To many people, The Simpsons is just a simple cartoon and nothing more. To many others it is much more. This show is far more complex than many people would like to believe. One of the reasons for people believing that this show is simple is because of its basic cartoonish appearance. If the show is analyzed on the denotative level, the first thing that becomes apparent is that the visuals of this show are made up of just primary colours. The style of drawing that is used for these characters is very basic, but it is done to give each character a sense of individuality. The town of Springfield is just like any other town, it is just the ways in which the people interact with each other that make it such a comical show.

Observing this show on the level of connotation, one can see so much more, which makes this show a lot more than what it seems to be. One of the first things that you will notice about this show is that all the characters have a yellow complexion. This would be considered the normative skin tone of all the characters, but then you see characters like Dr. Hibert and Apu for example that have a brown skin tone. These two characters are the shows representatives for the Black (African American) and Indian (East Asian) communities. These are funny characteristics of the show because although these two characters are representatives of different races, the yellow skin tones are not. Most people would like to believe that the yellow signifies the white skin tone, but there is an actual show where Bart Simpson is taking a bath and he says, "I want my skin to look its yellowist." One of the key things that one can draw from this statement is that the creators of The Simpsons show are keeping away from the issues of "black and white".

Another thing that can be observed on this show just by looking at it is that because of its simple appearance, it brings much more out of the characters. There is no real complex appearance to any character on this show, but the personalities of every character are a whole different story. Each character on this show has a huge and comical personality and one is able to see this because what they do on this show is use stereotypes to shape these personalities. An example of a stereotype is Dr. Hibert that is a black male on the show that laughs at any and all situations whether they are good or bad. What he represents is the "happy sambo" image that was often associated with black males in the earlier roles of entertainment. These are just the little things that one can pick up by just viewing a show like The Simpsons, because many people may ask themselves "why is he always laughing?" To others they just don't care.

There is no easy way to read a show like The Simpsons and in all honesty if one tries to it may just ruin the whole comical effect of the show. There are many signs and codes that can be used to analyze a show like this. To get a better understanding of how one can use the semiotic approach to analyze The Simpsons you should read a great article written by Stefan Herrmann. This article breaks down many of the signs and codes and helps to show you the different ways in which a complex show like The Simpsons can be interpreted.