.