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.

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 prime time 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, 792 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, was released in theaters worldwide on July 27, 2007, to critical and commercial success, with a sequel in development with a release date of July 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 each. (Full article...)

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Matt Groening (born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist and television producer and writer from Portland, Oregon. Groening is best known as the creator of The Simpsons . He is also the creator of the comic Life in Hell and co-creator of Futurama. Life in Hell caught the attention of James L. Brooks. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of working in animation for the FOX variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. Originally, Brooks wanted Groening to adapt his Life in Hell characters for the show. Fearing the loss of ownership rights, Groening decided to create something new and came up with a cartoon family, the Simpsons and named the members after his own family, except Bart, which was an anagram of the word brat. The shorts would be spun off into their own series: The Simpsons, which has since aired over 400 episodes in 19 seasons. In 1997, Groening got together with David X. Cohen and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. After four years on the air, the show was cancelled by Fox, but Comedy Central commissioned 16 new episodes to be aired in 2008. Groening has won 10 Primetime Emmy Awards, nine for The Simpsons and one for Futurama as well as a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2002, he won the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award for his work on Life in Hell.

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A 7-Eleven transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart

Credit: SchmuckyTheCat

A 7-Eleven store in Seattle, July 1, 2007. The store was transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart as part of a promotion for The Simpsons Movie.

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Character quote

“

Ironic, isn't it Smithers. This anonymous clan of slack-jawed troglodytes has cost me the election, and yet if I were to have them killed, I would be the one to go to jail. That's democracy for you!

”

— Montgomery Burns ("Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish")

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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 in 1993, the producers submitted "A Streetcar Named Marge" and "Mr. Plow" in the "Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series" category but did not receive a nomination?

... that for "Homerpalooza", Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Pearl Jam and Hole were all sought to guest star but all four turned the offer down?

...that when it came time to give Grampa Simpson a first name, the writers named him Abraham which by coincidence was the name of Matt Groening's grandfather?

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

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

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The shorts were getting a great audience response, and Matt had always had this dream of making a prime-time animated program, which was not something that was done at the time. So myself and another producer friend got together with Matt to create 'The Simpsons.' It actually worked out quite well, because I had the background in sitcoms, and Matt had the background in animation, so we complemented each other to create what is today 'The Simpsons.'

— James L. Brooks

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