Where this was said
The Bush Family vs. The Simpsons
At 32:45 · chapter starts 31:06
Far from being a government-backed brainwashing machine, The Simpsons spent its early years at war with the government — starting with the First Lady. Around September 1990, Barbara Bush told People magazine that The Simpsons was 'the dumbest thing I had ever seen.' The show's writers struck back by publishing a letter in Marge Simpson's voice, chiding Barbara for calling her family stupid when she was supposed to be teaching kindness [1] — Carter Roy "Barbara Bush called The Simpsons 'the dumbest thing I have ever seen.' The show's writers responded in character — as Marge. Then President…" 31:06 . Barbara's mortified response — thanking Marge for 'speaking her mind,' while noting that Marge was animated — was equally published. The feud escalated in January 1992 when President George H.W. Bush declared in a Washington, D.C. speech that America needed to be 'closer to The Waltons than The Simpsons.' The line landed badly with middle-class America, which identified far more with Homer's job, mortgage, and family than with the Depression-era austerity of The Waltons — as Jay Leno acidly pointed out. The hosts suggest the anti-Simpsons crusade may have even cost Bush some votes in his loss to Bill Clinton.
Barbara Bush called The Simpsons 'the dumbest thing I have ever seen.' The show's writers responded in character — as Marge. Then President George H.W. Bush publicly called for an America 'closer to The Waltons than The Simpsons,' a line that backfired spectacularly. Middle-class America saw itself in the Simpsons — not the Waltons.
Around September 1990, First Lady Barbara Bush publicly called The Simpsons the dumbest thing she had ever seen, sparking a public letter exchange with the show's writers.
