"Using our favorite Springfield family as a case study, Watching with The Simpsons examines the textual and social role of parody in offering critical commentary on other television programs and genres." In this book, Jonathan Gray brings together textual theory, discussions of television and the public sphere, and ideas of parody and comedy. As a study, including primary audience research, it focuses on how The Simpsons has been able to talk back to three of television's key genres - the sitcom, ads, and the news - and on how it holds the potential to short-circuit these genres' meanings, power, and effects by provoking reinterpretations and offering more media literate recontextualizations.