Fifteen years ago, "The Simpsons" was the most notoriously corrupt family since the Corleones, drawing flak for being irreverent and immoral from religious fundamentalists to former President Bush.

Fifteen years, more than 50 awards and Time Magazine's title of "Show of the Century" later, the show has become a cultural icon, garnering praise even from those who initially protested the acclaim - critics and audiences alike.

D'oh, indeed, to those who doubted the show's staying power.

How could a show that once drew so much controversy and continues on with a "nothing's sacred" sense of stylistic humor have so much appeal and staying power?

"I wish I could point to this or that. I think it's been successful because everything about it works," said Mike Reiss, one of the show's producers and writers. "The writing is great, the animation gets better every year. Every kid watches 'The Simpsons' and they don't get 90 percent of the jokes. We have college kids. We didn't used to have people in their 40s. Now they were the college kids who used to watch and now watch it with their family."

Reiss, who has worked on the show since it was first conceived as a series in 1989 and was at the helm for the revered fourth season, is scheduled to be the featured speaker of an MSU Hillel presentation Friday at 8 p.m. in the Union Ballroom.

The rare breed of "anything goes" humor the show exhibits seems like the kind of humor that would irk network executives - Fox bigwig Rupert Murdoch and subsidiary network Fox News often are lampooned - and make celebrities shy away from making guest appearances where they might be the butt of a joke. Actually, Reiss said, it's quite the opposite.

"'The Simpsons' has no outside interference," Reiss said. "The reason TV can be so bad is because, with networks or studios, there are layers and layers of bureaucracy. When you write a script, it passes through 30 noncreative people. 'The Simpsons' never has that. James L. Brooks wouldn't let them do it. Nobody interferes.

"When we make fun of somebody on the show, they love it. The reason we can get away with it, I think, is because they're cute. 'The Simpsons' are cute."

Reiss has even made it onto the show, though not as a voice or a character based on him.

"There's a very famous episode where Lisa had a crush on her substitute teacher (voiced by Dustin Hoffman). That was me, a caricature of me. They needed a big Jewish face, and there I was."

MSU journalism alumna Sarah Carpenter, who works as a production assistant for the show's animation department, Film Roman, also has had a cartoon image of her inserted into a scene this season. Carpenter said the goofiness and tongue-in-cheek humor helps to draw celebrity appearances on the show.

"All the celebrities who have done voices understand the goofiness and accept their part as the butt of the jokes. It's not just movie stars, but politicians, musicians and authors," she said, pointing to a recent episode where British Prime Minister Tony Blair made a guest appearance and had a rude, culture-clash encounter with family patriarch Homer.

"It's timing. They do so many jokes at once. When you look back, you think, 'Did they just say that?' It's one of those shows that has been around so long, people are used to it," Carpenter said.

Carpenter said the show, drawn by more than 100 animators, has a universal appeal she has enjoyed since it first was conceived.

"I would say I've watched since the beginning. I'd catch it on 'Tracey Ullman'," she said, referring to show's beginnings on the comedienne's variety show.

"I remember eating dinner and watching 'The Simpsons,' then going on a bike ride with my brother and laughing. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I'd be working on the show."

Sheet timer Lindsey Pollard, who essentially matches dialogue up with and makes changes to rough drafts of the animation, said the show's appeal stems from its timeless themes that anyone can identify with.

"It deals with contemporary issues but doesn't hit you over the head with it. They don't underestimate the audience. You see a show that's 10 years old and it's still relevant," Pollard said.

Carpenter cited the show's tendency to joke about almost anything as part of the reason it's able to poke fun without offending too many people.

"It's really inclusive. The characters are children, but they act in adult ways. The writing is very inclusive. It's not very offensive. It's one of those colorful, goofy shows. Anyone can relate to a family with problems," she said.

Pollard also pointed to the show's appreciation and catering to die-hard fans as a source of its staying power.

"They put things in there that they think people will notice. The writers are aware of the fan base and it's getting self-referential," she said, referring to the show's tendency to call out recycled plot points through its ultra-pessimistic Comic Book Guy character's snide "worst episode ever."

And through it all, the show's success is all about fans like packaging senior Matt Booth, who has been watching the show for more than half his life and seldom misses even a rerun.

"Most of the jokes and satire have valid points and they can still make it funny," Booth said. "They never run out of ideas. There's always something that comes up. Plus, the comedy factor is through the roof."

In the words of Monty Burns: "Excellent."