fbpx
Wikipedia

The Simpsons

February 05, 2023

This article is about the television series. For the franchise, see The Simpsons (franchise). For other uses, see The Simpsons (disambiguation).

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company.[1][2][3] The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield and parodies American culture and society, television, and the human condition.

The Simpsons
Genre
Created byMatt Groening
Based onThe Simpsons shorts
by Matt Groening
Developed by
Voices of
Theme music composerDanny Elfman
Opening theme"The Simpsons Theme"
Ending theme"The Simpsons Theme"
ComposersRichard Gibbs (1989–1990)
Alf Clausen (1990–2017)
Bleeding Fingers Music (2017–present)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons34
No. of episodes740 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
List
Running time21–24 minutes
Production companies
Distributor20th Television
Release
Original networkFox
Picture formatNTSC (1989–2009)
HDTV 720p (2009–present)
Audio formatStereo (1989–1991)
Dolby Surround (1991–2009)
Dolby Digital (2009–present)
Original releaseDecember 17, 1989 (1989-12-17) –
present
Chronology
Preceded byThe Simpsons shorts from The Tracey Ullman Show

The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with producer James L. 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".[4] 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, 740 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 terms of seasons and number of episodes. A feature-length film, The Simpsons Movie, was released in theaters worldwide on July 27, 2007, and grossed over $527 million, with a sequel in development as of 2018. 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 is a joint production by Gracie Films and 20th Television.[5] On March 3, 2021, the series was announced to have been renewed for seasons 33 and 34,[6] which were later confirmed to have 22 episodes each,[7] increasing the episode count from 706 to 750. Its thirty-third season premiered on September 26, 2021 and ended on May 22, 2022. The thirty-fourth season premiered on September 25, 2022.[8] On January 26, 2023, the series was renewed for its 35th and 36th seasons,[9] with a combined total of 51 episodes, 7 episodes are season 34 holdovers while the 44 others would be produced in the production cycle of the seasons, bringing the episode total up to 801.[10]

The Simpsons received widespread acclaim throughout its early seasons in the 1990s, which are generally considered its "golden age". Since then, it has been criticized for a perceived decline in quality. Time named it the 20th century's best television series,[11] and Erik Adams of The A.V. Club named it "television's crowning achievement regardless of format".[12] On January 14, 2000, the Simpson family was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 35 Primetime Emmy Awards, 34 Annie Awards, and 2 Peabody Awards. Homer's exclamatory catchphrase of "D'oh!" has been adopted into the English language, while The Simpsons has influenced many other later adult-oriented animated sitcom television series.

Premise

Characters

Main article: List of The Simpsons characters

The main characters are the Simpson family, who live in a fictional "Middle America" town of Springfield.[13] Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a position at odds with his careless, buffoonish personality. He is married to Marge Bouvier, a stereotypical American housewife and mother. They have three children: Bart, a ten-year-old troublemaker and prankster; Lisa, a precocious eight-year-old activist; and Maggie, the baby of the family who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. Although the family is dysfunctional, many episodes examine their relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to care about one another.[14] Homer's dad Grampa Simpson lives in the Springfield Retirement Home after Homer forced his dad to sell his house so that his family could buy theirs. Grampa Simpson has had starring roles in several episodes.

The family also owns a dog, Santa's Little Helper, and a cat, Snowball II, who is replaced by a cat also called Snowball II in the fifteenth season episode "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot".[15] Both pets have had starring roles in several episodes.

 
The Simpsons sports a vast array of secondary and tertiary characters.

The show includes an array of quirky supporting characters, which include Homer's co-workers (also friends) Lenny Leonard and Carl Carlson, the school principal Seymour Skinner and teachers Edna Krabappel and Elizabeth Hoover, neighbor Ned Flanders, friends Barney Gumble, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Moe Szyslak, Milhouse Van Houten, and Nelson Muntz, extended relatives Patty and Selma Bouvier, townspeople such as Mayor Quimby, Chief Clancy Wiggum, local celebrities Krusty the Clown and news reporter Kent Brockman, and tycoon Charles Montgomery Burns, who often serves as the series' antagonist, and his executive assistant Waylon Smithers.

The creators originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokes or for fulfilling needed functions in the town. A number of them have gained expanded roles and subsequently starred in their own episodes. According to Matt Groening, the show adopted the concept of a large supporting cast from the comedy show SCTV.[16]

Continuity and the floating timeline

Despite the depiction of yearly milestones such as holidays or birthdays passing, the characters never age between episodes (either physically or in stated age), and generally appear just as they did when the series began. The series uses a floating timeline in which episodes generally take place in the year the episode is produced even though the characters do not age. Flashbacks and flashforwards do occasionally depict the characters at other points in their lives, with the timeline of these depictions also generally floating relative to the year the episode is produced. For example, in the 1991 episode "I Married Marge", Bart (who is always 10 years old) appears to be born in 1980 or 1981. But in the 1995 episode "And Maggie Makes Three", Maggie (who always appears to be around 1 year old) appears to be born in 1993 or 1994. In the 1992 episode "Lisa's First Word", Lisa (who is always 8) is shown to have been born in 1984.

A canon of the show does exist, although Treehouse of Horror episodes and any fictional story told within the series are typically non-canon. However, continuity is inconsistent and limited in The Simpsons. For example, Krusty the Clown may be able to read in one episode, but not in another – however he is consistently portrayed as being Jewish and that his rabbi father has since died. Lessons learned by the family in one episode may be forgotten in the next. Some examples of limited continuity include Sideshow Bob's appearances where Bart and Lisa flashback at all the crimes he committed in Springfield or when the characters try to remember things that happened in previous episodes.

Setting

Main article: Springfield (The Simpsons)

The Simpsons takes place in the fictional American town of Springfield in an unknown and impossible-to-determine U.S. state. The show is intentionally evasive in regard to Springfield's location.[17] Springfield's geography, and that of its surroundings, contains coastlines, deserts, vast farmland, tall mountains, or whatever the story or joke requires.[18] Groening has said that Springfield has much in common with Portland, Oregon, the city where he grew up.[19] The name "Springfield" is a common one in America and appears in at least 29 states.[20] Groening has said that he named it after Springfield, Oregon, and the fictitious Springfield which was the setting of the series Father Knows Best. He "figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do."[21]

Production

Development

Main articles: History of The Simpsons and The Simpsons shorts
 
James L. Brooks (pictured) asked Matt Groening to create a series of animated shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show.

When producer James L. Brooks was working on the television variety show The Tracey Ullman Show, he decided to include small animated sketches before and after the commercial breaks. Having seen one of cartoonist Matt Groening's Life in Hell comic strips, Brooks asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts. Groening initially intended to present an animated version of his Life in Hell series.[22] However, Groening later realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life's work. He therefore chose another approach while waiting in the lobby of Brooks's office for the pitch meeting, hurriedly formulating his version of a dysfunctional family that became the Simpsons.[22][23] He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name, adopting an anagram of the word brat.[22]

The Simpson family first appeared as shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987.[24] Groening submitted only basic sketches to the animators and assumed that the figures would be cleaned up in production. However, the animators merely re-traced his drawings, which led to the crude appearance of the characters in the initial shorts.[22] The animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo,[25][26] with Wes Archer, David Silverman, and Bill Kopp being animators for the first season.[27] The colorist, "Georgie" Gyorgyi Kovacs Peluce (Kovács Györgyike)[28][29][30][31][32][33] made the characters yellow; as Bart, Lisa and Maggie have no hairlines, she felt they would look strange if they were flesh-colored. Groening supported the decision, saying: "Marge is yellow with blue hair? That's hilarious — let's do it!"[27]

In 1989, a team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included the Klasky Csupo animation house. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content.[34] Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching.[35] The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989, with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".[36] "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.[37] In 1992, Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit against Fox, claiming that her show was the source of the series' success. The suit said she should receive a share of the profits of The Simpsons[38]—a claim rejected by the courts.[39]

Executive producers and showrunners

 
Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons

List of showrunners throughout the series' run:

Matt Groening and James L. Brooks have served as executive producers during the show's entire history, and also function as creative consultants. Sam Simon, described by former Simpsons director Brad Bird as "the unsung hero" of the show,[40] served as creative supervisor for the first four seasons. He was constantly at odds with Groening, Brooks and the show's production company Gracie Films and left in 1993.[41] Before leaving, he negotiated a deal that sees him receive a share of the profits every year, and an executive producer credit despite not having worked on the show since 1993,[41][42] at least until his passing in 2015.[43] A more involved position on the show is the showrunner, who acts as head writer and manages the show's production for an entire season.[27]

Writing

Main article: List of The Simpsons writers

The first team of writers, assembled by Sam Simon, consisted of John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, George Meyer, Jeff Martin, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky.[44] Newer Simpsons' writing teams typically consist of sixteen writers who propose episode ideas at the beginning of each December.[45] The main writer of each episode writes the first draft. Group rewriting sessions develop final scripts by adding or removing jokes, inserting scenes, and calling for re-readings of lines by the show's vocal performers.[46] Until 2004,[47] George Meyer, who had developed the show since the first season, was active in these sessions. According to long-time writer Jon Vitti, Meyer usually invented the best lines in a given episode, even though other writers may receive script credits.[46] Each episode takes six months to produce so the show rarely comments on current events.[48]

 
Part of the writing staff of The Simpsons in 1992. Back row, left to right: Mike Mendel, Colin A. B. V. Lewis (partial), Jeff Goldstein, Al Jean (partial), Conan O'Brien, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein, Mike Reiss, Ken Tsumura, George Meyer, John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti (partial), CJ Gibson, and David M. Stern. Front row, left to right: Dee Capelli, Lona Williams, and unknown.

Credited with sixty episodes, John Swartzwelder is the most prolific writer on The Simpsons.[49] One of the best-known former writers is Conan O'Brien, who contributed to several episodes in the early 1990s before replacing David Letterman as host of the talk show Late Night.[50] English comedian Ricky Gervais wrote the episode "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife", becoming the first celebrity to both write and guest star in the same episode.[51] Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, writers of the film Superbad, wrote the episode "Homer the Whopper", with Rogen voicing a character in it.[52]

At the end of 2007, the writers of The Simpsons went on strike together with the other members of the Writers Guild of America, East. The show's writers had joined the guild in 1998.[53]

Voice actors

Main articles: List of The Simpsons cast members, List of The Simpsons guest stars, and Non-English versions of The Simpsons

The Simpsons has six main cast members: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, and Harry Shearer. Castellaneta voices Homer Simpson, Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willie, Mayor Quimby, Barney Gumble, and other adult, male characters.[54] Julie Kavner voices Marge Simpson and Patty and Selma, as well as several minor characters.[54] Castellaneta and Kavner had been a part of The Tracey Ullman Show cast and were given the parts so that new actors would not be needed.[55] Cartwright voices Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum and other children.[54] Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson, is the only cast member who regularly voices only one character, although she occasionally plays other episodic characters.[54] The producers decided to hold casting for the roles of Bart and Lisa. Smith had initially been asked to audition for the role of Bart, but casting director Bonita Pietila believed her voice was too high,[56] so she was given the role of Lisa instead.[57] Cartwright was originally brought in to voice Lisa, but upon arriving at the audition, she found that Lisa was simply described as the "middle child" and at the time did not have much personality. Cartwright became more interested in the role of Bart, who was described as "devious, underachieving, school-hating, irreverent, [and] clever".[58] Groening let her try out for the part instead, and upon hearing her read, gave her the job on the spot.[59] Cartwright is the only one of the six main Simpsons cast members who had been professionally trained in voice acting prior to working on the show.[49] Azaria and Shearer do not voice members of the title family, but play a majority of the male townspeople. Azaria, who has been a part of the main voice cast since the second season in one episode "Old Money" and then perpetually part of the regular main voice cast since the third season, voices recurring characters such as Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and Professor Frink. Shearer provides voices for Mr. Burns, Mr. Smithers, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy and formerly Dr. Hibbert.[54] Every main cast member has won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.[60][61]

With one exception, episode credits list only the voice actors, and not the characters they voice. Both Fox and the production crew wanted to keep their identities secret during the early seasons and, therefore, closed most of the recording sessions while refusing to publish photos of the recording artists.[62] However, the network eventually revealed which roles each actor performed in the episode "Old Money", because the producers said the voice actors should receive credit for their work.[63] In 2003, the cast appeared in an episode of Inside the Actors Studio, doing live performances of their characters' voices.

The six main actors were paid $30,000 per episode until 1998, when they were involved in a pay dispute with Fox. The company threatened to replace them with new actors, even going as far as preparing for casting of new voices, but series creator Groening supported the actors in their action.[64] The issue was soon resolved and, from 1998 to 2004, they were paid $125,000 per episode. The show's revenue continued to rise through syndication and DVD sales, and in April 2004 the main cast stopped appearing for script readings, demanding they be paid $360,000 per episode.[65][66] The strike was resolved a month later[67] and their salaries were increased to something between $250,000[68] and $360,000 per episode.[69] In 2008, production for the twentieth season was put on hold due to new contract negotiations with the voice actors, who wanted a "healthy bump" in salary to an amount close to $500,000 per episode.[69] The negotiations were soon completed, and the actors' salary was raised to $400,000 per episode.[70] Three years later, with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut, the cast members accepted a 30 percent pay cut, down to just over $300,000 per episode.[71]

In addition to the main cast, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Marcia Wallace, Maggie Roswell, and Russi Taylor voice supporting characters.[54] From 1999 to 2002, Roswell's characters were voiced by Marcia Mitzman Gaven. Karl Wiedergott has also appeared in minor roles, but does not voice any recurring characters.[72] Wiedergott left the show in 2010, and since then Chris Edgerly has appeared regularly to voice minor characters. Repeat "special guest" cast members include Albert Brooks, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Joe Mantegna, Maurice LaMarche, and Kelsey Grammer.[73] Following Hartman's death in 1998, the characters he voiced (Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz) were retired;[74] Wallace's character of Edna Krabappel was retired as well after her death in 2013. Following Taylor's death in 2019, her characters (including Sherri, Terri, and Martin Prince) are now voiced by Grey Griffin.[75]

Episodes will quite often feature guest voices from a wide range of professions, including actors, athletes, authors, bands, musicians and scientists. In the earlier seasons, most of the guest stars voiced characters, but eventually more started appearing as themselves. Tony Bennett was the first guest star to appear as himself, appearing briefly in the season two episode "Dancin' Homer".[76] The Simpsons holds the world record for "Most Guest Stars Featured in a Television Series".[77]

The Simpsons has been dubbed into several other languages, including Japanese, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. It is also one of the few programs dubbed in both standard French and Quebec French.[78] The show has been broadcast in Arabic, but due to Islamic customs, numerous aspects of the show have been changed. For example, Homer drinks soda instead of beer and eats Egyptian beef sausages instead of hot dogs. Because of such changes, the Arabized version of the series met with a negative reaction from the lifelong Simpsons fans in the area.[79]

Animation

 
Animation director David Silverman, who helped define the look of the show[27]

Several different U.S. and international studios animate The Simpsons. Throughout the run of the animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, the animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo.[25] With the debut of the series, because of an increased workload, Fox subcontracted production to several local and foreign studios.[25] These are AKOM,[80] Anivision,[81] Rough Draft Studios,[82] USAnimation,[83] and Toonzone Entertainment.[84]

For the first three seasons, Klasky Csupo animated The Simpsons in the United States. In 1992, the show's production company, Gracie Films, switched domestic production to Film Roman,[85] who continued to animate the show until 2016 when they were replaced by Fox Television Animation, which allowed the show to be made more in-house. In Season 14, production switched from traditional cel animation to digital ink and paint.[86] The first episode to experiment with digital coloring was "Radioactive Man" in 1995. Animators used digital ink and paint during production of the season 12 episode "Tennis the Menace", but Gracie Films delayed the regular use of digital ink and paint until two seasons later. The already completed "Tennis the Menace" was broadcast as made.[87]

The production staff at the U.S. animation studio, Film Roman, draws storyboards, designs new characters, backgrounds, props and draws character and background layouts, which in turn become animatics to be screened for the writers at Gracie Films for any changes to be made before the work is shipped overseas. The overseas studios then draw the inbetweens, ink and paint, and render the animation to tape before it is shipped back to the United States to be delivered to Fox three to four months later.[88]

The series began high-definition production in Season 20; the first episode, "Take My Life, Please", aired February 15, 2009. The move to HDTV included a new opening sequence.[89] Matt Groening called it a complicated change because it affected the timing and composition of animation.[90]

Themes

Main articles: Media in The Simpsons, Politics in The Simpsons, and Religion in The Simpsons

The Simpsons uses the standard setup of a situational comedy, or sitcom, as its premise. The series centers on a family and their life in a typical American town,[13] serving as a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle.[91] However, because of its animated nature, The Simpsons' scope is larger than that of a regular sitcom. The town of Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. By having Homer work in a nuclear power plant, the show can comment on the state of the environment.[92] Through Bart and Lisa's days at Springfield Elementary School, the show's writers illustrate pressing or controversial issues in the field of education. The town features a vast array of television channels, which enables the producers to make jokes about the entertainment industry and the press.[93]

Some commentators say the show is political in nature and susceptible to a left-wing bias.[94] Al Jean acknowledged in an interview that "We [the show] are of liberal bent."[95] The writers often evince an appreciation for progressive leanings, but the show makes jokes across the political spectrum.[96] The show portrays government and large corporations as evil entities that take advantage of the common worker.[95] Thus, the writers often portray authority figures in an unflattering or negative light. In The Simpsons, politicians are corrupt, ministers such as Reverend Lovejoy are dismissive to churchgoers, and the local police force is incompetent.[97] Religion also figures as a recurring theme.[98] In times of crisis, the family often turns to God, and the show has dealt with most of the major religions.[99]

Sexuality is often a source of jokes in the series or serves as the theme of certain episodes. Ever since the episode Homer's Phobia, this has included homosexuality. Even though homosexuals are sometimes sources of gags, the series often comments on how American society treats them. In 1990 The Simpsons became the first animated early evening show to depict a kiss between two men in Simpson and Delilah.

Hallmarks

Opening sequence

Main article: The Simpsons opening sequence

The Simpsons' opening sequence is one of the show's most memorable hallmarks. The standard opening has gone through three iterations (a replacement of some shots at the start of the second season, and a brand new sequence when the show switched to high-definition in 2009).[100]

Each has the same basic sequence of events: the camera zooms through cumulus clouds, through the show's title towards the town of Springfield. The camera then follows the members of the family on their way home. Upon entering their house, the Simpsons settle down on their couch to watch television. The original opening was created by David Silverman, and was the first task he did when production began on the show.[101] The series' distinctive theme song was composed by musician Danny Elfman in 1989, after Groening approached him requesting a retro-style piece. This piece has been noted by Elfman as the most popular of his career.[102]

One of the most distinctive aspects of the opening is that three of its elements change from episode to episode: Bart writes different things on the school chalkboard,[101] Lisa plays different solos on her saxophone (or occasionally a different instrument), and different gags accompany the family as they enter their living room to sit on the couch.[103]

Halloween episodes

Main article: Treehouse of Horror
 
Bart Simpson introducing a segment of "Treehouse of Horror IV" in the manner of Rod Serling's Night Gallery

The special Halloween episode has become an annual tradition. "Treehouse of Horror" first broadcast in 1990 as part of season two and established the pattern of three separate, self-contained stories in each Halloween episode.[104] These pieces usually involve the family in some horror, science fiction, or supernatural setting and often parody or pay homage to a famous piece of work in those genres.[105] They always take place outside the normal continuity of the show. Although the Treehouse series is meant to be seen on Halloween, this changed by the 2000s (and again in 2020), when new installments have premiered after Halloween due to Fox's current contract with Major League Baseball's World Series.[106] Prior to 2020 (between 2011 and 2019), every Treehouse of Horror episode had aired in October.

