Portal:The Simpsons

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The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Set in the fictional town of Springfield, in an unspecified location in the United States, it caricatures society, Western culture, television and the human condition. Widely regarded as one of the most influential animated series of all time, The Simpsons has been named by Time as the greatest television series of the 20th century.

The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with producer Brooks. He created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after his own family members, substituting Bart for his own name; he thought Simpson was a funny name in that it sounded similar to "simpleton". The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After three seasons, the sketch was developed into a half-hour primetime show and became Fox's first series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–1990).

Since its debut on December 17, 1989, 805 episodes of the show have been broadcast. It is the longest-running American animated series, longest-running American sitcom, and the longest-running American scripted primetime television series, both in seasons and individual episodes. A feature-length film, The Simpsons Movie (2007), was released in theaters worldwide to critical and commercial success, with a sequel set to release in 2027. The series has also spawned numerous comic book series, video games, books and other related media, as well as a billion-dollar merchandising industry. The Simpsons was initially a joint production by Gracie Films and 20th Television; 20th Television's involvement was later moved to 20th Television Animation, a separate unit of Disney Television Studios. On April 2, 2025, the show was renewed for four additional seasons on Fox, with 15 episodes and two Disney+ specials each, bringing the episode total from 790 to 858. (Full article...)

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The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes, also known as The Simpsons Halloween episodes, are a series of episodes in the animated television series The Simpsons. They are Halloween specials and consist of three separate, self-contained segments. These segments usually involve the Simpson family in some horror, science fiction, or supernatural setting. Considered non-canon, they always take place outside the normal continuity of the show and completely abandon any pretense of being realistic. The first Treehouse of Horror episode aired on October 25, 1990 as part of the second season and was inspired by EC Comics horror tales. There are currently eighteen Treehouse of Horror episodes, with one airing every year. The episodes are known for being more violent than an average Simpsons episode and contain several trademarks, including the alien characters Kang and Kodos, "scary names" in the credits, a special version of the opening sequence, and parodies of horror and science fiction films. The show's staff regard the Treehouse of Horror as being particularly difficult to produce as the scripts often go through many rewrites, and the animators typically have to design many new characters and backgrounds.

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Credit: CoolKid1993

A can of Buzz Cola, an officially licensed product of Twentieth Century Fox. Buzz Cola is one of the many products in The Simpsons which spoofs real-life products. Buzz Cola was sold in 7-Eleven stores as a promotion for The Simpsons Movie.

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“

Who are you? What do you want? What year is it? Who are you?

”

— Abraham Simpson ("Million Dollar Abie")

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"Simpson Tide" is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons' ninth season and originally aired on the Fox network on March 29, 1998. After being fired from the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Homer decides to join the United States Navy Reserve. The episode was the second and last to be written by Joshua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia and was also the final episode directed by Milton Gray. It guest starred Rod Steiger as Captain Tenille and Bob Denver as himself, with one-time Simpsons writer Michael Carrington making an appearance as the Drill Sargeant. This was the last episode Al Jean and Mike Reiss executive produced together, although both would return in season 13 with Jean as show runner and Reiss as a producer.

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Did you know...

...that The Simpsons' history began when Matt Groening conceived of the dysfunctional family in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office?

...that Nancy Cartwright originally auditioned for the role of Lisa, but soon thought that her voice would be better suited for Bart, so Matt Groening let her try out for the part and gave her the job on the spot?

...that in 1992 Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit claiming that her show was the source of The Simpsons success and therefore should receive a share of the show's profit although eventually the courts ruled in favor of the network?

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The following are images from various The Simpsons-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The show was criticized by several conservatives. Among those were President George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 2"Lisa the Vegetarian", an episode produced by David Mirkin, won a Genesis Award in 1996
Image 3The Simpsons' visit to Rio de Janeiro almost led to a lawsuit and a diplomatic incident. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 4In 1991, Nancy Cartwright accepted a Kids' Choice Awards while wearing a Bart Simpson costume. (from List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons)
Image 5Michael Jackson co-wrote the single "Do the Bartman" (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 6Moe's Bar in Concepción, Chile, based on images from The Simpsons (from Springfield (The Simpsons))
Image 7Voice actor Phil Hartman was murdered in 1998. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 8Part of the writing staff of The Simpsons in 1992 (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 9In 2001, Yeardley Smith's character Lisa Simpson won an EMA Award. (from List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons)
Image 10A Seattle 7-Eleven store transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart (from Springfield (The Simpsons))
Image 11Hank Azaria has won four Emmy awards for Outstanding Voice-over Performance (from List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons)
Image 12In 2004, Matt Groening won a Lifetime achievement British Comedy Award.
Image 13
Mike Scully
(from History of The Simpsons)
Image 14Voice actress Maggie Roswell left The Simpsons over a pay dispute, but returned three years later. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 15The Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop, as seen in the Springfield section of Universal Studios Hollywood (from Springfield (The Simpsons))
Image 16Morgan Spurlock produced a documentary on The Simpsons in order to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 17The Simpsons Movie premiered in Springfield, Vermont. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 18David Silverman, director of The Simpsons Movie.
Image 19
David Mirkin
Image 20Matt Selman won a WGA Award in 2004. (from List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons)

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The Simpsons are fairly surprised to find themselves in a movie; they can't believe "anyone would pay to see what we did on TV for free." But I suspect a lot of people will...The movie is funny, sassy and intelligent in that moronic Simpsons' way.

— Roger Ebert

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