The Simpsons: what age is it for?
Official US rating: TV-14. In France, zinema would say 12.
Alone, or with you
The official US rating is TV-14, and we never go below it. Alone from 14, and not before, even with an adult. Our reading covers season 37; the series has 38.
What it's about
Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday adventures of the Simpson family; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, as well as a virtual cast of thousands. Since the beginning, the series has been a pop culture icon, attracting hundreds of celebrities to guest star. The show has also made name for itself in its fearless satirical take on politics, media and American life in general.
Why 14
- The official rating, firstRated TV-14 in the US (parents strongly cautioned, may be unsuitable for children under 14). zinema never goes below the country's rating: it explains it.rule
- A horror episode that shows itThe Halloween episode steps outside the register of the rest. A creature tears a character in two and holds both halves apart, still joined by his insides, and blood returns across a dozen scenes, one of them running some twenty seconds. It is drawn and it is parody, and it is still shown.
- Humiliations that landA father tells his son he is a failure, in front of witnesses. A daughter puts her mother down in front of her friends. These scenes are played for laughs and they sting all the same.
- Two moments of prejudiceA contemptuous line aimed at the Irish, and a word thrown at someone for who they are. The series puts them in the mouths of characters it is ridiculing, but a child can hear them straight.
- An opening about the bodyThe season opens on a fake deodorant advert that spends close to a minute listing the folds and the smells of the body, in the blunt words that go with it. It is the first gag, and it sets the tone.
- Adult innuendo throughoutMuch of the comedy then runs on sexual innuendo and double meaning, dropped in passing, with nothing ever shown.
- Drink as ordinary furnitureThe neighbourhood bar is a fixture of the series. People drink there, they linger there, and it is treated as a plain habit rather than a problem. Cigarettes appear too, without comment.
What the series brings
- Satire teaches a sideways look at institutions. School, television, city hall and the workplace each take their turn, and nobody is spared.
- The family holds together anyway. Episodes almost always end on a repair between the characters, even after the worst of it.
- This is where irony is learned: the series says one thing and means another, and spotting the gap is an exercise.
Watching it together
If a line targets someone for where they come from or for who they are, stop on it and say the series is mocking the person saying it, not the person hearing it.
at 14 and up
At the end of an episode, ask who the series was really mocking, and whether it was right to.
Season by season
the reading per season, episode by episode · expand
Season 37 · 15 episodes, 22 min on average · zinema reading 12, 11 with a parent · France 12
1 episode out of 15 at the top of the series. What's in each episode, without telling the story:
| Episode | What's in it |
|---|---|
| 1 · Thrifty Ways to Thieve Your Mother | Deaths told; scary music; bullying; some swearing; drugs mentioned; and a lot of laughs, 80% of the episode. |
| 2 · Keep Chalm and Gary On | Frightening images; scary music; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 80% of the episode. |
| 3 · Treehouse of Horror XXXVI | Blood, for a long time on screen; deaths told; frightening images; scary music; fights; bullying; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 47% of the episode. |
| 4 · Men Behaving Manly | Deaths told; bullying; some swearing; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 100% of the episode. |
| 5 · Bad Boys... for Life? | Scary music; bullying; some swearing; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 60% of the episode. |
| 6 · Bart 'N' Frink | Deaths told; scary music; bullying; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 73% of the episode. |
| 7 · Sashes to Sashes | Deaths told; scary music; bullying; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 67% of the episode. |
| 8 · The Day of the Jack-Up | Scary music; some swearing; drugs mentioned; and a lot of laughs, 80% of the episode. |
| 9 · Aunt Misbehavin' | Deaths told; scary music; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 80% of the episode. |
| 10 · Guess Who's Coming to Skinner | Deaths told; scary music; bullying; some swearing; drugs mentioned; and a lot of laughs, 73% of the episode. |
| 11 · Parahormonal Activity | Scary music; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 69% of the episode. |
| 12 · ¡The Fall Guy-Yi-Yi! | Deaths told; scary music; fights; bullying; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 75% of the episode. |
| 13 · Seperance | Scary music; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 67% of the episode. |
| 14 · Irrational Treasure [800th episode] | Scary music; fights; bullying; some swearing; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 62% of the episode. |
| 15 · Homer? A Cracker Bro? | Scary music; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 47% of the episode. |
See the facts
A zinema reading from September 9, 2026 · the 15 episodes of season 37, watched one by one · the age by zinema's rules for the US and France, and a human reading · report an error · how this guide is made