Humor

The show's humor turns on cultural references that cover a wide spectrum of society so that viewers from all generations can enjoy the show. Such references, for example, come from movies, television, music, literature, science, and history.[107] The animators also regularly add jokes or sight gags into the show's background via humorous or incongruous bits of text in signs, newspapers, billboards, and elsewhere. The audience may often not notice the visual jokes in a single viewing. Some are so fleeting that they become apparent only by pausing a video recording of the show or viewing it in slow motion.[108] Kristin Thompson argues that The Simpsons uses a "flurry of cultural references, intentionally inconsistent characterization, and considerable self-reflexivity about television conventions and the status of the programme as a television show."[109]

One of Bart's early hallmarks was his prank calls to Moe's Tavern owner Moe Szyslak in which Bart calls Moe and asks for a gag name. Moe tries to find that person in the bar, but soon realizes it is a prank call and angrily threatens Bart. These calls were apparently based on a series of prank calls known as the Tube Bar recordings, though Groening has denied any causal connection.[110] Moe was based partly on Tube Bar owner Louis "Red" Deutsch, whose often profane responses inspired Moe's violent side.[111] As the series progressed, it became more difficult for the writers to come up with a fake name and to write Moe's angry response, and the pranks were dropped as a regular joke during the fourth season.[112][113] The Simpsons also often includes self-referential humor.[114] The most common form is jokes about Fox Broadcasting.[115] For example, the episode "She Used to Be My Girl" included a scene in which a Fox News Channel van drove down the street while displaying a large "Bush Cheney 2004" banner and playing Queen's "We Are the Champions", in reference to the 2004 U.S. presidential election and claims of conservative bias in Fox News.[116][117]

The show uses catchphrases, and most of the primary and secondary characters have at least one each.[118] Notable expressions include Homer's annoyed grunt "D'oh!", Mr. Burns' "Excellent" and Nelson Muntz's "Ha-ha!" Some of Bart's catchphrases, such as "¡Ay, caramba!", "Don't have a cow, man!" and "Eat my shorts!" appeared on T-shirts in the show's early days.[119] However, Bart rarely used the latter two phrases until after they became popular through the merchandising. The use of many of these catchphrases has declined in recent seasons. The episode "Bart Gets Famous" mocks catchphrase-based humor, as Bart achieves fame on the Krusty the Clown Show solely for saying "I didn't do it."[120]

Purported foreshadowing of actual events

The Simpsons has gained notoriety for jokes that appeared to become reality. Perhaps the most famous example comes from the episode "Bart to the Future", which mentions billionaire Donald Trump having been President of the United States at one time and leaving the nation broke. The episode first aired in 2000, sixteen years before Trump (who at the time was exploring a presidential run) was elected.[121] Another episode, "When You Dish Upon a Star", lampooned 20th Century Fox as a division of The Walt Disney Company. Nineteen years later, Disney purchased Fox.[122] Other examples purported as The Simpsons predicting the future include the introduction of the Smartwatch, video chat services, autocorrection technology, Richard Branson's spaceflight,[123][124] and Lady Gaga's acrobatic performance at the Super Bowl LI halftime show.[125]

Fact-checking sources such as Snopes have debunked many of these claims, saying that the show's extensive run means "a lot of jokes, and a lot of opportunities for coincidences to appear" and "most of these “predictions" have rather simple and mundane explanations".[126] For example, the device shown on The Simpsons with autocorrection is an Apple Newton, a real 1993 device notorious for its poor handwriting recognition.[127] Technologically advanced watches have appeared in numerous works of fiction, decades before The Simpsons.[128]

Influence and legacy

Idioms

A number of neologisms that originated on The Simpsons have entered popular vernacular.[129][130] Mark Liberman, director of the Linguistic Data Consortium, remarked, "The Simpsons has apparently taken over from Shakespeare and the Bible as our culture's greatest source of idioms, catchphrases and sundry other textual allusions."[130] The most famous catchphrase is Homer's annoyed grunt: "D'oh!" So ubiquitous is the expression that it is now listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, but without the apostrophe.[131] Dan Castellaneta says he borrowed the phrase from James Finlayson, an actor in many Laurel and Hardy comedies, who pronounced it in a more elongated and whining tone. The staff of The Simpsons told Castellaneta to shorten the noise, and it went on to become the well-known exclamation in the television series.[132]

Groundskeeper Willie's description of the French as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" was used by National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg in 2003, after France's opposition to the proposed invasion of Iraq. The phrase quickly spread to other journalists.[130][133] "Cromulent" and "embiggen", words used in "Lisa the Iconoclast", have since appeared in the Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon,[134] and scientific journals respectively.[130][135] "Kwyjibo", a fake Scrabble word invented by Bart in "Bart the Genius", was used as one of the aliases of the creator of the Melissa worm.[136] "I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords", was used by Kent Brockman in "Deep Space Homer" and has become a snowclone,[137] with variants of the utterance used to express obsequious submission. It has been used in media, such as New Scientist magazine.[138] The dismissive term "Meh", believed to have been popularized by the show,[130][139][140] entered the Collins English Dictionary in 2008.[141] Other words credited as stemming from the show include "yoink" and "craptacular".[130]

The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations includes several quotations from the show. As well as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys", Homer's lines, "Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is never try", from "Burns' Heir" (season five, 1994) as well as "Kids are the best, Apu. You can teach them to hate the things you hate. And they practically raise themselves, what with the Internet and all", from "Eight Misbehavin'" (season 11, 1999), entered the dictionary in August 2007.[142]

Many quotes/scenes have become popular Internet memes, including Jasper Beardley's quote "That's a paddlin'" from "The PTA Disbands" (season 6, 1995) and "Steamed Hams" from "22 Short Films About Springfield" (season 7, 1996).

Television

See also: LGBTQ representation in The Simpsons

The Simpsons was the first successful animated program in American prime time since Wait Till Your Father Gets Home in the 1970s.[143] During most of the 1980s, US pundits considered animated shows as appropriate only for children, and animating a show was too expensive to achieve a quality suitable for prime-time television. The Simpsons changed this perception,[25] initially leading to a short period where networks attempted to recreate prime-time cartoon success with shows like Capitol Critters, Fish Police, and Family Dog, which were expensive and unsuccessful.[144] The Simpsons' use of Korean animation studios for tweening, coloring, and filming made the episodes cheaper. The success of The Simpsons and the lower production cost prompted US television networks to take chances on other adult animated series.[25] This development led US producers to a 1990s boom in new, animated prime-time shows for adults, such as Beavis and Butt-Head, South Park, Family Guy, King of the Hill, Futurama (which was created by Matt Groening), and The Critic (which was also produced by Gracie Films).[25] For Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, "The Simpsons created an audience for prime-time animation that had not been there for many, many years ... As far as I'm concerned, they basically re-invented the wheel. They created what is in many ways—you could classify it as—a wholly new medium."[145]

The Simpsons has had crossovers with four other shows. In the episode "A Star Is Burns", Marge invites Jay Sherman, the main character of The Critic, to be a judge for a film festival in Springfield. Matt Groening had his name removed from the episode since he had no involvement with The Critic.[146] South Park later paid homage to The Simpsons with the episode "Simpsons Already Did It".[147] In "Simpsorama", the Planet Express crew from Futurama come to Springfield in the present to prevent the Simpsons from destroying the future.[148] In the Family Guy episode "The Simpsons Guy", the Griffins visit Springfield and meet the Simpsons.[149]

The Simpsons has also influenced live-action shows like Malcolm in the Middle, which featured the use of sight gags and did not use a laugh track unlike most sitcoms.[150][151] Malcolm in the Middle debuted January 9, 2000, in the time slot after The Simpsons. Ricky Gervais called The Simpsons an influence on The Office,[152] and fellow British sitcom Spaced was, according to its director Edgar Wright, "an attempt to do a live-action The Simpsons."[153] In Georgia, the animated television sitcom The Samsonadzes, launched in November 2009, has been noted for its very strong resemblance with The Simpsons, which its creator Shalva Ramishvili has acknowledged.[154][155]

Release

Broadcast

Main article: List of The Simpsons episodes
Season No. of
episodes 		Originally aired Viewership
Season premiere Season finale Time slot (ET) Avg. viewers
(in millions) 		Most watched episode
Viewers
(millions) 		Episode title
1 1989–90 13 December 17, 1989 May 13, 1990 Sunday 8:30 pm 27.8 33.5 "Life on the Fast Lane"
2 1990–91 22 October 11, 1990 July 11, 1991 Thursday 8:00 pm 24.4 33.6 "Bart Gets an 'F'"
3 1991–92 24 September 19, 1991 August 27, 1992 21.8 25.5 "Colonel Homer"
4 1992–93 22 September 24, 1992 May 13, 1993 22.4 28.6 "Lisa's First Word"
5 1993–94 22 September 30, 1993 May 19, 1994 18.9 24.0 "Treehouse of Horror IV"
6 1994–95 25 September 4, 1994 May 21, 1995 Sunday 8:00 pm 15.6 22.2 "Treehouse of Horror V"
7 1995–96 25 September 17, 1995 May 19, 1996 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–24)
Sunday 8:30 pm
(Episode 25) 		15.1 19.7 "Treehouse of Horror VI"
8 1996–97 25 October 27, 1996 May 18, 1997 Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 1–3)
Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 4–12 & 14–25)
Friday 8:00 pm (Episode 13)[156]		 14.5 20.9 "The Springfield Files"
9 1997–98 25 September 21, 1997 May 17, 1998 Sunday 8:00 pm 15.3 19.8 "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons"
10 1998–99 23 August 23, 1998 May 16, 1999 13.5 15.5 "Maximum Homerdrive"
11 1999–2000 22 September 26, 1999 May 21, 2000 8.8 18.4 "The Mansion Family"
12 2000–01 21 November 1, 2000 May 20, 2001 15.5 18.6 "Worst Episode Ever"
13 2001–02 22 November 6, 2001 May 22, 2002 Tuesday 8:30 pm (Episode 1)
Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 2–20)
Sunday 7:30 pm (Episode 21)
Wednesday 8:00 pm (Episode 22) 		12.5 14.9 "The Parent Rap"
14 2002–03 22 November 3, 2002 May 18, 2003 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–11, 13–21)
Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 12, 22) 		14.4 22.1 "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can"
15 2003–04 22 November 2, 2003 May 23, 2004 Sunday 8:00 pm 11.0 16.3 "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot"
16 2004–05 21 November 7, 2004 May 15, 2005 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–7, 9–16, 18, 20)
Sunday 10:30 pm (Episode 8)
Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 17, 19, 21) 		10.2 23.07 "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass"
17 2005–06 22 September 11, 2005 May 21, 2006 Sunday 8:00 pm 9.55 11.63 "Treehouse of Horror XVI"
18 2006–07 22 September 10, 2006 May 20, 2007 9.15 13.90 "The Wife Aquatic"
19 2007–08 20 September 23, 2007 May 18, 2008 8.37 11.7 "Treehouse of Horror XVIII"
20 2008–09 21 September 28, 2008 May 17, 2009 7.1 12.4 "Treehouse of Horror XIX"
21 2009–10 23 September 27, 2009 May 23, 2010 7.1 14.62 "Once Upon a Time in Springfield"
22 2010–11 22 September 26, 2010 May 22, 2011 7.09 12.6 "Moms I'd Like to Forget"
23 2011–12 22 September 25, 2011 May 20, 2012 6.15[157] 11.48 "The D'oh-cial Network"
24 2012–13 22 September 30, 2012 May 19, 2013 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1-21)
Sunday 8:30 pm (Episode 22) 		5.41[158] 8.97 "Homer Goes to Prep School"
25 2013–14 22 September 29, 2013 May 18, 2014 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–11 & 13–22)
Sunday 7:30 pm (Episode 12) 		5.02[159] 12.04 "Steal This Episode"
26 2014–15 22 September 28, 2014 May 17, 2015 Sunday 8:00 pm 5.61[160] 10.62 "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner"
27 2015–16 22 September 27, 2015 May 22, 2016 4.0[161] 8.33 "Teenage Mutant Milk-Caused Hurdles"
28 2016–17 22 September 25, 2016 May 21, 2017 (2017-05-21) 4.80[162] 8.19 "Pork and Burns"
29 2017–18 21 October 1, 2017 May 20, 2018 4.07[163] 8.04 "Frink Gets Testy"
30 2018–19 23 September 30, 2018 May 12, 2019 3.10[164] 8.20 "The Girl on the Bus"
31 2019–20 22 September 29, 2019 May 17, 2020 2.58[165] 5.63 "Go Big or Go Homer"
32 2020–21 22 September 27, 2020 May 23, 2021 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–10 & 12–22)
Sunday 9:00 pm
(Episode 11) 		2.32[166] 4.93 "Treehouse of Horror XXXI"
33 2021–22 22 September 26, 2021 May 22, 2022 2.25[167] 3.97 "Portrait of a Lackey on Fire"
34 2022–23 22 September 25, 2022 TBA Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1-8 & 10-)
Sunday 8:30 pm (Episode 9) 		TBA TBA TBA

Syndication

The cable television network FXX, a sibling of 20th Television and formerly the Fox network, has exclusive cable and digital syndication rights for The Simpsons. Original contracts had previously stated that syndication rights for The Simpsons would not be sold to cable until the series conclusion, at a time when cable syndication deals were highly rare. The series has been syndicated to local broadcast stations in nearly all markets throughout the United States since September 1994.[168]

FXX premiered The Simpsons on their network on August 21, 2014, by starting a twelve-day marathon which featured the first 552 episodes (every single episode that had already been released at the time) aired chronologically, including The Simpsons Movie, which FX Networks had already owned the rights to air. It was the longest continuous marathon in the history of television (until VH1 Classic aired a 433-hour, nineteen-day, marathon of Saturday Night Live in 2015; celebrating that program's 40th anniversary).[169][170] The first day of the marathon was the highest rated broadcast day in the history of the network so far, the ratings more than tripled those of regular prime time programming for FXX.[171] Ratings during the first six nights of the marathon grew night after night, with the network ranking within the top 5 networks in basic cable each night.[172] In Australia, a marathon of every episode of the show (at the time) aired from December 16, 2019, to January 5, 2020, on Fox8 (a cable network operated on pay TV provider Foxtel and a corporate sibling to the American Fox network).[173]

After Disney acquired both 20th Television and FX Networks, it was announced that The Simpsons would air on the company's Freeform channel starting October 2, 2019.[174]

Streaming and digital sell-through

On October 21, 2014, a digital service courtesy of the FXNOW app, called Simpsons World, launched with every episode of the series accessible to authenticated FX subscribers, and is available on game consoles such as Xbox One, streaming devices such as Roku and Apple TV, and online via web browser.[175][176] There was early criticism of both wrong aspect ratios for earlier episodes and the length of commercial breaks on the streaming service, but that problem was soon amended with fewer commercial breaks during individual episodes.[177] Later it was announced that Simpsons World would now let users watch all of the SD episodes in their original format.[178] Simpsons World was discontinued after the launch of Disney+ on November 12, 2019, where the series streams exclusively.[179][180] Initially, the series was only available cropped to 16:9 without the option to view the original 4:3 versions, reigniting criticisms of cropping old episodes.[181] In response, Disney announced that "in early 2020, Disney+ will make the first 19 seasons (and some episodes from season 20) of The Simpsons available in their original 4:3 aspect ratio, giving subscribers a choice of how they prefer to view the popular series."[182][183] On May 28, 2020, Disney+ made the first 19 seasons, along with some episodes from season 20, of The Simpsons available in both 16:9 and the original 4:3 aspect ratio.[184] Season 31 came to Disney+ on October 2, 2020, with Hulu streaming the latest episodes of season 31 the next day. Season 32 came to Disney+ on September 29, 2021.

The season 3 premiere "Stark Raving Dad", which features Michael Jackson as the voice of Leon Kompowsky, was pulled out of rotation in 2019 by Matt Groening, James L. Brooks and Al Jean after HBO aired the documentary Leaving Neverland, in which two men share details into how Jackson allegedly abused them as children.[185][186] It is therefore unavailable on Disney+. However, the episode is still available on The Complete Third Season DVD box set released on August 26, 2003.[187]

In July 2017, all episodes from seasons 4 to 19 were made available for purchase on the iTunes Store in Canada.[188]

Reception and achievements

Early success

The Simpsons was the Fox network's first television series to rank among a season's top 30 highest-rated shows.[189] In 1990, Bart quickly became one of the most popular characters on television in what was termed "Bartmania".[190][191][192][193] He became the most prevalent Simpsons character on memorabilia, such as T-shirts. In the early 1990s, millions of T-shirts featuring Bart were sold;[194] as many as one million were sold on some days.[195] Believing Bart to be a bad role model, several American public schools banned T-shirts featuring Bart next to captions such as "I'm Bart Simpson. Who the hell are you?" and "Underachiever ('And proud of it, man!')".[196][197][198] The Simpsons merchandise sold well and generated $2 billion in revenue during the first 14 months of sales.[196] Because of his popularity, Bart was often the most promoted member of the Simpson family in advertisements for the show, even for episodes in which he was not involved in the main plot.[199]

Due to the show's success, over the summer of 1990 the Fox Network decided to switch The Simpsons' time slot from 8:00 p.m. ET on Sunday night to the same time on Thursday, where it competed with The Cosby Show on NBC, the number one show at the time.[200][201] Through the summer, several news outlets published stories about the supposed "Bill vs. Bart" rivalry.[195][200] "Bart Gets an 'F'" (season two, 1990) was the first episode to air against The Cosby Show, and it received a lower Nielsen ratings, tying for eighth behind The Cosby Show, which had an 18.5 rating. The rating is based on the number of household televisions that were tuned into the show, but Nielsen Media Research estimated that 33.6 million viewers watched the episode, making it the number one show in terms of actual viewers that week. At the time, it was the most watched episode in the history of the Fox Network,[202] and it is still the highest rated episode in the history of The Simpsons.[203] The show moved back to its Sunday slot in 1994 and has remained there ever since.[204]

The Simpsons has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics, and it has been noted for being described as "the most irreverent and unapologetic show on the air."[205] In a 1990 review of the show, Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly described it as "the American family at its most complicated, drawn as simple cartoons. It's this neat paradox that makes millions of people turn away from the three big networks on Sunday nights to concentrate on The Simpsons."[206] Tucker also described the show as a "pop-cultural phenomenon, a prime-time cartoon show that appeals to the entire family."[207]

Run length achievements

On February 9, 1997, The Simpsons surpassed The Flintstones with the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" as the longest-running prime-time animated series in the United States.[208] In 2004, The Simpsons replaced The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952 to 1966) as the longest-running sitcom (animated or live action) in the United States in terms of the number of years airing.[209] In 2009, The Simpsons surpassed The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet's record of 435 episodes and is now recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's longest running sitcom (in terms of episode count).[210][211] In October 2004, Scooby-Doo briefly overtook The Simpsons as the American animated show with the highest number of episodes (albeit under several different iterations).[212] However, network executives in April 2005 again cancelled Scooby-Doo, which finished with 371 episodes, and The Simpsons reclaimed the title with 378 episodes at the end of their seventeenth season.[213] In May 2007, The Simpsons reached their 400th episode at the end of the eighteenth season. While The Simpsons has the record for the number of episodes by an American animated show, other animated series have surpassed The Simpsons.[214] For example, the Japanese anime series Sazae-san has over 2,000 episodes (7,000+ segments) to its credit.[214]

In 2009, Fox began a year-long celebration of the show titled "Best. 20 Years. Ever." to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the premiere of The Simpsons. One of the first parts of the celebration is the "Unleash Your Yellow" contest in which entrants must design a poster for the show.[215] The celebration ended on January 10, 2010 (almost 20 years after "Bart the Genius" aired on January 14, 1990), with The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice!, a documentary special by documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock that examines the "cultural phenomenon of The Simpsons".[216][217]

As of the twenty-first season (2009–2010), The Simpsons became the longest-running American scripted primetime television series, having surpassed the 1955–1975 run of Gunsmoke. On April 29, 2018, The Simpsons also surpassed Gunsmoke's 635-episode count with the episode "Forgive and Regret."[209][218]

The Simpsons is both the longest-running and the highest ranking animated series to feature on TV Time's top 50 most followed TV shows ever.[219]

On February 6, 2019, it was announced that The Simpsons has been renewed for seasons 31 and 32.[220]

On March 3, 2021, it was announced that The Simpsons was renewed for seasons 33 and 34.[221]

Awards and honors

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons
 
The Simpsons has been awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 34 Primetime Emmy Awards,[77] 34 Annie Awards[222] and a Peabody Award.[223] In a 1999 issue celebrating the 20th century's greatest achievements in arts and entertainment, Time magazine named The Simpsons the century's best television series.[224] In that same issue, Time included Bart Simpson in the Time 100, the publication's list of the century's 100 most influential people.[225] Bart was the only fictional character on the list. On January 14, 2000, the Simpsons were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[226] Also in 2000, Entertainment Weekly magazine TV critic Ken Tucker named The Simpsons the greatest television show of the 1990s. Furthermore, viewers of the UK television channel Channel 4 have voted The Simpsons at the top of two polls: 2001's 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows,[227] and 2005's The 100 Greatest Cartoons,[228] with Homer Simpson voted into first place in 2001's 100 Greatest TV Characters.[229] Homer also placed ninth on Entertainment Weekly's list of the "50 Greatest TV icons".[230] In 2002, The Simpsons ranked No. 8 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time,[231] and was ranked the No. 6 cult show in 2004.[232] In 2007, it moved to No. 8 on TV Guide's cult shows list[233] and was included in Time's list of the "100 Best TV Shows of All Time".[234] In 2008 the show was placed in first on Entertainment Weekly's "Top 100 Shows of the Past 25 Years".[235] Empire named it the greatest TV show of all time.[236] In 2010, Entertainment Weekly named Homer "the greatest character of the last 20 years",[237] while in 2013 the Writers Guild of America listed The Simpsons as the 11th "best written" series in television history.[238] In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Simpsons as the greatest TV cartoon of all time[239] and the tenth greatest show of all time.[240] A 2015 The Hollywood Reporter survey of 2,800 actors, producers, directors, and other industry people named it as their No. 10 favorite show.[241] In 2015, British newspaper The Telegraph named The Simpsons as one of the 10 best TV sitcoms of all time.[242] Television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz ranked The Simpsons as the greatest American TV series of all time in their 2016 book TV (The Book).[243] In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked The Simpsons as the second-greatest TV show of all time.[244]

