The Simpsons creator Matt Groening knew the series was something special after this episode

When Groening died “The Simpsons” debuted during the 1989 Christmas seasonIt was an instant sensation. Some fans may have known the Simpsons characters from their appearances on “The Tracey Ullman Show,” and readers of local indie newspapers were likely familiar with Groening’s “Life in Hell” comic strip, but for most audiences, The Simpsons was… A bolt of blue. It was an anti-sitcom, a surreal show with oddly designed characters (yellow skin?) that satirized and deconstructed middle-class correctness in 1980s mainstream television. It was an antidote to the ultra-conservative “family values” crowd that was so vocal during the Reagan administration. And the audience was ready for it.

The Simpsons series started out big and then got bigger. 1990 was a big year for popular culture, as “The Simpsons” — along with shows like “Seinfeld” and “Married… with Children” — subverted old tropes and invented new ones. One might be so bold as to claim that Groening’s show invented the unique attitude of the decade that followed: disaffected, eccentric, intellectual cynicism.

Groening knew The Simpsons was going to be a cultural juggernaut very early on in the series’ run. He may have been thrilled with the series’ success, but he didn’t really acknowledge that “The Simpsons” was a huge commercial presence until he watched one episode in particular. In a 2018 interview with USA TodayGroening said that the second season episode “Reckless Bart” (December 7, 1990) really opened up the series to him. He knew this made the show special.

In “Reckless Bart,” the Simpsons attend a monster truck rally where they witness the name of a stuntman Captain Lance Murdock (Dan Castellaneta) He messed up a motorcycle jump and suffered horrific injuries. This scene inspires Bart to start jumping over things on his skateboard, eventually declaring that he too wants to be a daredevil. Marge (Julie Kavner) and Homer (Castellaneta) try to talk Bart out of doing dangerous things, but his resolve grows stronger. He eventually announced that he would jump Springfield Gorge on his snowboard.

Homer, to teach Bart a lesson, takes out a skateboard and does a jump himself. As expected, Homer didn’t make it. He fell to the bottom of the valley, landing with broken bones and blood. The skateboard even landed on his head due to additional injury. When Homer was airlifted by medical helicopter, they hit his head several times on the canyon wall. Homer is loaded into an ambulance, which immediately crashes into a tree. The baby carrier rolls out of the back of the ambulance and plummets back to the valley floor.

In USA Today, Groening was asked when he knew The Simpsons had become a classic, and he was quick to mention Bart the Daredevil. It is worth noting that Groening said:

“The one where Homer skis over Springfield Gorge…almost. It made me realize we were really onto something. It’s like the classic Warner Bros. cartoon, but we can do our own version. Homer goes over the cliff. He doesn’t make it.” That, and he hits the wall along the way, and the skateboard lands on his head and Gurney rolls over and goes over the cliff again, and it’s that extra landing.The Simpsons At its best.”

Indeed, Homer’s frequent injuries reveal a timeless comedic quality. “The Simpsons” officially has the staying power of the Looney Tunes. It was permanent now.

Groening, along with many Simpsons fans in the world, realized that the series was a wonderful mixture of high and low. “The Simpsons” was clearly written by well-educated writers who were allowed to drop sports jokes, literary references, and civics trivia at will. Throughout, the show features comic violence, burps, and cheap gags about casual domestic violence. As an old friend of mine once said: If you are uneducated, you will be laughed at. If you are educated, you will roar.

Groening always loved that on “The Simpsons.” It was ultimately a smart show, but certainly not above a dreary, coyote-like slapstick scene, with Homer Simpson repeatedly injured in multiple falls. As Groening said:

“The show is a forum for comedic ideas. There are very sophisticated references to great literature and cinema, as well as the simplest slapstick cartoon gag.”

Homer Simpson is a dork, but “The Simpsons” also featured cameos from the likes of John Updike, Amy Tan, Stephen Hawking, and Thomas Pynchon. And just that A few hundred celebrities besides. They know how to poke fun at celebrities and their place in the pop pantheon. For many years, “The Simpsons” has been a constant cultural center, the primitive comedic soup from which American culture grows. Its power in 2024 may be less than it was in 1990, but it is still there to remind us of where we all came from.