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 shorts is a series of one-minute shorts that ran on the variety show The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, before the characters spun off into their own half-hour prime time show called The Simpsons. It features the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The series was created by Matt Groening, who designed the Simpson family and wrote many of the shorts. 48 shorts were produced, starting with "Good Night", which first aired on April 19, 1987. The final short to air was "TV Simpsons", originally airing on May 14, 1989. The Simpsons would later debut on December 17, 1989 with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". Only a few of these shorts have been released on DVD. "Good Night" was included on The Simpsons Season 1 DVD. Five of these shorts were later used in the clip show episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" on the half-hour show, which was released on the Season 7 DVD. These five shorts were "Good Night", which was featured in its entirety and portions of "The Perfect Crime", "Space Patrol", "World War III", and "Bathtime". Groening has announced that all of the shorts will be available on mobile phones.

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Credit: Joe Shlabotnik

The outside of The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios Florida.

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“

The League of Uninformed Voters presents the Springfield Mayoral Debates. I'm your moderator, Larry King. Now, a word to our audience: even though we're being broadcast on Fox, there's no need for obnoxious hooting and hollering.

”

— Larry King ("Sideshow Bob Roberts")

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"Treehouse of Horror VII" is the first episode of The Simpsons' eighth season and originally aired October 27, 1996. In the seventh annual Treehouse of Horror episode, Bart discovers his long-lost twin, Lisa grows a colony of small beings and Kang & Kodos take over the bodies of Bill Clinton and Bob Dole in order to win the 1996 Presidential election. It was written by Ken Keeler, Dan Greaney & David S. Cohen and directed by Mike B. Anderson. Phil Hartman provided the voice of Clinton.

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Did you know...

...that the Simpsons short Good Night aired April 19, 1987 on The Tracey Ullman Show and was the first ever appearance of the Simpson family on television?

...that for The Simpsons Movie, Isla Fisher, Minnie Driver, Erin Brockovich, Edward Norton and Kelsey Grammer all had guest spots cut?

...that Bart Simpson's catchphrase "Eat My Shorts" was an ad-lib by Nancy Cartwright in one of the original table readings, harking back to an incident when she was at college?

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

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

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I was taking animation and illustration and I was just a huge fan of the show and I knew the show was going to be something big. However, I never thought it would last this long, but I wanted to be part of it. I really thought that it was something that could last maybe one or two or years or so and I took a few animation tests but I failed the first group and so I asked them what was right and wrong about it and I followed directions and gave it to them within 48 hours and they hired me.

— Lance Wilder

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