Criticism

Controversy

Bart's rebellious, bad boy nature, which underlies his misbehavior and rarely leads to any punishment, led some people to characterize him as a poor role model for children.[245][246] In schools, educators claimed that Bart was a "threat to learning" because of his "underachiever and proud of it" attitude and negative attitude regarding his education.[247] Others described him as "egotistical, aggressive and mean-spirited".[248] In a 1991 interview, Bill Cosby described Bart as a bad role model for children, calling him "angry, confused, frustrated". In response, Matt Groening said, "That sums up Bart, all right. Most people are in a struggle to be normal [and] he thinks normal is very boring, and does things that others just wished they dare do."[249] On January 27, 1992, then-President George H. W. Bush said, "We are going to keep on trying to strengthen the American family, to make American families a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons."[196] The writers rushed out a tongue-in-cheek reply in the form of a short segment which aired three days later before a rerun of "Stark Raving Dad" in which Bart replied, "Hey, we're just like the Waltons. We're praying for an end to the Depression, too."[250][251]

The show also received criticism from the nuclear power industry in its early years, with its portrayal of the evil boss Mr. Burns and "bungling idiot" employees (including Homer Simpson himself) with their lack of safety and security.[252] In a letter to the nuclear power-backed U.S. Council for Energy Awareness, producer Sam Simon apologized, stating, "I apologize that the Simpsons have offended a lot of people in the energy industry. I agree with you that in real life, Homer Simpson would not be employed at a nuclear power plant. On the other hand, he probably wouldn't be employed anywhere."[252]

Various episodes of the show have generated controversy. The Simpsons visit Australia in "Bart vs. Australia" (season six, 1995) and Brazil in "Blame It on Lisa" (season 13, 2002) and both episodes generated controversy and negative reaction in the visited countries.[253] In the latter case, Rio de Janeiro's tourist board—which claimed that the city was portrayed as having rampant street crime, kidnappings, slums, and monkey and rat infestations—went so far as to threaten Fox with legal action.[254] Groening was a fierce and vocal critic of the episode "A Star Is Burns" (season six, 1995) which featured a crossover with The Critic. He felt that it was just an advertisement for The Critic, and that people would incorrectly associate the show with him. When he was unsuccessful in getting the episode pulled, he had his name removed from the credits and went public with his concerns, openly criticizing James L. Brooks and saying the episode "violates the Simpsons' universe." In response, Brooks said, "I am furious with Matt, ... he's allowed his opinion, but airing this publicly in the press is going too far. ... his behavior right now is rotten."[146][255]

"The Principal and the Pauper" (season nine, 1997) is one of the most controversial episodes of The Simpsons. Many fans and critics reacted negatively to the revelation that Seymour Skinner, a recurring character since the first season, was an impostor. The episode has been criticized by Groening and by Harry Shearer, who provides the voice of Skinner. In a 2001 interview, Shearer recalled that after reading the script, he told the writers, "That's so wrong. You're taking something that an audience has built eight years or nine years of investment in and just tossed it in the trash can for no good reason, for a story we've done before with other characters. It's so arbitrary and gratuitous, and it's disrespectful to the audience."[256]

Bans

The show has reportedly been taken off the air in several countries. China banned it from prime-time television in August 2006, "in an effort to protect China's struggling animation studios."[257] In 2008, Venezuela barred the show from airing on morning television as it was deemed "unsuitable for children".[258] The same year, several Russian Pentecostal churches demanded that The Simpsons, South Park and some other Western cartoons be removed from broadcast schedules "for propaganda of various vices" and the broadcaster's license to be revoked. However, a court decision later dismissed this request.[259]

Perceived decline in quality

Further information: Historiography of The Simpsons § Arguments for decline in quality

Critics' reviews of early Simpsons episodes praised the show for its sassy humor, wit, realism, and intelligence.[35][260] However, in the late 1990s, around the airing of season 10, the tone and emphasis of the show began to change. Some critics started calling the show "tired".[261] By 2000, some long-term fans had become disillusioned with the show, and pointed to its shift from character-driven plots to what they perceived as an overemphasis on zany antics.[262][263][264] Jim Schembri of The Sydney Morning Herald attributed the decline in quality to an abandonment of character-driven storylines in favor of celebrity cameo appearances and references to popular culture. Schembri wrote in 2011: "The central tragedy of The Simpsons is that it has gone from commanding attention to merely being attention-seeking. It began by proving that cartoon characters don't have to be caricatures; they can be invested with real emotions. Now the show has in essence fermented into a limp parody of itself. Memorable story arcs have been sacrificed for the sake of celebrity walk-ons and punchline-hungry dialogue."[265]

In 2010, the BBC noted "the common consensus is that The Simpsons' golden era ended after season nine",[266] and Todd Leopold of CNN, in an article looking at its perceived decline, stated "for many fans ... the glory days are long past."[264] Similarly, Tyler Wilson of Coeur d'Alene Press has referred to seasons one to nine as the show's "golden age",[267] and Ian Nathan of Empire described the show's classic era as being "say, the first ten seasons."[268] Jon Heacock of LucidWorks stated that "for the first ten years [seasons], the show was consistently at the top of its game", with "so many moments, quotations, and references – both epic and obscure – that helped turn the Simpson family into the cultural icons that they remain to this day."[269]

Mike Scully, who was showrunner during seasons nine through twelve, has been the subject of criticism.[270][271] Chris Suellentrop of Slate wrote that "under Scully's tenure, The Simpsons became, well, a cartoon ... Episodes that once would have ended with Homer and Marge bicycling into the sunset now end with Homer blowing a tranquilizer dart into Marge's neck. The show's still funny, but it hasn't been touching in years."[270] When asked in 2007 how the series' longevity is sustained, Scully joked: "Lower your quality standards. Once you've done that you can go on forever."[272]

Al Jean, who was showrunner during seasons thirteen through thirty-three,[273] has also been the subject of criticism, with some arguing that the show has continued to decline in quality under his tenure. Former writers have complained that under Jean, the show is "on auto-pilot", "too sentimental", and the episodes are "just being cranked out." Some critics believe that the show has "entered a steady decline under Jean and is no longer really funny."[274] John Ortved, author of The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History, characterized the Jean era as "toothless",[275] and criticized what he perceived as the show's increase in social and political commentary.[276] Jean responded: "Well, it's possible that we've declined. But honestly, I've been here the whole time and I do remember in season two people saying, 'It's gone downhill.' If we'd listened to that then we would have stopped after episode 13. I'm glad we didn't."[277]

In 2004, cast member Harry Shearer criticized what he perceived as the show's declining quality: "I rate the last three seasons as among the worst, so season four looks very good to me now."[278] Cast member Dan Castellaneta responded: "I don't agree, ... I think Harry's issue is that the show isn't as grounded as it was in the first three or four seasons, that it's gotten crazy or a little more madcap. I think it organically changes to stay fresh."[279] Also in 2004 author Douglas Coupland described claims of declining quality in the series as "hogwash", saying "The Simpsons hasn't fumbled the ball in fourteen years, it's hardly likely to fumble it now."[280] In an April 2006 interview, Groening said: "I honestly don't see any end in sight. I think it's possible that the show will get too financially cumbersome ... but right now, the show is creatively, I think, as good or better than it's ever been. The animation is incredibly detailed and imaginative, the stories do things that we haven't done before, so creatively there's no reason to quit."[16]

In 2016, popular culture writer Anna Leszkiewicz suggested that even though The Simpsons still holds cultural relevance, “contemporary appeal” is only for the “first ten or so seasons,” with recent episodes only garnering mainstream attention when a favorite character from the golden era is killed off, or when new information and shock twists are given for old characters.[281] The series' ratings have also declined; while the first season enjoyed an average of 13.4 million viewing households per episode in the U.S.,[189] the twenty-first season had an average of 7.2 million viewers.[282]

Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz argued in their 2016 book titled TV (The Book) that the peak of The Simpsons are "roughly seasons [three through twelve]", and that despite the decline, episodes from the later seasons such as "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" and "Holidays of Future Passed" could be considered on par with the earlier classic episodes, further stating that "even if you want to call the show today a thin shadow of its former self, think about how mind-boggingly great its former self had to be for so-diminished a version to be watchable at all."[283][284]

In 2020, Uproxx writer Josh Kurp stated that while he agrees with the sentiment that The Simpsons is not as good as it used to be, it is because "it was working at a level of comedy and characterization that no show ever has." He felt there were still many reasons to watch the series, as it was "still capable of quality television, and even the occasional new classic" and the fact that the show was willing to experiment, giving examples such as bringing on guest animators like Don Hertzfeldt and Sylvain Chomet to produce couch gags, and guest writers like Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Pete Holmes and Megan Amram to write episodes.[285] In the season 32 episode, "I, Carumbus", the show itself makes a nod to these concerns in its credits gag where the god Jupiter notes that "It definitely feels like they're wrapping it up ... any day now."[286]

In a 2021 interview with NME, Jean was quoted as saying, "To people who say The Simpsons isn't as good as it used to be, I would say I think the world isn't as good as it used to be. But we're declining at a slower rate".[287]

Race controversy

Further information: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon § Accusations of racial stereotyping

The stereotypical nature of the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon has been the subject of controversy. Indian-American comedian Hari Kondabolu stated in his 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu that as a child he was a fan of The Simpsons and liked Apu, but he now finds the character's stereotypical nature troublesome. Defenders of the character responded that the show is built on comical stereotypes, with creator Matt Groening saying, "that's the nature of cartooning."[288] He added that he was "proud of what we do on the show", and "it's a time in our culture where people love to pretend they're offended".[289] In response to the controversy, Apu's voice actor, Hank Azaria, said he was willing to step aside from his role as Apu: "The most important thing is to listen to South Asian people, Indian people in this country when they talk about what they feel and how they think about this character."[290] In February 2020, he confirmed that he would no longer voice Apu. Groening stated at the same time that the character would remain in the show.

The criticisms were referenced in the season 29 episode "No Good Read Goes Unpunished", when Lisa breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience by saying, "Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?" to which Marge replies, "Some things will be addressed at a later date." Lisa adds, "If at all." This reference was clarified by the fact that there was a framed photo of Apu with the caption on the photo saying "Don't have a cow, Apu", a play on Bart's catchphrase "Don't have a cow, man," as well as the fact that Hindus do not eat cows as they are considered sacred. In October 2018, it was reported that Apu would be written out of the show,[291] which Groening denied.[292]

On June 26, 2020, in light of the various Black Lives Matter protests, Fox announced that recurring characters of color (such as Carl Carlson and Dr. Hibbert, among others) will no longer be voiced by white actors.[293] Beginning with season 32, Carl, a black character originally voiced by Azaria, is now voiced by black actor Alex Désert.[294] In addition, Bumblebee Man, a Spanish-speaking Latino character also originally voiced by Azaria, is now voiced by Mexican-American actor Eric Lopez,[295] and Dr. Hibbert, a black character originally voiced by Harry Shearer, is now voiced by black actor Kevin Michael Richardson.[296]

Other media

Main article: The Simpsons (franchise)

Comic books

Main article: List of The Simpsons comics

Numerous Simpson-related comic books have been released over the years. So far, nine comic book series have been published by Bongo Comics since 1993.[297] The first comic strips based on The Simpsons appeared in 1991 in the magazine Simpsons Illustrated, which was a companion magazine to the show.[298] The comic strips were popular and a one-shot comic book titled Simpsons Comics and Stories, containing four different stories, was released in 1993 for the fans.[299] The book was a success and due to this, the creator of The Simpsons, Matt Groening, and his companions Bill Morrison, Mike Rote, Steve Vance and Cindy Vance created the publishing company Bongo Comics.[299] Issues of Simpsons Comics, Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror and Bart Simpson have been collected and reprinted in trade paperbacks in the United States by HarperCollins.[300][301][302]

Film

Main article: The Simpsons Movie
 
A Seattle 7-Eleven store transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart as part of a promotion for The Simpsons Movie

20th Century Fox and Gracie Films produced The Simpsons Movie, an animated film that was released on July 27, 2007.[303] The film was directed by long-time Simpsons producer David Silverman and written by a team of Simpsons writers comprising Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, Al Jean, George Meyer, Mike Reiss, John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, David Mirkin, Mike Scully, Matt Selman, and Ian Maxtone-Graham.[303] Production of the film occurred alongside continued writing of the series despite long-time claims by those involved in the show that a film would enter production only after the series had concluded.[303] There had been talk of a possible feature-length Simpsons film ever since the early seasons of the series. James L. Brooks originally thought that the story of the episode "Kamp Krusty" was suitable for a film, but he encountered difficulties in trying to expand the script to feature-length.[304] For a long time, difficulties such as lack of a suitable story and an already fully engaged crew of writers delayed the project.[16]

On August 10, 2018, 20th Century Fox announced that a sequel is in development.[305]

Music

Main article: The Simpsons discography

Collections of original music featured in the series have been released on the albums Songs in the Key of Springfield, Go Simpsonic with The Simpsons and The Simpsons: Testify.[306] Several songs have been recorded with the purpose of a single or album release and have not been featured on the show. The album The Simpsons Sing the Blues was released in September 1990 and was a success, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard 200[307] and becoming certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.[308] The first single from the album was the pop rap song "Do the Bartman", performed by Nancy Cartwright and released on November 20, 1990. The song was written by Michael Jackson, although he did not receive any credit.[309] The Yellow Album was released in 1998, but received poor reception and did not chart in any country.[310][311][312]

The Simpsons Ride

Main article: The Simpsons Ride

In 2007, it was officially announced that The Simpsons Ride, a simulator ride, would be implemented into the Universal Studios Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood.[313] It officially opened May 15, 2008, in Florida[314] and May 19, 2008, in Hollywood.[315] In the ride, patrons are introduced to a cartoon theme park called Krustyland built by Krusty the Clown. However, Sideshow Bob is loose from prison to get revenge on Krusty and the Simpson family.[316] It features more than 24 regular characters from The Simpsons and features the voices of the regular cast members, as well as Pamela Hayden, Russi Taylor and Kelsey Grammer.[317] Harry Shearer did not participate in the ride, so none of his characters have vocal parts.[318]

Video games

Further information: List of The Simpsons video games

Numerous video games based on the show have been produced. Some of the early games include Konami's arcade game The Simpsons (1991) and Acclaim Entertainment's The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants (1991).[319][320] More modern games include The Simpsons: Road Rage (2001), The Simpsons: Hit & Run (2003) and The Simpsons Game (2007).[321][322][323] Electronic Arts, which produced The Simpsons Game, has owned the exclusive rights to create video games based on the show since 2005.[324] In 2010, they released a game called The Simpsons Arcade for iOS.[325] Another EA-produced mobile game, Tapped Out, was released in 2012 for iOS users, then in 2013 for Android and Kindle users.[326][327][328] Two Simpsons pinball machines have been produced: one that was available briefly after the first season, and another in 2007, both out of production.[329]

Merchandise

See also: List of The Simpsons books and List of The Simpsons home video releases

The popularity of The Simpsons has made it a billion-dollar merchandising industry.[196] The title family and supporting characters appear on everything from T-shirts to posters. The Simpsons has been used as a theme for special editions of well-known board games, including Clue, Scrabble, Monopoly, Operation, and The Game of Life, as well as the trivia games What Would Homer Do? and Simpsons Jeopardy!. Several card games such as trump cards and The Simpsons Trading Card Game have also been released. Many official or unofficial Simpsons books such as episode guides have been published. Many episodes of the show have been released on DVD and VHS over the years. When the first season DVD was released in 2001, it quickly became the best-selling television DVD in history, although it was later overtaken by the first season of Chappelle's Show.[330] In particular, seasons one through seventeen were released on DVD for 13 years between September 2001 to December 2014 in the U.S./Canada (Region 1), Europe (Region 2), and Australia/New Zealand/Latin America (Region 4). However, on April 8, 2015, Al Jean announced that the Season 17 DVD would be the last one ever produced, leaving the collection from Seasons 1 to 17, Season 20 (released out of order in 2010), with Seasons 18, 19, and 21 onwards unreleased.[331][332] Jean also stated that the deleted scenes and commentaries would try to be released to the Simpsons World app, and that they were pushing for Simpsons World to be expanded outside of the U.S.[332] Two years later, however, on July 22, 2017, it was announced that Season 18 would be released on December 5, 2017, on DVD.[333] Another two years later, on July 20, 2019, it was announced that Season 19 would be released on December 3, 2019, on DVD.[334]

In 2003, about 500 companies around the world were licensed to use Simpsons characters in their advertising.[335] As a promotion for The Simpsons Movie, twelve 7-Eleven stores were transformed into Kwik-E-Marts and sold The Simpsons related products. These included "Buzz Cola", "Krusty-O" cereal, pink doughnuts with sprinkles, and "Squishees".[336]

In 2008, consumers around the world spent $750 million on merchandise related to The Simpsons, with half of the amount originating from the United States. By 2009, 20th Century Fox had greatly increased merchandising efforts.[337] On April 9, 2009, the United States Postal Service unveiled a series of five 44-cent stamps featuring Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, to commemorate the show's twentieth anniversary.[338] The Simpsons is the first television series still in production to receive this recognition.[339][340] The stamps, designed by Matt Groening, were made available for purchase on May 7, 2009.[341] Approximately one billion were printed, but only 318 million were sold, costing the Postal Service $1.2 million.[342][343]

Notes

  1. ^ Known as 20th Century Fox Television until season 31.
  2. ^ The studio did produce animation for the series since season 28.

