>Very different from dad
>I'm more of a creative type, he's a brash city guy
>I liked to draw and play video games, he worked with his hands
>Not a lot of common ground between us aside from Springsteen and fart jokes
>About to go to bed late one weekend
>Mom and lil brother are already asleep
>"You going to bed?"
>I was
>"Hey, come watch some TV."
>It's midnight
>I'm 8
>This is huge, holy shit
>Flip through the channels looking for something
>"Eh, how's about this?"
>It's The Simpsons
>The dude ranch episode
>It blows my fucking mind
>I laugh so hard I almost wake up the entire house
>Dad is laughing with me, trying to keep things quiet at the same time
>Finish the episode, go to bed
>Wake up the next morning, know I need more Simpsons in my life
>Watch 3 episodes a day (2 on Fox 5, one extra on Fox Philly)
>Simpsons is my life
>Is something contemporary that both me and my parents can enjoy
>They love all the older references, explain stuff to me like The Birds, Adam West, Richard Nixon, etc.
>Have like all the box sets, tons of merch
>Dad takes me and my friends to see the Simpsons Movie opening weekend at 10pm
>Funniest theater experience I'd ever had at the time
Fuck I love The Simpsons.
I'll laugh at shit like Ape Island and Hank Scorpio and "NO, MONEY DOWN!", but only occasionally does it hit me just how massive an influence that show had on my life.
