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, 790 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 as of 2024. 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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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: Tommy Collier

Maggie Roswell voices several characters on the show, including Helen Lovejoy.

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“

I'm saying, you're what's wrong with America, Simpson. You coast through life, you do as little as possible... and you leech off decent hard-working people, like me! If you lived in any country in the world, you'd have starved to death long ago!

”

— Frank Grimes ("Homer's Enemy")

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"Homerpalooza" is the twenty-fourth episode of The Simpsons' seventh season and originally aired on May 19, 1996 as part of the season finale. The plot focuses around Homer's depression about aging and no longer being cool, and his quest to become cool again by joining the "Hullabalooza" music festival as a carnival freak. The episode title is a play on the Lollapalooza music festival. It would prove to be the last Simpsons episode written by Brent Forrester and the last episode directed by Wes Archer. Peter Frampton and musical groups The Smashing Pumpkins, Cypress Hill and Sonic Youth guest star as themselves.

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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 since leaving the series in 1993, Sam Simon has been credited as "Sam 'Sayonara' Simon" in the opening credits of Treehouse of Horror episodes?

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

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

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When they said, 'We're going to a half-hour show,' I thought it could be fun, but this is phenomenal. .. I don't want it to end. I love it. It gives me power. Sometimes now I get other voiceover work without auditions.

— Nancy Cartwright

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