References

  1. ^ Ortved, John (October 12, 2010). The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History. Faber & Faber. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-86547-939-5. from the original on April 6, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  2. ^ Facts on File, Incorporated (2010). Animation. Infobase Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4381-3249-5. from the original on April 6, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  3. ^ Irwin, William; Conard, Mark T.; Skoble, Aeon J. (August 21, 2013). The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer. Open Court. p. 1972. ISBN 978-0-8126-9694-3. from the original on April 6, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  4. ^ "Matt Groening Reveals the Location of the Real Springfield". Smithsonian Magazine. from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  5. ^ "The Simpsons About the Show". from the original on April 25, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  6. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 3, 2021). "'The Simpsons' Renewed For Seasons 33 & 34 By Fox". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on August 14, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  7. ^ Jean, Al (May 8, 2021). "Al Jean's Twitter – Seasons 33 & 34 episode count". Twitter. from the original on July 22, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  8. ^ "Breaking News - FOX Announces Fall Premiere Dates for the 2022-2023 Season | TheFutonCritic.com". www.thefutoncritic.com. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  9. ^ https://ew.com/tv/the-simpsons-renewed-season-35-season-36/
  10. ^ https://twitter.com/mattselman/status/1619130524148330496
  11. ^ "The Best of the Century". Time. December 31, 1999. from the original on March 30, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  12. ^ "The best animated series ever". The A.V. Club. February 16, 2015. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  13. ^ a b Turner 2004, p. 28.
  14. ^ Oakley, Bill (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  15. ^ "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot". The Simpsons. Season 15. Episode 9. January 11, 2004. Fox.
  16. ^ a b c Rabin, Nathan (April 26, 2006). "Matt Groening: Interview". The A.V. Club. from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  17. ^ Turner 2004, pp. 289–290.
  18. ^ Turner 2004, p. 30.
  19. ^ Hamilton, Don (July 19, 2002). . Portland Tribune. Archived from the original on February 24, 2007. Retrieved August 4, 2007.
  20. ^ "GeoNames". GeoNames. from the original on July 7, 2010. Retrieved March 19, 2010.
  21. ^ De La Roca, Claudia (May 2012). "Matt Groening Reveals the Location of the Real Springfield". Smithsonian Magazine. from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  22. ^ a b c d The Simpsons: America's First Family (television documentary). BBC. 2000.
  23. ^ Groening, Matt (February 14, 2003). "Fresh Air". NPR (Interview). Interviewed by David Bianculli. Philadelphia: WHYY. from the original on December 13, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
  24. ^ Richmond & Coffman 1997, p. 14.
  25. ^ a b c d e f Deneroff, Harvey (January 2000). "Matt Groening's Baby Turns 10". Animation. 14 (1): 10, 12.
  26. ^ Beck 2005, p. 239.
  27. ^ a b c d Cagle, Daryl. . MSNBC. Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  28. ^ Barker, Jennifer Lynde (November 18, 2021). "Notebook Primer: Hungarian Animation, 1915–1989". MUBI. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  29. ^ . Legacy.com. Los Angeles, CA. Los Angeles Times. April 16, 2004. Archived from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  30. ^ Ortved, John (October 12, 2010). The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History. Macmillan Publishers. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-86547-939-5.
  31. ^ Sigall, Martha (2005). Living Life Inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 193. ISBN 978-1-57806-749-7.
  32. ^ "Gyorgyi Peluce". The Internet Animation Database. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  33. ^ Ortved, John. "The Simpson Family Made Its Television Debut 30 Years Ago". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  34. ^ Kuipers, Dean (April 15, 2004). . Los Angeles: City Beat. Archived from the original on March 8, 2008. Retrieved September 1, 2006.
  35. ^ a b Tucker, Ken (March 12, 1993). "Toon Terrific". Entertainment Weekly. p. 48(3).
  36. ^ . The Simpsons. Archived from the original on April 9, 2004. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  37. ^ Groening, Matt (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Some Enchanted Evening" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  38. ^ Spotnitz, Frank (October 23, 1992). "Eat my shorts!". Entertainment Weekly. p. 8(1). from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  39. ^ "Ullman loses 'Simpsons' suit". Variety. Associated Press. October 21, 1992. from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  40. ^ Ortved 2009, p. 59.
  41. ^ a b Ortved 2009, p. 146–149.
  42. ^ Dan Snierson. . Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  43. ^ Yardley, William (March 9, 2015). "Sam Simon, 59, Dies; Guided 'The Simpsons,' Then Shared His Profits". The New York Times. from the original on November 2, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  44. ^ Ortved 2009, p. 58.
  45. ^ Mitchell, Gail (January 24, 1999). "Mike Scully". Ultimate TV.
  46. ^ a b Owen, David (March 13, 2000). "Taking Humor Seriously". The New Yorker.
  47. ^ Ortved 2009, p. 199.
  48. ^ Nixon, Geoff (March 4, 2004). "Mmmmmm ... pop culture". The Silhouette.
  49. ^ a b Turner 2004, p. 21.
  50. ^ McGinty, Stephen (January 4, 2005). "The icing on the Simpsons' cake". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  51. ^ "Gervais writing Simpsons episode". BBC News Online. December 23, 2004. from the original on December 20, 2006. Retrieved December 29, 2006.
  52. ^ Keveney, Bill (September 23, 2009). "Rogen gets a dream gig: 'Simpsons' writer, voice". USA Today. from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  53. ^ Munoz, Lorenza (December 23, 2007). . Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2008.
  54. ^ a b c d e f Richmond & Coffman 1997, pp. 178–179.
  55. ^ Lee, Luaine (February 27, 2003). "D'oh, you're the voice". The Age. Melbourne. from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  56. ^ Carroll, Larry (July 26, 2007). . MTV. Archived from the original on December 20, 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  57. ^ Miranda, Charles (December 8, 2007). "She who laughs last". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). p. 8E.
  58. ^ Cartwright 2000, pp. 35–40.
  59. ^ "Bart's voice tells all". BBC News Online. November 10, 2000. from the original on July 1, 2004. Retrieved May 16, 2007.
  60. ^ O'Neil, Tom (July 20, 2006). "Shearer snubbed again! Blame that Mr. Burns?". Los Angeles Times. from the original on December 22, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  61. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 16, 2014). "Ever Sardonic Harry Shearer On 'Impeccable' Timing of First Emmy Win". Deadline. from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  62. ^ Groening, Matt; James L. Brooks, David Silverman (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  63. ^ Groening, Matt; Jay Kogen, Wallace Wolodarsky, Al Jean, David Silverman (2002). The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Old Money" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  64. ^ Doherty, Brian (March–April 1999). "Matt Groening". Mother Jones.
  65. ^ Glaister, Dan (April 3, 2004). "Simpsons actors demand bigger share". The Age. Melbourne. from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  66. ^ McGinnis, Rick (August 9, 2004). "Star talks Simpsons". metro.
  67. ^ Arak, Joel (May 1, 2004). "'Simpsons' Cast Goes Back To Work". CBS News. from the original on September 13, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  68. ^ Sheridan, Peter (May 6, 2004). "Meet the Simpsons". Daily Express.
  69. ^ a b Michael Schneider (May 19, 2008). "Still no deal for 'Simpsons' cast". Variety. from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  70. ^ "Simpsons cast sign new pay deal". BBC News Online. June 3, 2008. from the original on September 14, 2008. Retrieved September 8, 2008.
  71. ^ Block, Alex Ben (October 7, 2011). "'The Simpsons' Renewed for Two More Seasons". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on October 10, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
  72. ^ McCann & Groening 2002, p. 117.
  73. ^ Finley, Adam (June 20, 2006). "The Five: Great Simpsons guest stars". HuffPost TV. from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  74. ^ Groening, Matt (December 29, 2004). "Fresh Air". NPR (Interview). Interviewed by Terry Gross. Philadelphia: WHYY-FM. from the original on June 10, 2007. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
  75. ^ Clarke, Patrick (November 11, 2019). "'The Simpsons' recasts three roles following the death of voice actor Russi Taylor". NME. from the original on July 16, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  76. ^ Turner 2004, p. 393.
  77. ^ a b . FoxFlash. Archived from the original on December 17, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
  78. ^ Kay, Jonathan (September 9, 2000). . Saturday Night Magazine. Archived from the original on February 10, 2008. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
  79. ^ El-Rashidi, Yasmine (October 14, 2005). "D'oh! Arabized Simpsons not getting many laughs". The Wall Street Journal. from the original on March 2, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
  80. ^ First episode credit in production order: Groening, Matt; Sam Simon, David Silverman, Kent Butterworth (May 13, 1990). "Some Enchanted Evening". The Simpsons. Season 1. Episode 13. Fox.
  81. ^ First episode credit in production order: Jean, Al; Mike Reiss, Jeff Martin, George Meyer, Sam Simon, John Swartzwelder, Jim Reardon (October 31, 1991). "Treehouse of Horror II". The Simpsons. Season 3. Episode 7. Fox.
  82. ^ First episode credit in production order: Meyer, George;Jim Reardon (October 8, 1992). "Homer the Heretic". The Simpsons. Season 4. Episode 3. Fox.
  83. ^ First episode credit in production order: Swartzwelder, John; Susie Dietter (September 24, 1995). "Radioactive Man". The Simpsons. Season 7. Episode 2. Fox.
  84. ^ First episode credit in production order: Cohen, Joel H.; Matthew Nastuk (November 30, 2003). "The Fat and the Furriest". The Simpsons. Season 15. Episode 5. Fox.
  85. ^ Bernstein, Sharon (January 21, 1992). "'The Simpsons' Producer Changes Animation Firms". Los Angeles Times. p. 18. from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  86. ^ Groening, Matt; Al Jean, Jeffrey Lynch, Mike Reiss, David Silverman (2004). The Simpsons season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "Whacking Day" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  87. ^ Grala, Alyson. (PDF). License!. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 25, 2007. Retrieved August 11, 2007.
  88. ^ Elber, Lynn (August 5, 2001). "TV's 'The Simpsons' Goes Global". Associated Press.
  89. ^ . FoxFlash. January 23, 2009. Archived from the original on February 1, 2009. Retrieved January 24, 2009.
  90. ^ Ryan, Kyle (March 25, 2009). "Matt Groening". The A.V. Club. from the original on November 13, 2011. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  91. ^ Flew, Terry (March 3, 1994). "The Simpsons: Culture, Class and Popular TV". Metro. No. 97. from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
  92. ^ Turner 2004, p. 55.
  93. ^ Turner 2004, p. 388.
  94. ^ Turner 2004, pp. 221–222.
  95. ^ a b Turner 2004, p. 223.
  96. ^ Turner 2004, p. 224.
  97. ^ Turner 2004, p. 56.
  98. ^ Myles, Robert (2015). "Biblical Literacy and the Simpsons". Rethinking Biblical Literacy ed. Katie Edwards. doi:10.5040/9780567662040.ch-007. ISBN 978-0-56740-321-6.
  99. ^ Pinsky, Mark I (August 15, 1999). "The Gospel According to Homer". Orlando Sentinel.
  100. ^ Leonard, Tom (February 17, 2009). "'The Simpsons' opening sequence changes". The Daily Telegraph. London. from the original on February 20, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2009.
  101. ^ a b "Top titles". BBC. from the original on November 19, 2011. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  102. ^ Glionna, John M. (1999). . Danny Elfman's Music for a Darkened People. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved July 3, 2006.
  103. ^ Richmond & Coffman 1997, pp. 90–91.
  104. ^ Martyn, Adrian; Wood (2000). "The Simpsons Halloween Special". BBC. from the original on November 3, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
  105. ^ Turner 2004, p. 31.
  106. ^ Ryan, Andrew (November 4, 2006). "Pick of the Day: The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XVII". The Globe and Mail. p. 12.
  107. ^ Turner 2004, pp. 63–65.
  108. ^ Turner 2004, p. 62.
  109. ^ King 2002.
  110. ^ Telephone Trespassing : Think only kids make prank calls? Now grown-ups are dialing, baiting their prey and taping what follows. And thousands collect the recordings. December 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Mark Ehrman. Los Angeles Times. June 3, 1993. Accessed January 15, 2022. "'Simpsons' creator Matt Groening confesses to being a fan of prank tapes. The New Saigon calls, he says, are his favorites—although he prefers to characterize the similarity between the Moe's Tavern calls and the Tube Bar tapes as 'creative synchronicity.'"
  111. ^ Kaulessar, Ricardo (August 10, 2005). "Joke on 'Simpsons' started in JC". Hudson Reporter. from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  112. ^ James L. Brooks; Groening, Matt; Jean, Al. (2001). Commentary for "Some Enchanted Evening", in The Simpsons: The Complete First Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  113. ^ Reiss, Mike. (2001). Commentary for "Moaning Lisa", in The Simpsons: The Complete First Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  114. ^ Strachan, Al (March 10, 2009). "Doh! The Simpson's sets a record by staying relevant". The Vancouver Sun.
  115. ^ Burkeman, Oliver (June 30, 2007). "Embiggening the smallest man". The Guardian. London. from the original on October 13, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2009.
  116. ^ "She Used to Be My Girl". The Simpsons. December 5, 2004. Fox.
  117. ^ Grove, Lloyd; Morgan, Hudson (December 7, 2004). . Daily News. New York. Archived from the original on October 29, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  118. ^ Turner 2004, p. 60.
  119. ^ Turner 2004, p. 25.
  120. ^ Turner 2004, p. 61.
  121. ^ Clark, Charles (November 9, 2016). "The Simpsons predicted a Donald Trump presidency 16 years ago". Business Insider. from the original on January 1, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  122. ^ Rosario, David (December 14, 2017). "The Disney-Fox Deal Was Predicted By 'The Simpsons' Nearly 20 Years Ago". Heroic Hollywood. from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  123. ^ Eitenne, Vanessa (July 16, 2021). "The Simpsons Predicted Richard Branson Would Go to Space 7 Years Ago". People.com. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  124. ^ Marrone, Nico (July 17, 2021). "The Simpsons Seemingly Predicted Richard Branson Space Flight Back in 2014". Screen Rant. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  125. ^ Hancock, Edith; Henning Santiago, Amanda (October 20, 2017). "15 times 'The Simpsons' accurately predicted the future". Business Insider. from the original on January 1, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  126. ^ "'The Simpsons' Didn't Predict That". Snopes.com. February 6, 2017. from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
  127. ^ Evon, Dan (September 26, 2019). "Did 'The Simpsons' Predict Autocorrect?". Snopes.com. from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  128. ^ Evon, Dan (December 2, 2019). "Did 'The Simpsons' Predict the Smartwatch?". Snopes.com. from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  129. ^ Bahn, Christopher; Donna Bowman; Josh Modell; Noel Murray; Nathan Rabin; Tasha Robinson; Kyle Ryan; Scott Tobias (April 26, 2006). "Beyond "D'oh!": Simpsons Quotes For Everyday Use". The A.V. Club. from the original on June 17, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  130. ^ a b c d e f Macintyre, Ben (August 11, 2007). "Last word: Any word that embiggens the vocabulary is cromulent with me". The Times. London. from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  131. ^ "It's in the dictionary, d'oh!". BBC News Online. June 14, 2001. from the original on January 13, 2007. Retrieved December 24, 2006.
  132. ^ Simon, Jeremy (February 11, 1994). . The Daily Northwestern. Archived from the original (Interview) on May 15, 2008. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  133. ^ Younge, Gary; Jon Henley (July 7, 2006). "Wimps, weasels and monkeys – the US media view of 'perfidious France'". Guardian Unlimited. London. from the original on August 26, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2006.
  134. ^ "cromulent definition". Dictionary.com, LLC. from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
  135. ^ "Sidelines". Nature. 448 (7154): 632. August 8, 2007. Bibcode:2007Natur.448Q.632.. doi:10.1038/448632a.
  136. ^ Vitti, Jon (2001). The Simpsons The Complete First Season DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the Genius" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  137. ^ Liberman. Mark (January 29, 2004). "I, for one, welcome our new *overlords". Language Log. from the original on April 12, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
  138. ^ . New Scientist magazine. Archived from the original on September 12, 2007. Retrieved October 14, 2007.
  139. ^ Zimmer, Ben (February 26, 2012). . The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  140. ^ Hann, Michael (March 5, 2007). "Meh – the word that's sweeping the internet". The Guardian. London. from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2007.
  141. ^ Boswell, Randy (November 18, 2008). . The Vancouver Sun. Canwest News Service. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
  142. ^ Shorto, Russell (August 24, 2007). . The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved September 23, 2008.
  143. ^ Alberti 2003, p. xii.
  144. ^ Daniel Cerone (February 28, 1992), "'Fish Police' on Endangered Species List", LA Times, from the original on March 5, 2016, retrieved January 15, 2022
  145. ^ Ortved, John (August 2007). "Simpson Family Values". Vanity Fair. from the original on August 27, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  146. ^ a b Brennan, Judy (March 3, 1995). "Matt Groening's Reaction to The Critic's First Appearance on The Simpsons". Los Angeles Times.
  147. ^ Richard Corliss (July 29, 2007). . Time. Archived from the original on December 4, 2010. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  148. ^ Snierson, Dan (July 20, 2013). "'The Simpsons' to join forces with 'Futurama' for crossover episode". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  149. ^ "Simpsons in Family Guy crossover". BBC News. July 19, 2013. from the original on July 22, 2013. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  150. ^ "The Simpsons: The world's favourite family". BBC News Online. February 15, 2003. from the original on September 22, 2006. Retrieved December 19, 2006.
  151. ^ Wallenstein, Andrew. "'Malcolm in the Middle': trite Fox fare with a first-rate time slot". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on May 25, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2006.
  152. ^ Schuchardt, Richard. . DVDActive.com. Archived from the original on October 28, 2006. Retrieved December 20, 2006.
  153. ^ Martin, Brett (August 2010). "Gross Prophets". GQ. from the original on July 18, 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  154. ^ "Putin appears in Georgia's Simpsons-like cartoon show". BBC. February 3, 2010. from the original on September 15, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  155. ^ "Georgia's answer to 'The Simpsons'". The Independent. December 18, 2009. from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  156. ^ "Episodes: The Simpsons (96–97 Season)". www.cs.cmu.edu. from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  157. ^ "The Simpsons: Season 23 Ratings". TV Series Finale. May 23, 2012. from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  158. ^ "The Simpsons: Season 24 Ratings". TV Series Finale. May 22, 2013. from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  159. ^ "The Simpsons: Season 25 Ratings". TV Series Finale. May 22, 2014. from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  160. ^ . Deadline Hollywood. May 22, 2015. Archived from the original on May 22, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  161. ^ "The Simpsons: Season 27 Ratings". TV Series Finale. May 23, 2016. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  162. ^ "Final 2016–17 TV Rankings: 'Sunday Night Football' Winning Streak Continues". Deadline Hollywood. May 26, 2017. from the original on June 8, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  163. ^ "2017–18 TV Series Ratings Rankings: NFL Football, 'Big Bang' Top Charts". Deadline Hollywood. May 22, 2018. from the original on September 24, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  164. ^ "The Simpsons: Season 30 Ratings". TV Series Finale Critic. from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  165. ^ "The Simpsons: Season 31 Ratings". TV Series Finale Critic. May 19, 2020. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  166. ^ "The Simpsons on FOX". TV Series Finale Critic. June 14, 2021. from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  167. ^ Porter, Rick (June 9, 2022). "2021-22 TV Ratings: Final Seven-Day Numbers for Every Network Series". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  168. ^ FXX Lands 'The Simpsons' In Biggest Off-Network Deal In TV History July 28, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Deadline Hollywood, November 15, 2013
  169. ^ Bradley, Bill (April 9, 2014). "'The Simpsons' Launches on FXX With Longest Continuous Marathon Ever". The Huffington Post. from the original on July 23, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  170. ^ "VH1 Celebrates 40 Years of 'Saturday Night Live' with 'SNL Rewind: 2015 – 1975′ Mega-Marathon". VH1. from the original on February 18, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  171. ^ Kissell, Rick (August 22, 2014). "'The Simpsons' Marathon More Than Triples Primetime Audience for FXX". Variety. from the original on August 24, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  172. ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (August 28, 2014). . TV By the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  173. ^ . Foxtel. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020.
  174. ^ Turchiano, Danielle (May 14, 2019). . Variety. Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  175. ^ "A deep dive into the glorious time-suck that is 'Simpsons World'". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  176. ^ Alissa Walker (September 29, 2014). "Simpsons World Preview: Nearly 300 Hours of Springfield in Your Pocket". Gizmodo. from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  177. ^ Jason Schreier (October 23, 2014). "The New Simpsons World App Has Some Issues". Kotaku. from the original on November 1, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  178. ^ Jon Fingas. "At last, 'The Simpsons' is streaming in its original aspect ratio". Engadget. AOL. from the original on April 5, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  179. ^ Otterson, Joe (April 11, 2019). . Variety. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  180. ^ "Watch the Simpsons | Full episodes | Disney+". from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  181. ^ Gennis, Sadie (November 12, 2019). "The Simpsons Fans Are Rightfully Annoyed at Disney Plus Cropping Old Episodes". TV Guide. from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  182. ^ Spangler, Todd (November 16, 2019). "Disney Plus Will Make 'The Simpsons' Available in Original Uncropped Format in Early 2020". Variety. from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  183. ^ Peters, Jay (November 15, 2019). "Disney+ will fix The Simpsons' joke-destroying 16:9 aspect ratio starting in 2020". The Verge. from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  184. ^ Lyles, Taylor (May 20, 2020). "The Simpsons in original aspect ratio coming to Disney Plus on May 28th". The Verge. from the original on May 28, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  185. ^ Flint, Joe (March 7, 2019). "'Simpsons' Episode Featuring Michael Jackson's Voice to Be Pulled". The Wall Street Journal. from the original on March 9, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  186. ^ "The Simpsons producers unanimously agree to pull Michael Jackson episode". Film Industry Network. from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  187. ^ . TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  188. ^ . Toronto Sun. July 26, 2017. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  189. ^ a b "Nielsen's top 50 shows". USA Today. April 18, 1990. p. 3D.
  190. ^ Turner 2004, pp. 120–121.
  191. ^ Cassidy, John (July 8, 1990). "Cartoon leads a revolt against apple-pie family – Simpsons". The Sunday Times.
  192. ^ "Simpsons set for big screen". The Daily Telegraph. July 15, 2007. from the original on November 26, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  193. ^ Kleinfield, N.R. (April 29, 1990). "Cashing in on a Hot New Brand Name". The New York Times. from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  194. ^ Barmash, Isadore (December 30, 1990). "The T-Shirt Industry Sweats It Out". The New York Times. from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  195. ^ a b "Bart Simpson–Defiant, Saw-Topped and Cheeky—the Brat Terrible Gave Underachievers a Good Name". People. Vol. 34, no. 26. December 31, 1990. from the original on February 6, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  196. ^ a b c d Griffiths, Nick (April 15, 2000). . The Times Magazine. pp. 25, 27–28. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014.
  197. ^ Rohter, Larry (October 7, 1990). "Television; Overacheiver – And Learning To Deal With It, Man". The New York Times. from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2008.
  198. ^ Burey, Chris. (1990). ABC News report about the Bart Simpson t-shirt controversy included as an Easter Egg in The Simpsons: The Complete First Season (2001) [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  199. ^ Groening, Matt; Jean, Reiss; Moore, Rich; Reiss, Mike; Vitti, Jon. (2002). Commentary for "Lisa's Substitute", in The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  200. ^ a b Brooks, James L.; Groening, Matt; Jrean, Al; Reiss, Mike; Silverman, David. (2002). Commentary for "Bart Gets an 'F'", in The Simpsons: The Complete Eighth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  201. ^ Cerone, Daniel (May 9, 1991). "'Simpsons' steals away Cosby viewers". Los Angeles Times. p. 4.
  202. ^ Scott D. Pierce (October 18, 1990). "Don't have a cow, man! More viewers watch 'The Simpsons' than 'Cosby'!". Deseret News. p. C5.
  203. ^ Potts, Kimberly (2006). . AOL. Archived from the original on January 1, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  204. ^ Duffy, Mike (September 3, 1994). "Fifth Season Finds 'The Simpsons' Still Fresh, Funny". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. C-8.
  205. ^ Drozdowski, Ted (1997). . The Boston Phoenix. Archived from the original on February 3, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2008.
  206. ^ Ken Tucker (May 18, 1990). "The Simpsons". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  207. ^ Ken Tucker (June 15, 1990). "The Simpsons". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  208. ^ McCampbell, Marlene (December 26, 1997). "1997 Timeline". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on May 25, 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  209. ^ a b Owen, Rob (January 21, 2003). "TV Notes: 'Simpsons' breaks record with contract renewal". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2006.
  210. ^ . CBC. July 28, 2009. Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
  211. ^ "20 Years of The Simpsons!". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
  212. ^ "Scooby-Doo breaks cartoon record". BBC. October 25, 2004. from the original on November 3, 2010. Retrieved August 21, 2006.
  213. ^ Folkard 2006.
  214. ^ a b Vineberg, Andy (November 15, 2007). . PhillyBurbs.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
  215. ^ Wallace, Lewis (January 13, 2009). "Simpsons Poster Contest Will Have Fans Seeing Yellow". Wired. from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  216. ^ Ward, Kate (July 13, 2009). "Morgan Spurlock tapped for 'The Simpsons' 20th anniversary special". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  217. ^ Harris, Bill (July 14, 2009). "The Simpsons to celebrate in style". Edmonton Sun.
  218. ^ Keveney, Bill (September 28, 2008). "'The Simpsons' Hits a Landmark". ABC. from the original on October 2, 2008. Retrieved October 2, 2008.
  219. ^ "The Simpsons (TVShow Time)". TV Time. December 17, 1989. from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  220. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 6, 2019). "'The Simpsons' Renewed For Seasons 31 & 32 By Fox". Deadline. from the original on February 6, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  221. ^ Sotoodeh, Sarah (March 3, 2021). "The Simpsons renewed for season 33 and 34". MSN. from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  222. ^ . Annie Awards. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2007.
  223. ^ "George Foster Peabody Award Winners". Peabody Awards. from the original on October 7, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2006.
  224. ^ . Time. December 31, 1999. Archived from the original on January 15, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  225. ^ Corliss, Richard (June 8, 1998). . Time. Archived from the original on September 23, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  226. ^ . Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  227. ^ . Channel 4.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
  228. ^ . Channel 4.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
  229. ^ . Channel 4.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
  230. ^ "The 50 Greatest TV Icons". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on July 9, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  231. ^ "TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time". TV Guide. May 4, 2002.
  232. ^ "25 Top Cult Shows Ever!". TV Guide. May 30, 2004.
  233. ^ "TV Guide Names the Top Cult Shows Ever". TV Guide. June 29, 2007. from the original on May 7, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  234. ^ . Time. September 6, 2007. Archived from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  235. ^ Armstrong, Jennifer; Pastorek, Whitney; Snierson, Dan; Stack, Tim; Wheat, Alynda (2008). "Watch 'The Simpsons,' from EW's New Classics Collection". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on February 16, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  236. ^ . Empire. 2008. Archived from the original on January 6, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
  237. ^ Vary, Adam B. (June 1, 2010). "The 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years: Here's our full list!". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  238. ^ . Writers Guild of America. 2013. Archived from the original on June 11, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  239. ^ Sands, Rich (September 24, 2013). "The Definitive Ranking of The Simpsons, Peanuts, and More Old Cartoons From Your Childhood". TV Guide. from the original on July 10, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  240. ^ Fretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt. "The Greatest Shows on Earth". TV Guide Magazine. Vol. 61, no. 3194–3195. pp. 16–19.
  241. ^ "Hollywood's 100 Favorite TV Shows". The Hollywood Reporter. September 16, 2015. from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  242. ^ Hogan, Gerard O'Donovan, Ben Lawrence, Chris Harvey, Andrew Pettie, Neil Midgley and Michael. "The 10 best TV sitcoms of all time". from the original on November 18, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2019 – via The Telegraph.
  243. ^ Champagne, Christine (August 31, 2016). "Two Critics Pick The All-Time Best TV Shows. And They Know You Already Hate Their List". Co.Create. Mansueto Ventures, LLC. from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  244. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (September 26, 2022). "The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time - 50-1". Rolling Stone.
  245. ^ Turner 2004, p. 131.
  246. ^ Rosenbaum, Martin (June 29, 2007). "Is The Simpsons still subversive?". BBC News Online. from the original on July 8, 2007. Retrieved August 6, 2007.
  247. ^ Freedman, Donna (June 2, 1990). "Is Bart a brat? Popular cartoon kid as annoying to some as he is funny to others". Anchorage Daily News.
  248. ^ Dunne, Mike (June 1, 1990). "Bart Simpson: Cool dude or smart-aleck menace?". The Sacramento Bee.
  249. ^ "A Badder Bart". The Record. September 25, 1991.
  250. ^ Turner 2004, pp. 230–231.
  251. ^ Ortved, John (August 2007). "Simpson Family Values". Vanity Fair. from the original on August 27, 2008. Retrieved August 26, 2008.
  252. ^ a b Associated Press (December 6, 1990). "Nuclear industry having meltdown over Simpsons". Southeast Missourian. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  253. ^ Carroll, Steven (March 17, 2009). . The Irish Times. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  254. ^ "Simpsons apologize to Rio". BBC News Online. April 15, 2002. from the original on March 25, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2009.
  255. ^ Richmond, Ray (March 4, 1995). "Groening's point well-taken, but probably best made privately". Los Angeles Daily News.
  256. ^ Wilonsky, Robert (April 27, 2001). "Shearer Delight". East Bay Express. from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  257. ^ McDonald, Joe (August 13, 2006). "China Bans 'Simpsons' From Prime-Time TV". The Washington Post. from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  258. ^ "Simpsons ditched by Venezuelan TV". BBC News Online. April 9, 2008. from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  259. ^ Козенко, Андрей (June 15, 2009). "Прокуратуру попросили из "Южного парка"". Коммерсантъ. Moscow. from the original on January 20, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  260. ^ Remington, Bob (October 26, 1990). "It's The Simpsons, Man". Calgary Herald. TV Times. p. 10.
  261. ^ Suellentrop, Chris (February 12, 2003). "Who turned America's best TV show into a cartoon?". Slate. from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2006.
  262. ^ Weinman, Jaime J. (January 24, 2000). . Salon.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2011. Retrieved July 3, 2006.
  263. ^ Bonné, Jon (September 2, 2000). "'The Simpsons' has lost its cool". msnbc.com. from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2008.
  264. ^ a b Leopold, Todd (December 14, 2009). "Is it time for 'The Simpsons' to 'g'oh'?". CNN. from the original on December 31, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
  265. ^ "Pop spoofs no longer the main draw". The Sydney Morning Herald. November 10, 2011. from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  266. ^ "The Simpsons: 10 classic episodes". BBC News Online. January 14, 2010. from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
  267. ^ Wilson, Tyler (July 27, 2007). "The 10 best 'Simpsons' episodes out on DVD". Coeur d'Alene Press. p. D3.
  268. ^ Nathan, Ian. "The Simpsons Movie (PG)". Empire. from the original on January 22, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
  269. ^ . Ludic Works. Archived from the original on November 9, 2016.
  270. ^ a b Suellentrop, Chris (February 12, 2003). "The Simpsons: Who turned America's Best TV Show into a Cartoon?". Slate. from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2008.
  271. ^ Turner 2004, p. 42.
  272. ^ Clark, Stuart (January 19, 2007). "Homer is where the heart is (page 4)". Hot Press. from the original on March 14, 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2009.
  273. ^ Al Jean [@AlJean] (March 22, 2021). "@WonderedAlways TBD; 4 at least plus something special" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  274. ^ Ortved 2009, p. 225
  275. ^ Ortved 2009, p. 226
  276. ^ Ortved 2009, pp. 227–28
  277. ^ Wilson, Benji (January 9, 2010). "The writer". Radio Times. p. 16.
  278. ^ Leggett, Chris (August 4, 2004). "Harry Shearer". UK Teletext.
  279. ^ Elber, Lynn (August 23, 2004). . Fox News. Archived from the original on July 3, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  280. ^ Turner 2004, p. xiii.
  281. ^ "The Smithers question: why do we keep retrofitting progressive narratives in pop culture?". April 5, 2016. from the original on June 12, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  282. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 27, 2010). "Full Series Rankings for the 2009–10 Broadcast Season –". Deadline. from the original on July 9, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  283. ^ Sepinwall, Alan; Seitz, Matt Zoller (September 6, 2016). TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-1455588190.
  284. ^ Seitz, Matt Zoller; Sepinwall, Alan (September 6, 2016). "Why The Simpsons Is the Best TV Show Ever". Vulture. New York Media, LLC. from the original on October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  285. ^ Kurp, Josh (April 18, 2020). "Making The Case For Still Watching 'The Simpsons' After 30-Plus Seasons". Uproxx. from the original on May 18, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  286. ^ Celestino, Mike (October 5, 2020). "TV Recap: "The Simpsons" Season 32, Episode 2 – "I, Carumbus"". Laughing Place. from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  287. ^ McMahon, James (November 16, 2021). "'The Simpsons' showrunner on uncanny predictions: "9/11 was bizarre"". NME. from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  288. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (July 18, 2018). "'Simpsons' Creator Matt Groening Says Debate Around Apu Is 'Tainted'". The New York Times. from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  289. ^ Lam, Katherine (May 1, 2018). "'Simpsons' creator Matt Groening on Apu controversy: 'People love to pretend they're offended'". Fox News. from the original on May 1, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  290. ^ Lisa Respers France. "Hank Azaria willing to 'step aside' from playing Apu on 'The Simpsons'". CNN. from the original on May 2, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  291. ^ "The Simpsons Indian character Apu 'axed' after racial controversy". Sky News. from the original on October 30, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  292. ^ "'The Simpsons' confirm Apu won't be axed after all". NME. August 27, 2019. from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  293. ^ Gelman, Vlada (June 26, 2020). "Simpsons Will 'No Longer' Have White Actors Play Non-White Characters". TVLine. from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  294. ^ Schneider, Michael (September 24, 2020). "'The Simpsons' Season Premiere: Here's Who Took Over Carl's Voice From Hank Azaria (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  295. ^ @AlJean (October 11, 2020). ".@TheSimpsons And a warm Simpsons welcome to Eric Lopez!" (Tweet). Retrieved October 11, 2020 – via Twitter.
  296. ^ Moreau, Jordan (February 22, 2021). "Harry Shearer No Longer Voicing Black 'Simpsons' Character Dr. Hibbert, Kevin Michael Richardson to Take Over". Variety. from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  297. ^ Shutt, Craig. . msnbc.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2007. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  298. ^ Meyers, Kate (March 29, 1991). "The new Simpsons magazine". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  299. ^ a b Radford, Bill (November 19, 2000). "Groening launches Futurama comics". The Gazette.
  300. ^ . Harper Collins. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved August 3, 2008.
  301. ^ . HarperCollins. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
  302. ^ "Bart Simpson search at Harper". HarperCollins. from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
  303. ^ a b c Fleming, Michael (April 2, 2006). . Variety. Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2006.
  304. ^ Groening, Matt; Al Jean, Mark Kirkland, David Silverman (2004). The Simpsons season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  305. ^ Burwick, Kevin (August 10, 2018). "The Simpsons Movie 2 Reportedly in Development at Fox". Movieweb.com. from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  306. ^ . Billboard. Archived from the original on February 9, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  307. ^ Trust, Gary (April 27, 2010). "TV on the Radio: Before There Was 'Glee'". Billboard. from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  308. ^ . Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on November 3, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
  309. ^ "Michael Jackson Update: News From Korea, Poland And Groening". MTV. February 23, 1998. from the original on April 26, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  310. ^ "'Toons with 'tude hum a tired tune". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. December 4, 1998. from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  311. ^ "Some favorite TV shows now featured on albums Series: Home & Garden". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. December 5, 1998. from the original on January 6, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  312. ^ Browne, David (March 26, 1993). "I Act, Therefore I Sing". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on December 21, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  313. ^ Adalian, Josef (March 1, 2008). "Universal launches 'Simpsons' ride". Variety. from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2007.
  314. ^ Clark, Jane (April 4, 2008). "Orlando unveils a few new tricks to boost bookings". USA Today. from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
  315. ^ . Universal Parks & Resorts. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
  316. ^ Albright, Mark (April 29, 2008). . St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on July 4, 2013. Retrieved April 30, 2008.
  317. ^ MacDonald, Brady (April 9, 2008). "Simpsons ride features 29 characters, original voices". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 28, 2008. Retrieved April 17, 2008.
  318. ^ "Mr. Burns Sucks in Real Life Too". TMZ.com. April 15, 2008. from the original on October 14, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
  319. ^ "The Simpsons: The Arcade Game". IGN. from the original on May 28, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  320. ^ . GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  321. ^ Zdyrko, David (November 27, 2001). "The Simpsons Road Rage". IGN. from the original on January 3, 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  322. ^ "The Simpsons: Hit & Run overview". IGN. from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2007.
  323. ^ Navarro, Alex (October 29, 2007). . GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2007.
  324. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (November 4, 2005). . GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  325. ^ Barnholt, Ray (January 22, 2010). . UGO. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  326. ^ Davis, Justin (February 27, 2012). . IGN. News Corporation. Archived from the original on May 30, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  327. ^ "The Simpsons™: Tapped Out". Google Play. from the original on August 16, 2013. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  328. ^ "The Simpsons: Tapped Out (Kindle Tablet Edition)". Amazon. from the original on August 5, 2013. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  329. ^ . Stern Pinball, Inc. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2007.
  330. ^ Lambert, David (September 19, 2004). "Chappelle's Show—S1 DVD Passes The Simpsons As #1 All-Time TV-DVD; Celebrates by Announcing Season 2!". TV Shows On DVD. Archived from the original on July 4, 2006. Retrieved July 3, 2006.
  331. ^ Jean, Al [@AlJean] (April 8, 2015). "@thesimpsons #EverySimpsonsEver I personally am v sorry to see DVDs discontinued We did them purely for the love of hearing ourselves talk" \" (Tweet). from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2015 – via Twitter.
  332. ^ a b Sean O'Neal (April 9, 2015). "The Simpsons will no longer be released on DVD". The A.V. Club. from the original on October 23, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  333. ^ Animation on FOX (July 23, 2017). "THE SIMPSONS Panel at Comic-Con 2017 – Season 28". from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019 – via YouTube.
  334. ^ "The Simpsons' Will Finally Release Season 19 on DVD, Helping Out Purist Collectors". Variety. July 20, 2019. from the original on July 21, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  335. ^ Bonne, Jon (November 7, 2003). "'Simpsons' evolves as an industry". Today. from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  336. ^ . Fox News. July 1, 2007. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  337. ^ Lieberman, David (May 14, 2009). "Pressure is on 'The Simpsons' to capitalize on merchandise". USA Today. from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
  338. ^ . Sify News. Archived from the original on November 19, 2011. Retrieved May 16, 2009.
  339. ^ "The Simpsons get postage stamps". BBC News Online. April 1, 2009. from the original on April 2, 2009. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  340. ^ Szalai, George (April 1, 2009). . The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 10, 2011. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  341. ^ "'Simpsons' stamps to hit post offices (d'oh!)". CNN. April 9, 2009. from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
  342. ^ . Newslite. May 8, 2009. Archived from the original on August 28, 2009. Retrieved May 8, 2009.
  343. ^ (PDF). United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General. July 23, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 27, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2014.

Bibliography

February 05, 2023
simpsons, this, article, about, television, series, franchise, franchise, other, uses, disambiguation, american, animated, sitcom, created, matt, groening, broadcasting, company, series, satirical, depiction, american, life, epitomized, simpson, family, which,. This article is about the television series For the franchise see The Simpsons franchise For other uses see The Simpsons disambiguation The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company 1 2 3 The series is a satirical depiction of American life epitomized by the Simpson family which consists of Homer Marge Bart Lisa and Maggie The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield and parodies American culture and society television and the human condition The SimpsonsGenreAdult animation Animated sitcom SatireCreated byMatt GroeningBased onThe Simpsons shortsby Matt GroeningDeveloped byJames L Brooks Matt Groening Sam SimonVoices ofDan Castellaneta Julie Kavner Nancy Cartwright Yeardley Smith Hank Azaria Harry Shearer Complete list Theme music composerDanny ElfmanOpening theme The Simpsons Theme Ending theme The Simpsons Theme ComposersRichard Gibbs 1989 1990 Alf Clausen 1990 2017 Bleeding Fingers Music 2017 present Country of originUnited StatesOriginal languageEnglishNo of seasons34No of episodes740 list of episodes ProductionExecutive producersList James L BrooksMatt GroeningAl Jean 1992 1993 1995 present Matt Selman 2005 present John Frink 2009 present Sam Simon 1989 1993 Mike Reiss 1992 1993 1995 1998 David Mirkin 1993 1995 Bill Oakley 1995 1997 Josh Weinstein 1995 1997 Mike Scully 1997 2001 George Meyer 1999 2001 Carolyn Omine 2005 2006 Tim Long 2005 2008 Ian Maxtone Graham 2005 2012 Running time21 24 minutesProduction companiesGracie Films 20th Television a seasons 1 32 20th Television Animation season 33 present b Distributor20th TelevisionReleaseOriginal networkFoxPicture formatNTSC 1989 2009 HDTV 720p 2009 present Audio formatStereo 1989 1991 Dolby Surround 1991 2009 Dolby Digital 2009 present Original releaseDecember 17 1989 1989 12 17 presentChronologyPreceded byThe Simpsons shorts from The Tracey Ullman ShowThe family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with producer James L 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 4 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 740 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 terms of seasons and number of episodes A feature length film The Simpsons Movie was released in theaters worldwide on July 27 2007 and grossed over 527 million with a sequel in development as of 2018 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 is a joint production by Gracie Films and 20th Television 5 On March 3 2021 the series was announced to have been renewed for seasons 33 and 34 6 which were later confirmed to have 22 episodes each 7 increasing the episode count from 706 to 750 Its thirty third season premiered on September 26 2021 and ended on May 22 2022 The thirty fourth season premiered on September 25 2022 8 On January 26 2023 the series was renewed for its 35th and 36th seasons 9 with a combined total of 51 episodes 7 episodes are season 34 holdovers while the 44 others would be produced in the production cycle of the seasons bringing the episode total up to 801 10 The Simpsons received widespread acclaim throughout its early seasons in the 1990s which are generally considered its golden age Since then it has been criticized for a perceived decline in quality Time named it the 20th century s best television series 11 and Erik Adams of The A V Club named it television s crowning achievement regardless of format 12 On January 14 2000 the Simpson family was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame It has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series including 35 Primetime Emmy Awards 34 Annie Awards and 2 Peabody Awards Homer s exclamatory catchphrase of D oh has been adopted into the English language while The Simpsons has influenced many other later adult oriented animated sitcom television series Contents 1 Premise 1 1 Characters 1 2 Continuity and the floating timeline 1 3 Setting 2 Production 2 1 Development 2 2 Executive producers and showrunners 2 3 Writing 2 4 Voice actors 2 5 Animation 3 Themes 4 Hallmarks 4 1 Opening sequence 4 2 Halloween episodes 4 3 Humor 4 3 1 Purported foreshadowing of actual events 5 Influence and legacy 5 1 Idioms 5 2 Television 6 Release 6 1 Broadcast 6 2 Syndication 6 3 Streaming and digital sell through 7 Reception and achievements 7 1 Early success 7 2 Run length achievements 7 3 Awards and honors 7 4 Criticism 7 4 1 Controversy 7 4 2 Bans 7 4 3 Perceived decline in quality 7 4 4 Race controversy 8 Other media 8 1 Comic books 8 2 Film 8 3 Music 8 4 The Simpsons Ride 8 5 Video games 9 Merchandise 10 Notes 11 References 11 1 Bibliography 12 Further reading 13 External linksPremiseCharacters Main article List of The Simpsons characters The main characters are the Simpson family who live in a fictional Middle America town of Springfield 13 Homer the father works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant a position at odds with his careless buffoonish personality He is married to Marge Bouvier a stereotypical American housewife and mother They have three children Bart a ten year old troublemaker and prankster Lisa a precocious eight year old activist and Maggie the baby of the family who rarely speaks but communicates by sucking on a pacifier Although the family is dysfunctional many episodes examine their relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to care about one another 14 Homer s dad Grampa Simpson lives in the Springfield Retirement Home after Homer forced his dad to sell his house so that his family could buy theirs Grampa Simpson has had starring roles in several episodes The family also owns a dog Santa s Little Helper and a cat Snowball II who is replaced by a cat also called Snowball II in the fifteenth season episode I Annoyed Grunt Bot 15 Both pets have had starring roles in several episodes The Simpsons sports a vast array of secondary and tertiary characters The show includes an array of quirky supporting characters which include Homer s co workers also friends Lenny Leonard and Carl Carlson the school principal Seymour Skinner and teachers Edna Krabappel and Elizabeth Hoover neighbor Ned Flanders friends Barney Gumble Apu Nahasapeemapetilon Moe Szyslak Milhouse Van Houten and Nelson Muntz extended relatives Patty and Selma Bouvier townspeople such as Mayor Quimby Chief Clancy Wiggum local celebrities Krusty the Clown and news reporter Kent Brockman and tycoon Charles Montgomery Burns who often serves as the series antagonist and his executive assistant Waylon Smithers The creators originally intended many of these characters as one time jokes or for fulfilling needed functions in the town A number of them have gained expanded roles and subsequently starred in their own episodes According to Matt Groening the show adopted the concept of a large supporting cast from the comedy show SCTV 16 Continuity and the floating timeline Despite the depiction of yearly milestones such as holidays or birthdays passing the characters never age between episodes either physically or in stated age and generally appear just as they did when the series began The series uses a floating timeline in which episodes generally take place in the year the episode is produced even though the characters do not age Flashbacks and flashforwards do occasionally depict the characters at other points in their lives with the timeline of these depictions also generally floating relative to the year the episode is produced For example in the 1991 episode I Married Marge Bart who is always 10 years old appears to be born in 1980 or 1981 But in the 1995 episode And Maggie Makes Three Maggie who always appears to be around 1 year old appears to be born in 1993 or 1994 In the 1992 episode Lisa s First Word Lisa who is always 8 is shown to have been born in 1984 A canon of the show does exist although Treehouse of Horror episodes and any fictional story told within the series are typically non canon However continuity is inconsistent and limited in The Simpsons For example Krusty the Clown may be able to read in one episode but not in another however he is consistently portrayed as being Jewish and that his rabbi father has since died Lessons learned by the family in one episode may be forgotten in the next Some examples of limited continuity include Sideshow Bob s appearances where Bart and Lisa flashback at all the crimes he committed in Springfield or when the characters try to remember things that happened in previous episodes Setting Main article Springfield The Simpsons The Simpsons takes place in the fictional American town of Springfield in an unknown and impossible to determine U S state The show is intentionally evasive in regard to Springfield s location 17 Springfield s geography and that of its surroundings contains coastlines deserts vast farmland tall mountains or whatever the story or joke requires 18 Groening has said that Springfield has much in common with Portland Oregon the city where he grew up 19 The name Springfield is a common one in America and appears in at least 29 states 20 Groening has said that he named it after Springfield Oregon and the fictitious Springfield which was the setting of the series Father Knows Best He figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U S In anticipation of the success of the show I thought This will be cool everyone will think it s their Springfield And they do 21 ProductionDevelopment Main articles History of The Simpsons and The Simpsons shorts James L Brooks pictured asked Matt Groening to create a series of animated shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show When producer James L Brooks was working on the television variety show The Tracey Ullman Show he decided to include small animated sketches before and after the commercial breaks Having seen one of cartoonist Matt Groening s Life in Hell comic strips Brooks asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts Groening initially intended to present an animated version of his Life in Hell series 22 However Groening later realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life s work He therefore chose another approach while waiting in the lobby of Brooks s office for the pitch meeting hurriedly formulating his version of a dysfunctional family that became the Simpsons 22 23 He named the characters after his own family members substituting Bart for his own name adopting an anagram of the word brat 22 The Simpson family first appeared as shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19 1987 24 Groening submitted only basic sketches to the animators and assumed that the figures would be cleaned up in production However the animators merely re traced his drawings which led to the crude appearance of the characters in the initial shorts 22 The animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo 25 26 with Wes Archer David Silverman and Bill Kopp being animators for the first season 27 The colorist Georgie Gyorgyi Kovacs Peluce Kovacs Gyorgyike 28 29 30 31 32 33 made the characters yellow as Bart Lisa and Maggie have no hairlines she felt they would look strange if they were flesh colored Groening supported the decision saying Marge is yellow with blue hair That s hilarious let s do it 27 In 1989 a team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company The team included the Klasky Csupo animation house Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show s content 34 Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called the mainstream trash that they were watching 35 The half hour series premiered on December 17 1989 with Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire 36 Some Enchanted Evening was the first full length episode produced but it did not broadcast until May 1990 as the last episode of the first season because of animation problems 37 In 1992 Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit against Fox claiming that her show was the source of the series success The suit said she should receive a share of the profits of The Simpsons 38 a claim rejected by the courts 39 Executive producers and showrunners Matt Groening the creator of The Simpsons List of showrunners throughout the series run Season 1 2 Matt Groening James L Brooks amp Sam Simon Season 3 4 Al Jean amp Mike Reiss Season 5 6 David Mirkin Season 7 8 Bill Oakley amp Josh Weinstein Season 9 12 Mike Scully Season 13 31 Al Jean Season 32 present Al Jean amp Matt Selman Matt Groening and James L Brooks have served as executive producers during the show s entire history and also function as creative consultants Sam Simon described by former Simpsons director Brad Bird as the unsung hero of the show 40 served as creative supervisor for the first four seasons He was constantly at odds with Groening Brooks and the show s production company Gracie Films and left in 1993 41 Before leaving he negotiated a deal that sees him receive a share of the profits every year and an executive producer credit despite not having worked on the show since 1993 41 42 at least until his passing in 2015 43 A more involved position on the show is the showrunner who acts as head writer and manages the show s production for an entire season 27 Writing Main article List of The Simpsons writers The first team of writers assembled by Sam Simon consisted of John Swartzwelder Jon Vitti George Meyer Jeff Martin Al Jean Mike Reiss Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky 44 Newer Simpsons writing teams typically consist of sixteen writers who propose episode ideas at the beginning of each December 45 The main writer of each episode writes the first draft Group rewriting sessions develop final scripts by adding or removing jokes inserting scenes and calling for re readings of lines by the show s vocal performers 46 Until 2004 47 George Meyer who had developed the show since the first season was active in these sessions According to long time writer Jon Vitti Meyer usually invented the best lines in a given episode even though other writers may receive script credits 46 Each episode takes six months to produce so the show rarely comments on current events 48 Part of the writing staff of The Simpsons in 1992 Back row left to right Mike Mendel Colin A B V Lewis partial Jeff Goldstein Al Jean partial Conan O Brien Bill Oakley Josh Weinstein Mike Reiss Ken Tsumura George Meyer John Swartzwelder Jon Vitti partial CJ Gibson and David M Stern Front row left to right Dee Capelli Lona Williams and unknown Credited with sixty episodes John Swartzwelder is the most prolific writer on The Simpsons 49 One of the best known former writers is Conan O Brien who contributed to several episodes in the early 1990s before replacing David Letterman as host of the talk show Late Night 50 English comedian Ricky Gervais wrote the episode Homer Simpson This Is Your Wife becoming the first celebrity to both write and guest star in the same episode 51 Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg writers of the film Superbad wrote the episode Homer the Whopper with Rogen voicing a character in it 52 At the end of 2007 the writers of The Simpsons went on strike together with the other members of the Writers Guild of America East The show s writers had joined the guild in 1998 53 Voice actors Main articles List of The Simpsons cast members List of The Simpsons guest stars and Non English versions of The Simpsons The Simpsons has six main cast members Dan Castellaneta Julie Kavner Nancy Cartwright Yeardley Smith Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer Castellaneta voices Homer Simpson Grampa Simpson Krusty the Clown Groundskeeper Willie Mayor Quimby Barney Gumble and other adult male characters 54 Julie Kavner voices Marge Simpson and Patty and Selma as well as several minor characters 54 Castellaneta and Kavner had been a part of The Tracey Ullman Show cast and were given the parts so that new actors would not be needed 55 Cartwright voices Bart Simpson Nelson Muntz Ralph Wiggum and other children 54 Smith the voice of Lisa Simpson is the only cast member who regularly voices only one character although she occasionally plays other episodic characters 54 The producers decided to hold casting for the roles of Bart and Lisa Smith had initially been asked to audition for the role of Bart but casting director Bonita Pietila believed her voice was too high 56 so she was given the role of Lisa instead 57 Cartwright was originally brought in to voice Lisa but upon arriving at the audition she found that Lisa was simply described as the middle child and at the time did not have much personality Cartwright became more interested in the role of Bart who was described as devious underachieving school hating irreverent and clever 58 Groening let her try out for the part instead and upon hearing her read gave her the job on the spot 59 Cartwright is the only one of the six main Simpsons cast members who had been professionally trained in voice acting prior to working on the show 49 Azaria and Shearer do not voice members of the title family but play a majority of the male townspeople Azaria who has been a part of the main voice cast since the second season in one episode Old Money and then perpetually part of the regular main voice cast since the third season voices recurring characters such as Moe Szyslak Chief Wiggum Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and Professor Frink Shearer provides voices for Mr Burns Mr Smithers Principal Skinner Ned Flanders Reverend Lovejoy and formerly Dr Hibbert 54 Every main cast member has won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice Over Performance 60 61 With one exception episode credits list only the voice actors and not the characters they voice Both Fox and the production crew wanted to keep their identities secret during the early seasons and therefore closed most of the recording sessions while refusing to publish photos of the recording artists 62 However the network eventually revealed which roles each actor performed in the episode Old Money because the producers said the voice actors should receive credit for their work 63 In 2003 the cast appeared in an episode of Inside the Actors Studio doing live performances of their characters voices The six main actors were paid 30 000 per episode until 1998 when they were involved in a pay dispute with Fox The company threatened to replace them with new actors even going as far as preparing for casting of new voices but series creator Groening supported the actors in their action 64 The issue was soon resolved and from 1998 to 2004 they were paid 125 000 per episode The show s revenue continued to rise through syndication and DVD sales and in April 2004 the main cast stopped appearing for script readings demanding they be paid 360 000 per episode 65 66 The strike was resolved a month later 67 and their salaries were increased to something between 250 000 68 and 360 000 per episode 69 In 2008 production for the twentieth season was put on hold due to new contract negotiations with the voice actors who wanted a healthy bump in salary to an amount close to 500 000 per episode 69 The negotiations were soon completed and the actors salary was raised to 400 000 per episode 70 Three years later with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut the cast members accepted a 30 percent pay cut down to just over 300 000 per episode 71 In addition to the main cast Pamela Hayden Tress MacNeille Marcia Wallace Maggie Roswell and Russi Taylor voice supporting characters 54 From 1999 to 2002 Roswell s characters were voiced by Marcia Mitzman Gaven Karl Wiedergott has also appeared in minor roles but does not voice any recurring characters 72 Wiedergott left the show in 2010 and since then Chris Edgerly has appeared regularly to voice minor characters Repeat special guest cast members include Albert Brooks Phil Hartman Jon Lovitz Joe Mantegna Maurice LaMarche and Kelsey Grammer 73 Following Hartman s death in 1998 the characters he voiced Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz were retired 74 Wallace s character of Edna Krabappel was retired as well after her death in 2013 Following Taylor s death in 2019 her characters including Sherri Terri and Martin Prince are now voiced by Grey Griffin 75 Episodes will quite often feature guest voices from a wide range of professions including actors athletes authors bands musicians and scientists In the earlier seasons most of the guest stars voiced characters but eventually more started appearing as themselves Tony Bennett was the first guest star to appear as himself appearing briefly in the season two episode Dancin Homer 76 The Simpsons holds the world record for Most Guest Stars Featured in a Television Series 77 The Simpsons has been dubbed into several other languages including Japanese German Spanish and Portuguese It is also one of the few programs dubbed in both standard French and Quebec French 78 The show has been broadcast in Arabic but due to Islamic customs numerous aspects of the show have been changed For example Homer drinks soda instead of beer and eats Egyptian beef sausages instead of hot dogs Because of such changes the Arabized version of the series met with a negative reaction from the lifelong Simpsons fans in the area 79 Animation Animation director David Silverman who helped define the look of the show 27 Several different U S and international studios animate The Simpsons Throughout the run of the animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show the animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo 25 With the debut of the series because of an increased workload Fox subcontracted production to several local and foreign studios 25 These are AKOM 80 Anivision 81 Rough Draft Studios 82 USAnimation 83 and Toonzone Entertainment 84 For the first three seasons Klasky Csupo animated The Simpsons in the United States In 1992 the show s production company Gracie Films switched domestic production to Film Roman 85 who continued to animate the show until 2016 when they were replaced by Fox Television Animation which allowed the show to be made more in house In Season 14 production switched from traditional cel animation to digital ink and paint 86 The first episode to experiment with digital coloring was Radioactive Man in 1995 Animators used digital ink and paint during production of the season 12 episode Tennis the Menace but Gracie Films delayed the regular use of digital ink and paint until two seasons later The already completed Tennis the Menace was broadcast as made 87 The production staff at the U S animation studio Film Roman draws storyboards designs new characters backgrounds props and draws character and background layouts which in turn become animatics to be screened for the writers at Gracie Films for any changes to be made before the work is shipped overseas The overseas studios then draw the inbetweens ink and paint and render the animation to tape before it is shipped back to the United States to be delivered to Fox three to four months later 88 The series began high definition production in Season 20 the first episode Take My Life Please aired February 15 2009 The move to HDTV included a new opening sequence 89 Matt Groening called it a complicated change because it affected the timing and composition of animation 90 ThemesMain articles Media in The Simpsons Politics in The Simpsons and Religion in The Simpsons The Simpsons uses the standard setup of a situational comedy or sitcom as its premise The series centers on a family and their life in a typical American town 13 serving as a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle 91 However because of its animated nature The Simpsons scope is larger than that of a regular sitcom The town of Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society By having Homer work in a nuclear power plant the show can comment on the state of the environment 92 Through Bart and Lisa s days at Springfield Elementary School the show s writers illustrate pressing or controversial issues in the field of education The town features a vast array of television channels which enables the producers to make jokes about the entertainment industry and the press 93 Some commentators say the show is political in nature and susceptible to a left wing bias 94 Al Jean acknowledged in an interview that We the show are of liberal bent 95 The writers often evince an appreciation for progressive leanings but the show makes jokes across the political spectrum 96 The show portrays government and large corporations as evil entities that take advantage of the common worker 95 Thus the writers often portray authority figures in an unflattering or negative light In The Simpsons politicians are corrupt ministers such as Reverend Lovejoy are dismissive to churchgoers and the local police force is incompetent 97 Religion also figures as a recurring theme 98 In times of crisis the family often turns to God and the show has dealt with most of the major religions 99 Sexuality is often a source of jokes in the series or serves as the theme of certain episodes Ever since the episode Homer s Phobia this has included homosexuality Even though homosexuals are sometimes sources of gags the series often comments on how American society treats them In 1990 The Simpsons became the first animated early evening show to depict a kiss between two men in Simpson and Delilah HallmarksOpening sequence Main article The Simpsons opening sequence The Simpsons opening sequence is one of the show s most memorable hallmarks The standard opening has gone through three iterations a replacement of some shots at the start of the second season and a brand new sequence when the show switched to high definition in 2009 100 Each has the same basic sequence of events the camera zooms through cumulus clouds through the show s title towards the town of Springfield The camera then follows the members of the family on their way home Upon entering their house the Simpsons settle down on their couch to watch television The original opening was created by David Silverman and was the first task he did when production began on the show 101 The series distinctive theme song was composed by musician Danny Elfman in 1989 after Groening approached him requesting a retro style piece This piece has been noted by Elfman as the most popular of his career 102 One of the most distinctive aspects of the opening is that three of its elements change from episode to episode Bart writes different things on the school chalkboard 101 Lisa plays different solos on her saxophone or occasionally a different instrument and different gags accompany the family as they enter their living room to sit on the couch 103 Halloween episodes Main article Treehouse of Horror Bart Simpson introducing a segment of Treehouse of Horror IV in the manner of Rod Serling s Night Gallery The special Halloween episode has become an annual tradition Treehouse of Horror first broadcast in 1990 as part of season two and established the pattern of three separate self contained stories in each Halloween episode 104 These pieces usually involve the family in some horror science fiction or supernatural setting and often parody or pay homage to a famous piece of work in those genres 105 They always take place outside the normal continuity of the show Although the Treehouse series is meant to be seen on Halloween this changed by the 2000s and again in 2020 when new installments have premiered after Halloween due to Fox s current contract with Major League Baseball s World Series 106 Prior to 2020 between 2011 and 2019 every Treehouse of Horror episode had aired in October Humor The show s humor turns on cultural references that cover a wide spectrum of society so that viewers from all generations can enjoy the show Such references for example come from movies television music literature science and history 107 The animators also regularly add jokes or sight gags into the show s background via humorous or incongruous bits of text in signs newspapers billboards and elsewhere The audience may often not notice the visual jokes in a single viewing Some are so fleeting that they become apparent only by pausing a video recording of the show or viewing it in slow motion 108 Kristin Thompson argues that The Simpsons uses a flurry of cultural references intentionally inconsistent characterization and considerable self reflexivity about television conventions and the status of the programme as a television show 109 One of Bart s early hallmarks was his prank calls to Moe s Tavern owner Moe Szyslak in which Bart calls Moe and asks for a gag name Moe tries to find that person in the bar but soon realizes it is a prank call and angrily threatens Bart These calls were apparently based on a series of prank calls known as the Tube Bar recordings though Groening has denied any causal connection 110 Moe was based partly on Tube Bar owner Louis Red Deutsch whose often profane responses inspired Moe s violent side 111 As the series progressed it became more difficult for the writers to come up with a fake name and to write Moe s angry response and the pranks were dropped as a regular joke during the fourth season 112 113 The Simpsons also often includes self referential humor 114 The most common form is jokes about Fox Broadcasting 115 For example the episode She Used to Be My Girl included a scene in which a Fox News Channel van drove down the street while displaying a large Bush Cheney 2004 banner and playing Queen s We Are the Champions in reference to the 2004 U S presidential election and claims of conservative bias in Fox News 116 117 The show uses catchphrases and most of the primary and secondary characters have at least one each 118 Notable expressions include Homer s annoyed grunt D oh Mr Burns Excellent and Nelson Muntz s Ha ha Some of Bart s catchphrases such as Ay caramba Don t have a cow man and Eat my shorts appeared on T shirts in the show s early days 119 However Bart rarely used the latter two phrases until after they became popular through the merchandising The use of many of these catchphrases has declined in recent seasons The episode Bart Gets Famous mocks catchphrase based humor as Bart achieves fame on the Krusty the Clown Show solely for saying I didn t do it 120 Purported foreshadowing of actual events The Simpsons has gained notoriety for jokes that appeared to become reality Perhaps the most famous example comes from the episode Bart to the Future which mentions billionaire Donald Trump having been President of the United States at one time and leaving the nation broke The episode first aired in 2000 sixteen years before Trump who at the time was exploring a presidential run was elected 121 Another episode When You Dish Upon a Star lampooned 20th Century Fox as a division of The Walt Disney Company Nineteen years later Disney purchased Fox 122 Other examples purported as The Simpsons predicting the future include the introduction of the Smartwatch video chat services autocorrection technology Richard Branson s spaceflight 123 124 and Lady Gaga s acrobatic performance at the Super Bowl LI halftime show 125 Fact checking sources such as Snopes have debunked many of these claims saying that the show s extensive run means a lot of jokes and a lot of opportunities for coincidences to appear and most of these predictions have rather simple and mundane explanations 126 For example the device shown on The Simpsons with autocorrection is an Apple Newton a real 1993 device notorious for its poor handwriting recognition 127 Technologically advanced watches have appeared in numerous works of fiction decades before The Simpsons 128 Influence and legacyIdioms A number of neologisms that originated on The Simpsons have entered popular vernacular 129 130 Mark Liberman director of the Linguistic Data Consortium remarked The Simpsons has apparently taken over from Shakespeare and the Bible as our culture s greatest source of idioms catchphrases and sundry other textual allusions 130 The most famous catchphrase is Homer s annoyed grunt D oh So ubiquitous is the expression that it is now listed in the Oxford English Dictionary but without the apostrophe 131 Dan Castellaneta says he borrowed the phrase from James Finlayson an actor in many Laurel and Hardy comedies who pronounced it in a more elongated and whining tone The staff of The Simpsons told Castellaneta to shorten the noise and it went on to become the well known exclamation in the television series 132 Groundskeeper Willie s description of the French as cheese eating surrender monkeys was used by National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg in 2003 after France s opposition to the proposed invasion of Iraq The phrase quickly spread to other journalists 130 133 Cromulent and embiggen words used in Lisa the Iconoclast have since appeared in the Dictionary com s 21st Century Lexicon 134 and scientific journals respectively 130 135 Kwyjibo a fake Scrabble word invented by Bart in Bart the Genius was used as one of the aliases of the creator of the Melissa worm 136 I for one welcome our new insect overlords was used by Kent Brockman in Deep Space Homer and has become a snowclone 137 with variants of the utterance used to express obsequious submission It has been used in media such as New Scientist magazine 138 The dismissive term Meh believed to have been popularized by the show 130 139 140 entered the Collins English Dictionary in 2008 141 Other words credited as stemming from the show include yoink and craptacular 130 The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations includes several quotations from the show As well as cheese eating surrender monkeys Homer s lines Kids you tried your best and you failed miserably The lesson is never try from Burns Heir season five 1994 as well as Kids are the best Apu You can teach them to hate the things you hate And they practically raise themselves what with the Internet and all from Eight Misbehavin season 11 1999 entered the dictionary in August 2007 142 Many quotes scenes have become popular Internet memes including Jasper Beardley s quote That s a paddlin from The PTA Disbands season 6 1995 and Steamed Hams from 22 Short Films About Springfield season 7 1996 Television See also LGBTQ representation in The Simpsons The Simpsons was the first successful animated program in American prime time since Wait Till Your Father Gets Home in the 1970s 143 During most of the 1980s US pundits considered animated shows as appropriate only for children and animating a show was too expensive to achieve a quality suitable for prime time television The Simpsons changed this perception 25 initially leading to a short period where networks attempted to recreate prime time cartoon success with shows like Capitol Critters Fish Police and Family Dog which were expensive and unsuccessful 144 The Simpsons use of Korean animation studios for tweening coloring and filming made the episodes cheaper The success of The Simpsons and the lower production cost prompted US television networks to take chances on other adult animated series 25 This development led US producers to a 1990s boom in new animated prime time shows for adults such as Beavis and Butt Head South Park Family Guy King of the Hill Futurama which was created by Matt Groening and The Critic which was also produced by Gracie Films 25 For Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane The Simpsons created an audience for prime time animation that had not been there for many many years As far as I m concerned they basically re invented the wheel They created what is in many ways you could classify it as a wholly new medium 145 The Simpsons has had crossovers with four other shows In the episode A Star Is Burns Marge invites Jay Sherman the main character of The Critic to be a judge for a film festival in Springfield Matt Groening had his name removed from the episode since he had no involvement with The Critic 146 South Park later paid homage to The Simpsons with the episode Simpsons Already Did It 147 In Simpsorama the Planet Express crew from Futurama come to Springfield in the present to prevent the Simpsons from destroying the future 148 In the Family Guy episode The Simpsons Guy the Griffins visit Springfield and meet the Simpsons 149 The Simpsons has also influenced live action shows like Malcolm in the Middle which featured the use of sight gags and did not use a laugh track unlike most sitcoms 150 151 Malcolm in the Middle debuted January 9 2000 in the time slot after The Simpsons Ricky Gervais called The Simpsons an influence on The Office 152 and fellow British sitcom Spaced was according to its director Edgar Wright an attempt to do a live action The Simpsons 153 In Georgia the animated television sitcom The Samsonadzes launched in November 2009 has been noted for its very strong resemblance with The Simpsons which its creator Shalva Ramishvili has acknowledged 154 155 ReleaseBroadcast Main article List of The Simpsons episodes Season No ofepisodes Originally aired ViewershipSeason premiere Season finale Time slot ET Avg viewers in millions Most watched episodeViewers millions Episode title1 1989 90 13 December 17 1989 May 13 1990 Sunday 8 30 pm 27 8 33 5 Life on the Fast Lane 2 1990 91 22 October 11 1990 July 11 1991 Thursday 8 00 pm 24 4 33 6 Bart Gets an F 3 1991 92 24 September 19 1991 August 27 1992 21 8 25 5 Colonel Homer 4 1992 93 22 September 24 1992 May 13 1993 22 4 28 6 Lisa s First Word 5 1993 94 22 September 30 1993 May 19 1994 18 9 24 0 Treehouse of Horror IV 6 1994 95 25 September 4 1994 May 21 1995 Sunday 8 00 pm 15 6 22 2 Treehouse of Horror V 7 1995 96 25 September 17 1995 May 19 1996 Sunday 8 00 pm Episodes 1 24 Sunday 8 30 pm Episode 25 15 1 19 7 Treehouse of Horror VI 8 1996 97 25 October 27 1996 May 18 1997 Sunday 8 30 pm Episodes 1 3 Sunday 8 00 pm Episodes 4 12 amp 14 25 Friday 8 00 pm Episode 13 156 14 5 20 9 The Springfield Files 9 1997 98 25 September 21 1997 May 17 1998 Sunday 8 00 pm 15 3 19 8 The Two Mrs Nahasapeemapetilons 10 1998 99 23 August 23 1998 May 16 1999 13 5 15 5 Maximum Homerdrive 11 1999 2000 22 September 26 1999 May 21 2000 8 8 18 4 The Mansion Family 12 2000 01 21 November 1 2000 May 20 2001 15 5 18 6 Worst Episode Ever 13 2001 02 22 November 6 2001 May 22 2002 Tuesday 8 30 pm Episode 1 Sunday 8 00 pm Episodes 2 20 Sunday 7 30 pm Episode 21 Wednesday 8 00 pm Episode 22 12 5 14 9 The Parent Rap 14 2002 03 22 November 3 2002 May 18 2003 Sunday 8 00 pm Episodes 1 11 13 21 Sunday 8 30 pm Episodes 12 22 14 4 22 1 I m Spelling as Fast as I Can 15 2003 04 22 November 2 2003 May 23 2004 Sunday 8 00 pm 11 0 16 3 I Annoyed Grunt Bot 16 2004 05 21 November 7 2004 May 15 2005 Sunday 8 00 pm Episodes 1 7 9 16 18 20 Sunday 10 30 pm Episode 8 Sunday 8 30 pm Episodes 17 19 21 10 2 23 07 Homer and Ned s Hail Mary Pass 17 2005 06 22 September 11 2005 May 21 2006 Sunday 8 00 pm 9 55 11 63 Treehouse of Horror XVI 18 2006 07 22 September 10 2006 May 20 2007 9 15 13 90 The Wife Aquatic 19 2007 08 20 September 23 2007 May 18 2008 8 37 11 7 Treehouse of Horror XVIII 20 2008 09 21 September 28 2008 May 17 2009 7 1 12 4 Treehouse of Horror XIX 21 2009 10 23 September 27 2009 May 23 2010 7 1 14 62 Once Upon a Time in Springfield 22 2010 11 22 September 26 2010 May 22 2011 7 09 12 6 Moms I d Like to Forget 23 2011 12 22 September 25 2011 May 20 2012 6 15 157 11 48 The D oh cial Network 24 2012 13 22 September 30 2012 May 19 2013 Sunday 8 00 pm Episodes 1 21 Sunday 8 30 pm Episode 22 5 41 158 8 97 Homer Goes to Prep School 25 2013 14 22 September 29 2013 May 18 2014 Sunday 8 00 pm Episodes 1 11 amp 13 22 Sunday 7 30 pm Episode 12 5 02 159 12 04 Steal This Episode 26 2014 15 22 September 28 2014 May 17 2015 Sunday 8 00 pm 5 61 160 10 62 The Man Who Came to Be Dinner 27 2015 16 22 September 27 2015 May 22 2016 4 0 161 8 33 Teenage Mutant Milk Caused Hurdles 28 2016 17 22 September 25 2016 May 21 2017 2017 05 21 4 80 162 8 19 Pork and Burns 29 2017 18 21 October 1 2017 May 20 2018 4 07 163 8 04 Frink Gets Testy 30 2018 19 23 September 30 2018 May 12 2019 3 10 164 8 20 The Girl on the Bus 31 2019 20 22 September 29 2019 May 17 2020 2 58 165 5 63 Go Big or Go Homer 32 2020 21 22 September 27 2020 May 23 2021 Sunday 8 00 pm Episodes 1 10 amp 12 22 Sunday 9 00 pm Episode 11 2 32 166 4 93 Treehouse of Horror XXXI 33 2021 22 22 September 26 2021 May 22 2022 2 25 167 3 97 Portrait of a Lackey on Fire 34 2022 23 22 September 25 2022 TBA Sunday 8 00 pm Episodes 1 8 amp 10 Sunday 8 30 pm Episode 9 TBA TBA TBASyndication The cable television network FXX a sibling of 20th Television and formerly the Fox network has exclusive cable and digital syndication rights for The Simpsons Original contracts had previously stated that syndication rights for The Simpsons would not be sold to cable until the series conclusion at a time when cable syndication deals were highly rare The series has been syndicated to local broadcast stations in nearly all markets throughout the United States since September 1994 168 FXX premiered The Simpsons on their network on August 21 2014 by starting a twelve day marathon which featured the first 552 episodes every single episode that had already been released at the time aired chronologically including The Simpsons Movie which FX Networks had already owned the rights to air It was the longest continuous marathon in the history of television until VH1 Classic aired a 433 hour nineteen day marathon of Saturday Night Live in 2015 celebrating that program s 40th anniversary 169 170 The first day of the marathon was the highest rated broadcast day in the history of the network so far the ratings more than tripled those of regular prime time programming for FXX 171 Ratings during the first six nights of the marathon grew night after night with the network ranking within the top 5 networks in basic cable each night 172 In Australia a marathon of every episode of the show at the time aired from December 16 2019 to January 5 2020 on Fox8 a cable network operated on pay TV provider Foxtel and a corporate sibling to the American Fox network 173 After Disney acquired both 20th Television and FX Networks it was announced that The Simpsons would air on the company s Freeform channel starting October 2 2019 174 Streaming and digital sell through On October 21 2014 a digital service courtesy of the FXNOW app called Simpsons World launched with every episode of the series accessible to authenticated FX subscribers and is available on game consoles such as Xbox One streaming devices such as Roku and Apple TV and online via web browser 175 176 There was early criticism of both wrong aspect ratios for earlier episodes and the length of commercial breaks on the streaming service but that problem was soon amended with fewer commercial breaks during individual episodes 177 Later it was announced that Simpsons World would now let users watch all of the SD episodes in their original format 178 Simpsons World was discontinued after the launch of Disney on November 12 2019 where the series streams exclusively 179 180 Initially the series was only available cropped to 16 9 without the option to view the original 4 3 versions reigniting criticisms of cropping old episodes 181 In response Disney announced that in early 2020 Disney will make the first 19 seasons and some episodes from season 20 of The Simpsons available in their original 4 3 aspect ratio giving subscribers a choice of how they prefer to view the popular series 182 183 On May 28 2020 Disney made the first 19 seasons along with some episodes from season 20 of The Simpsons available in both 16 9 and the original 4 3 aspect ratio 184 Season 31 came to Disney on October 2 2020 with Hulu streaming the latest episodes of season 31 the next day Season 32 came to Disney on September 29 2021 The season 3 premiere Stark Raving Dad which features Michael Jackson as the voice of Leon Kompowsky was pulled out of rotation in 2019 by Matt Groening James L Brooks and Al Jean after HBO aired the documentary Leaving Neverland in which two men share details into how Jackson allegedly abused them as children 185 186 It is therefore unavailable on Disney However the episode is still available on The Complete Third Season DVD box set released on August 26 2003 187 In July 2017 all episodes from seasons 4 to 19 were made available for purchase on the iTunes Store in Canada 188 Reception and achievementsEarly success The Simpsons was the Fox network s first television series to rank among a season s top 30 highest rated shows 189 In 1990 Bart quickly became one of the most popular characters on television in what was termed Bartmania 190 191 192 193 He became the most prevalent Simpsons character on memorabilia such as T shirts In the early 1990s millions of T shirts featuring Bart were sold 194 as many as one million were sold on some days 195 Believing Bart to be a bad role model several American public schools banned T shirts featuring Bart next to captions such as I m Bart Simpson Who the hell are you and Underachiever And proud of it man 196 197 198 The Simpsons merchandise sold well and generated 2 billion in revenue during the first 14 months of sales 196 Because of his popularity Bart was often the most promoted member of the Simpson family in advertisements for the show even for episodes in which he was not involved in the main plot 199 Due to the show s success over the summer of 1990 the Fox Network decided to switch The Simpsons time slot from 8 00 p m ET on Sunday night to the same time on Thursday where it competed with The Cosby Show on NBC the number one show at the time 200 201 Through the summer several news outlets published stories about the supposed Bill vs Bart rivalry 195 200 Bart Gets an F season two 1990 was the first episode to air against The Cosby Show and it received a lower Nielsen ratings tying for eighth behind The Cosby Show which had an 18 5 rating The rating is based on the number of household televisions that were tuned into the show but Nielsen Media Research estimated that 33 6 million viewers watched the episode making it the number one show in terms of actual viewers that week At the time it was the most watched episode in the history of the Fox Network 202 and it is still the highest rated episode in the history of The Simpsons 203 The show moved back to its Sunday slot in 1994 and has remained there ever since 204 The Simpsons has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and it has been noted for being described as the most irreverent and unapologetic show on the air 205 In a 1990 review of the show Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly described it as the American family at its most complicated drawn as simple cartoons It s this neat paradox that makes millions of people turn away from the three big networks on Sunday nights to concentrate on The Simpsons 206 Tucker also described the show as a pop cultural phenomenon a prime time cartoon show that appeals to the entire family 207 Run length achievements On February 9 1997 The Simpsons surpassed The Flintstones with the episode The Itchy amp Scratchy amp Poochie Show as the longest running prime time animated series in the United States 208 In 2004 The Simpsons replaced The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet 1952 to 1966 as the longest running sitcom animated or live action in the United States in terms of the number of years airing 209 In 2009 The Simpsons surpassed The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet s record of 435 episodes and is now recognized by Guinness World Records as the world s longest running sitcom in terms of episode count 210 211 In October 2004 Scooby Doo briefly overtook The Simpsons as the American animated show with the highest number of episodes albeit under several different iterations 212 However network executives in April 2005 again cancelled Scooby Doo which finished with 371 episodes and The Simpsons reclaimed the title with 378 episodes at the end of their seventeenth season 213 In May 2007 The Simpsons reached their 400th episode at the end of the eighteenth season While The Simpsons has the record for the number of episodes by an American animated show other animated series have surpassed The Simpsons 214 For example the Japanese anime series Sazae san has over 2 000 episodes 7 000 segments to its credit 214 In 2009 Fox began a year long celebration of the show titled Best 20 Years Ever to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the premiere of The Simpsons One of the first parts of the celebration is the Unleash Your Yellow contest in which entrants must design a poster for the show 215 The celebration ended on January 10 2010 almost 20 years after Bart the Genius aired on January 14 1990 with The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special In 3 D On Ice a documentary special by documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock that examines the cultural phenomenon of The Simpsons 216 217 As of the twenty first season 2009 2010 The Simpsons became the longest running American scripted primetime television series having surpassed the 1955 1975 run of Gunsmoke On April 29 2018 The Simpsons also surpassed Gunsmoke s 635 episode count with the episode Forgive and Regret 209 218 The Simpsons is both the longest running and the highest ranking animated series to feature on TV Time s top 50 most followed TV shows ever 219 On February 6 2019 it was announced that The Simpsons has been renewed for seasons 31 and 32 220 On March 3 2021 it was announced that The Simpsons was renewed for seasons 33 and 34 221 Awards and honors Main article List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons The Simpsons has been awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series including 34 Primetime Emmy Awards 77 34 Annie Awards 222 and a Peabody Award 223 In a 1999 issue celebrating the 20th century s greatest achievements in arts and entertainment Time magazine named The Simpsons the century s best television series 224 In that same issue Time included Bart Simpson in the Time 100 the publication s list of the century s 100 most influential people 225 Bart was the only fictional character on the list On January 14 2000 the Simpsons were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 226 Also in 2000 Entertainment Weekly magazine TV critic Ken Tucker named The Simpsons the greatest television show of the 1990s Furthermore viewers of the UK television channel Channel 4 have voted The Simpsons at the top of two polls 2001 s 100 Greatest Kids TV shows 227 and 2005 s The 100 Greatest Cartoons 228 with Homer Simpson voted into first place in 2001 s 100 Greatest TV Characters 229 Homer also placed ninth on Entertainment Weekly s list of the 50 Greatest TV icons 230 In 2002 The Simpsons ranked No 8 on TV Guide s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time 231 and was ranked the No 6 cult show in 2004 232 In 2007 it moved to No 8 on TV Guide s cult shows list 233 and was included in Time s list of the 100 Best TV Shows of All Time 234 In 2008 the show was placed in first on Entertainment Weekly s Top 100 Shows of the Past 25 Years 235 Empire named it the greatest TV show of all time 236 In 2010 Entertainment Weekly named Homer the greatest character of the last 20 years 237 while in 2013 the Writers Guild of America listed The Simpsons as the 11th best written series in television history 238 In 2013 TV Guide ranked The Simpsons as the greatest TV cartoon of all time 239 and the tenth greatest show of all time 240 A 2015 The Hollywood Reporter survey of 2 800 actors producers directors and other industry people named it as their No 10 favorite show 241 In 2015 British newspaper The Telegraph named The Simpsons as one of the 10 best TV sitcoms of all time 242 Television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz ranked The Simpsons as the greatest American TV series of all time in their 2016 book TV The Book 243 In 2022 Rolling Stone ranked The Simpsons as the second greatest TV show of all time 244 Criticism Controversy Bart s rebellious bad boy nature which underlies his misbehavior and rarely leads to any punishment led some people to characterize him as a poor role model for children 245 246 In schools educators claimed that Bart was a threat to learning because of his underachiever and proud of it attitude and negative attitude regarding his education 247 Others described him as egotistical aggressive and mean spirited 248 In a 1991 interview Bill Cosby described Bart as a bad role model for children calling him angry confused frustrated In response Matt Groening said That sums up Bart all right Most people are in a struggle to be normal and he thinks normal is very boring and does things that others just wished they dare do 249 On January 27 1992 then President George H W Bush said We are going to keep on trying to strengthen the American family to make American families a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons 196 The writers rushed out a tongue in cheek reply in the form of a short segment which aired three days later before a rerun of Stark Raving Dad in which Bart replied Hey we re just like the Waltons We re praying for an end to the Depression too 250 251 The show also received criticism from the nuclear power industry in its early years with its portrayal of the evil boss Mr Burns and bungling idiot employees including Homer Simpson himself with their lack of safety and security 252 In a letter to the nuclear power backed U S Council for Energy Awareness producer Sam Simon apologized stating I apologize that the Simpsons have offended a lot of people in the energy industry I agree with you that in real life Homer Simpson would not be employed at a nuclear power plant On the other hand he probably wouldn t be employed anywhere 252 Various episodes of the show have generated controversy The Simpsons visit Australia in Bart vs Australia season six 1995 and Brazil in Blame It on Lisa season 13 2002 and both episodes generated controversy and negative reaction in the visited countries 253 In the latter case Rio de Janeiro s tourist board which claimed that the city was portrayed as having rampant street crime kidnappings slums and monkey and rat infestations went so far as to threaten Fox with legal action 254 Groening was a fierce and vocal critic of the episode A Star Is Burns season six 1995 which featured a crossover with The Critic He felt that it was just an advertisement for The Critic and that people would incorrectly associate the show with him When he was unsuccessful in getting the episode pulled he had his name removed from the credits and went public with his concerns openly criticizing James L Brooks and saying the episode violates the Simpsons universe In response Brooks said I am furious with Matt he s allowed his opinion but airing this publicly in the press is going too far his behavior right now is rotten 146 255 The Principal and the Pauper season nine 1997 is one of the most controversial episodes of The Simpsons Many fans and critics reacted negatively to the revelation that Seymour Skinner a recurring character since the first season was an impostor The episode has been criticized by Groening and by Harry Shearer who provides the voice of Skinner In a 2001 interview Shearer recalled that after reading the script he told the writers That s so wrong You re taking something that an audience has built eight years or nine years of investment in and just tossed it in the trash can for no good reason for a story we ve done before with other characters It s so arbitrary and gratuitous and it s disrespectful to the audience 256 Bans The show has reportedly been taken off the air in several countries China banned it from prime time television in August 2006 in an effort to protect China s struggling animation studios 257 In 2008 Venezuela barred the show from airing on morning television as it was deemed unsuitable for children 258 The same year several Russian Pentecostal churches demanded that The Simpsons South Park and some other Western cartoons be removed from broadcast schedules for propaganda of various vices and the broadcaster s license to be revoked However a court decision later dismissed this request 259 Perceived decline in quality Further information Historiography of The Simpsons Arguments for decline in quality Critics reviews of early Simpsons episodes praised the show for its sassy humor wit realism and intelligence 35 260 However in the late 1990s around the airing of season 10 the tone and emphasis of the show began to change Some critics started calling the show tired 261 By 2000 some long term fans had become disillusioned with the show and pointed to its shift from character driven plots to what they perceived as an overemphasis on zany antics 262 263 264 Jim Schembri of The Sydney Morning Herald attributed the decline in quality to an abandonment of character driven storylines in favor of celebrity cameo appearances and references to popular culture Schembri wrote in 2011 The central tragedy of The Simpsons is that it has gone from commanding attention to merely being attention seeking It began by proving that cartoon characters don t have to be caricatures they can be invested with real emotions Now the show has in essence fermented into a limp parody of itself Memorable story arcs have been sacrificed for the sake of celebrity walk ons and punchline hungry dialogue 265 In 2010 the BBC noted the common consensus is that The Simpsons golden era ended after season nine 266 and Todd Leopold of CNN in an article looking at its perceived decline stated for many fans the glory days are long past 264 Similarly Tyler Wilson of Coeur d Alene Press has referred to seasons one to nine as the show s golden age 267 and Ian Nathan of Empire described the show s classic era as being say the first ten seasons 268 Jon Heacock of LucidWorks stated that for the first ten years seasons the show was consistently at the top of its game with so many moments quotations and references both epic and obscure that helped turn the Simpson family into the cultural icons that they remain to this day 269 Mike Scully who was showrunner during seasons nine through twelve has been the subject of criticism 270 271 Chris Suellentrop of Slate wrote that under Scully s tenure The Simpsons became well a cartoon Episodes that once would have ended with Homer and Marge bicycling into the sunset now end with Homer blowing a tranquilizer dart into Marge s neck The show s still funny but it hasn t been touching in years 270 When asked in 2007 how the series longevity is sustained Scully joked Lower your quality standards Once you ve done that you can go on forever 272 Al Jean who was showrunner during seasons thirteen through thirty three 273 has also been the subject of criticism with some arguing that the show has continued to decline in quality under his tenure Former writers have complained that under Jean the show is on auto pilot too sentimental and the episodes are just being cranked out Some critics believe that the show has entered a steady decline under Jean and is no longer really funny 274 John Ortved author of The Simpsons An Uncensored Unauthorized History characterized the Jean era as toothless 275 and criticized what he perceived as the show s increase in social and political commentary 276 Jean responded Well it s possible that we ve declined But honestly I ve been here the whole time and I do remember in season two people saying It s gone downhill If we d listened to that then we would have stopped after episode 13 I m glad we didn t 277 In 2004 cast member Harry Shearer criticized what he perceived as the show s declining quality I rate the last three seasons as among the worst so season four looks very good to me now 278 Cast member Dan Castellaneta responded I don t agree I think Harry s issue is that the show isn t as grounded as it was in the first three or four seasons that it s gotten crazy or a little more madcap I think it organically changes to stay fresh 279 Also in 2004 author Douglas Coupland described claims of declining quality in the series as hogwash saying The Simpsons hasn t fumbled the ball in fourteen years it s hardly likely to fumble it now 280 In an April 2006 interview Groening said I honestly don t see any end in sight I think it s possible that the show will get too financially cumbersome but right now the show is creatively I think as good or better than it s ever been The animation is incredibly detailed and imaginative the stories do things that we haven t done before so creatively there s no reason to quit 16 In 2016 popular culture writer Anna Leszkiewicz suggested that even though The Simpsons still holds cultural relevance contemporary appeal is only for the first ten or so seasons with recent episodes only garnering mainstream attention when a favorite character from the golden era is killed off or when new information and shock twists are given for old characters 281 The series ratings have also declined while the first season enjoyed an average of 13 4 million viewing households per episode in the U S 189 the twenty first season had an average of 7 2 million viewers 282 Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz argued in their 2016 book titled TV The Book that the peak of The Simpsons are roughly seasons three through twelve and that despite the decline episodes from the later seasons such as Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind and Holidays of Future Passed could be considered on par with the earlier classic episodes further stating that even if you want to call the show today a thin shadow of its former self think about how mind boggingly great its former self had to be for so diminished a version to be watchable at all 283 284 In 2020 Uproxx writer Josh Kurp stated that while he agrees with the sentiment that The Simpsons is not as good as it used to be it is because it was working at a level of comedy and characterization that no show ever has He felt there were still many reasons to watch the series as it was still capable of quality television and even the occasional new classic and the fact that the show was willing to experiment giving examples such as bringing on guest animators like Don Hertzfeldt and Sylvain Chomet to produce couch gags and guest writers like Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg Pete Holmes and Megan Amram to write episodes 285 In the season 32 episode I Carumbus the show itself makes a nod to these concerns in its credits gag where the god Jupiter notes that It definitely feels like they re wrapping it up any day now 286 In a 2021 interview with NME Jean was quoted as saying To people who say The Simpsons isn t as good as it used to be I would say I think the world isn t as good as it used to be But we re declining at a slower rate 287 Race controversy Further information Apu Nahasapeemapetilon Accusations of racial stereotyping The stereotypical nature of the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon has been the subject of controversy Indian American comedian Hari Kondabolu stated in his 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu that as a child he was a fan of The Simpsons and liked Apu but he now finds the character s stereotypical nature troublesome Defenders of the character responded that the show is built on comical stereotypes with creator Matt Groening saying that s the nature of cartooning 288 He added that he was proud of what we do on the show and it s a time in our culture where people love to pretend they re offended 289 In response to the controversy Apu s voice actor Hank Azaria said he was willing to step aside from his role as Apu The most important thing is to listen to South Asian people Indian people in this country when they talk about what they feel and how they think about this character 290 In February 2020 he confirmed that he would no longer voice Apu Groening stated at the same time that the character would remain in the show The criticisms were referenced in the season 29 episode No Good Read Goes Unpunished when Lisa breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience by saying Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect What can you do to which Marge replies Some things will be addressed at a later date Lisa adds If at all This reference was clarified by the fact that there was a framed photo of Apu with the caption on the photo saying Don t have a cow Apu a play on Bart s catchphrase Don t have a cow man as well as the fact that Hindus do not eat cows as they are considered sacred In October 2018 it was reported that Apu would be written out of the show 291 which Groening denied 292 On June 26 2020 in light of the various Black Lives Matter protests Fox announced that recurring characters of color such as Carl Carlson and Dr Hibbert among others will no longer be voiced by white actors 293 Beginning with season 32 Carl a black character originally voiced by Azaria is now voiced by black actor Alex Desert 294 In addition Bumblebee Man a Spanish speaking Latino character also originally voiced by Azaria is now voiced by Mexican American actor Eric Lopez 295 and Dr Hibbert a black character originally voiced by Harry Shearer is now voiced by black actor Kevin Michael Richardson 296 Other mediaMain article The Simpsons franchise Comic books Main article List of The Simpsons comics Numerous Simpson related comic books have been released over the years So far nine comic book series have been published by Bongo Comics since 1993 297 The first comic strips based on The Simpsons appeared in 1991 in the magazine Simpsons Illustrated which was a companion magazine to the show 298 The comic strips were popular and a one shot comic book titled Simpsons Comics and Stories containing four different stories was released in 1993 for the fans 299 The book was a success and due to this the creator of The Simpsons Matt Groening and his companions Bill Morrison Mike Rote Steve Vance and Cindy Vance created the publishing company Bongo Comics 299 Issues of Simpsons Comics Bart Simpson s Treehouse of Horror and Bart Simpson have been collected and reprinted in trade paperbacks in the United States by HarperCollins 300 301 302 Film Main article The Simpsons Movie A Seattle 7 Eleven store transformed into a Kwik E Mart as part of a promotion for The Simpsons Movie 20th Century Fox and Gracie Films produced The Simpsons Movie an animated film that was released on July 27 2007 303 The film was directed by long time Simpsons producer David Silverman and written by a team of Simpsons writers comprising Matt Groening James L Brooks Al Jean George Meyer Mike Reiss John Swartzwelder Jon Vitti David Mirkin Mike Scully Matt Selman and Ian Maxtone Graham 303 Production of the film occurred alongside continued writing of the series despite long time claims by those involved in the show that a film would enter production only after the series had concluded 303 There had been talk of a possible feature length Simpsons film ever since the early seasons of the series James L Brooks originally thought that the story of the episode Kamp Krusty was suitable for a film but he encountered difficulties in trying to expand the script to feature length 304 For a long time difficulties such as lack of a suitable story and an already fully engaged crew of writers delayed the project 16 On August 10 2018 20th Century Fox announced that a sequel is in development 305 Music Main article The Simpsons discography Collections of original music featured in the series have been released on the albums Songs in the Key of Springfield Go Simpsonic with The Simpsons and The Simpsons Testify 306 Several songs have been recorded with the purpose of a single or album release and have not been featured on the show The album The Simpsons Sing the Blues was released in September 1990 and was a success peaking at No 3 on the Billboard 200 307 and becoming certified 2 platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America 308 The first single from the album was the pop rap song Do the Bartman performed by Nancy Cartwright and released on November 20 1990 The song was written by Michael Jackson although he did not receive any credit 309 The Yellow Album was released in 1998 but received poor reception and did not chart in any country 310 311 312 The Simpsons Ride Main article The Simpsons Ride The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios Florida In 2007 it was officially announced that The Simpsons Ride a simulator ride would be implemented into the Universal Studios Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood 313 It officially opened May 15 2008 in Florida 314 and May 19 2008 in Hollywood 315 In the ride patrons are introduced to a cartoon theme park called Krustyland built by Krusty the Clown However Sideshow Bob is loose from prison to get revenge on Krusty and the Simpson family 316 It features more than 24 regular characters from The Simpsons and features the voices of the regular cast members as well as Pamela Hayden Russi Taylor and Kelsey Grammer 317 Harry Shearer did not participate in the ride so none of his characters have vocal parts 318 Video games Further information List of The Simpsons video games Numerous video games based on the show have been produced Some of the early games include Konami s arcade game The Simpsons 1991 and Acclaim Entertainment s The Simpsons Bart vs the Space Mutants 1991 319 320 More modern games include The Simpsons Road Rage 2001 The Simpsons Hit amp Run 2003 and The Simpsons Game 2007 321 322 323 Electronic Arts which produced The Simpsons Game has owned the exclusive rights to create video games based on the show since 2005 324 In 2010 they released a game called The Simpsons Arcade for iOS 325 Another EA produced mobile game Tapped Out was released in 2012 for iOS users then in 2013 for Android and Kindle users 326 327 328 Two Simpsons pinball machines have been produced one that was available briefly after the first season and another in 2007 both out of production 329 MerchandiseSee also List of The Simpsons books and List of The Simpsons home video releases The popularity of The Simpsons has made it a billion dollar merchandising industry 196 The title family and supporting characters appear on everything from T shirts to posters The Simpsons has been used as a theme for special editions of well known board games including Clue Scrabble Monopoly Operation and The Game of Life as well as the trivia games What Would Homer Do and Simpsons Jeopardy Several card games such as trump cards and The Simpsons Trading Card Game have also been released Many official or unofficial Simpsons books such as episode guides have been published Many episodes of the show have been released on DVD and VHS over the years When the first season DVD was released in 2001 it quickly became the best selling television DVD in history although it was later overtaken by the first season of Chappelle s Show 330 In particular seasons one through seventeen were released on DVD for 13 years between September 2001 to December 2014 in the U S Canada Region 1 Europe Region 2 and Australia New Zealand Latin America Region 4 However on April 8 2015 Al Jean announced that the Season 17 DVD would be the last one ever produced leaving the collection from Seasons 1 to 17 Season 20 released out of order in 2010 with Seasons 18 19 and 21 onwards unreleased 331 332 Jean also stated that the deleted scenes and commentaries would try to be released to the Simpsons World app and that they were pushing for Simpsons World to be expanded outside of the U S 332 Two years later however on July 22 2017 it was announced that Season 18 would be released on December 5 2017 on DVD 333 Another two years later on July 20 2019 it was announced that Season 19 would be released on December 3 2019 on DVD 334 In 2003 about 500 companies around the world were licensed to use Simpsons characters in their advertising 335 As a promotion for The Simpsons Movie twelve 7 Eleven stores were transformed into Kwik E Marts and sold The Simpsons related products These included Buzz Cola Krusty O cereal pink doughnuts with sprinkles and Squishees 336 In 2008 consumers around the world spent 750 million on merchandise related to The Simpsons with half of the amount originating from the United States By 2009 20th Century Fox had greatly increased merchandising efforts 337 On April 9 2009 the United States Postal Service unveiled a series of five 44 cent stamps featuring Homer Marge Bart Lisa and Maggie to commemorate the show s twentieth anniversary 338 The Simpsons is the first television series still in production to receive this recognition 339 340 The stamps designed by Matt Groening were made available for purchase on May 7 2009 341 Approximately one billion were printed but only 318 million were sold costing the Postal Service 1 2 million 342 343 Notes Known as 20th Century Fox Television until season 31 The studio did produce animation for the series since season 28 References Ortved John October 12 2010 The Simpsons An Uncensored Unauthorized History Faber amp Faber p 287 ISBN 978 0 86547 939 5 Archived from the original on April 6 2014 Retrieved February 2 2014 Facts on File Incorporated 2010 Animation Infobase Publishing p 9 ISBN 978 1 4381 3249 5 Archived from the original on April 6 2014 Retrieved February 2 2014 Irwin William Conard Mark T Skoble Aeon J August 21 2013 The Simpsons and Philosophy The D oh of Homer Open Court p 1972 ISBN 978 0 8126 9694 3 Archived from the original on April 6 2014 Retrieved February 2 2014 Matt Groening Reveals the Location of the Real Springfield Smithsonian Magazine Archived from the original on September 10 2021 Retrieved May 1 2020 The Simpsons About the Show Archived from the original on April 25 2019 Retrieved April 24 2019 Andreeva Nellie March 3 2021 The Simpsons Renewed For Seasons 33 amp 34 By Fox Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on August 14 2021 Retrieved March 3 2021 Jean Al May 8 2021 Al Jean s Twitter Seasons 33 amp 34 episode count Twitter Archived from the original on July 22 2021 Retrieved May 22 2021 Breaking News FOX Announces Fall Premiere Dates for the 2022 2023 Season TheFutonCritic com www thefutoncritic com Retrieved August 16 2022 https ew com tv the simpsons renewed season 35 season 36 https twitter com mattselman status 1619130524148330496 The Best of the Century Time December 31 1999 Archived from the original on March 30 2015 Retrieved March 9 2015 The best animated series ever The A V Club February 16 2015 Archived from the original on September 4 2015 Retrieved January 15 2022 a b Turner 2004 p 28 Oakley Bill 2005 The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode Home Sweet Homediddly Dum Doodily DVD 20th Century Fox I Annoyed Grunt Bot The Simpsons Season 15 Episode 9 January 11 2004 Fox a b c Rabin Nathan April 26 2006 Matt Groening Interview The A V Club Archived from the original on January 19 2009 Retrieved January 15 2022 Turner 2004 pp 289 290 Turner 2004 p 30 Hamilton Don July 19 2002 Matt Groening s Portland Portland Tribune Archived from the original on February 24 2007 Retrieved August 4 2007 GeoNames GeoNames Archived from the original on July 7 2010 Retrieved March 19 2010 De La Roca Claudia May 2012 Matt Groening Reveals the Location of the Real Springfield Smithsonian Magazine Archived from the original on September 10 2021 Retrieved December 6 2021 a b c d The Simpsons America s First Family television documentary BBC 2000 Groening Matt February 14 2003 Fresh Air NPR Interview Interviewed by David Bianculli Philadelphia WHYY Archived from the original on December 13 2007 Retrieved August 8 2007 Richmond amp Coffman 1997 p 14 a b c d e f Deneroff Harvey January 2000 Matt Groening s Baby Turns 10 Animation 14 1 10 12 Beck 2005 p 239 a b c d Cagle Daryl The David Silverman Interview MSNBC Archived from the original on June 7 2008 Retrieved June 7 2011 Barker Jennifer Lynde November 18 2021 Notebook Primer Hungarian Animation 1915 1989 MUBI Retrieved December 23 2022 Robert Vincent Peluce Obituary 2004 Legacy com Los Angeles CA Los Angeles Times April 16 2004 Archived from the original on December 23 2022 Retrieved December 23 2022 Ortved John October 12 2010 The Simpsons An Uncensored Unauthorized History Macmillan Publishers p 52 ISBN 978 0 86547 939 5 Sigall Martha 2005 Living Life Inside the Lines Tales from the Golden Age of Animation Univ Press of Mississippi p 193 ISBN 978 1 57806 749 7 Gyorgyi Peluce The Internet Animation Database Retrieved December 23 2022 Ortved John The Simpson Family Made Its Television Debut 30 Years Ago Smithsonian Magazine Retrieved December 23 2022 Kuipers Dean April 15 2004 3rd Degree Harry Shearer Los Angeles City Beat Archived from the original on March 8 2008 Retrieved September 1 2006 a b Tucker Ken March 12 1993 Toon Terrific Entertainment Weekly p 48 3 Simpsons Roasting on and Open Fire The Simpsons Archived from the original on April 9 2004 Retrieved September 19 2011 Groening Matt 2001 The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode Some Enchanted Evening DVD 20th Century Fox Spotnitz Frank October 23 1992 Eat my shorts Entertainment Weekly p 8 1 Archived from the original on October 16 2011 Retrieved January 15 2022 Ullman loses Simpsons suit Variety Associated Press October 21 1992 Archived from the original on October 12 2013 Retrieved August 24 2011 Ortved 2009 p 59 a b Ortved 2009 p 146 149 Dan Snierson Conan on being left out of Simpsons Movie Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on October 20 2012 Retrieved January 15 2022 Yardley William March 9 2015 Sam Simon 59 Dies Guided The Simpsons Then Shared His Profits The New York Times Archived from the original on November 2 2015 Retrieved July 20 2016 Ortved 2009 p 58 Mitchell Gail January 24 1999 Mike Scully Ultimate TV a b Owen David March 13 2000 Taking Humor Seriously The New Yorker Ortved 2009 p 199 Nixon Geoff March 4 2004 Mmmmmm pop culture The Silhouette a b Turner 2004 p 21 McGinty Stephen January 4 2005 The icing on the Simpsons cake The Scotsman Edinburgh Archived from the original on October 22 2012 Retrieved January 15 2022 Gervais writing Simpsons episode BBC News Online December 23 2004 Archived from the original on December 20 2006 Retrieved December 29 2006 Keveney Bill September 23 2009 Rogen gets a dream gig Simpsons writer voice USA Today Archived from the original on October 25 2012 Retrieved September 24 2009 Munoz Lorenza December 23 2007 Why SpongeBob is sitting out the writers strike Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on December 26 2007 Retrieved January 9 2008 a b c d e f Richmond amp Coffman 1997 pp 178 179 Lee Luaine February 27 2003 D oh you re the voice The Age Melbourne Archived from the original on November 2 2012 Retrieved January 15 2022 Carroll Larry July 26 2007 Simpsons Trivia From Swearing Lisa To Burns Sexual Smithers MTV Archived from the original on December 20 2007 Retrieved January 15 2022 Miranda Charles December 8 2007 She who laughs last The Daily Telegraph Sydney p 8E Cartwright 2000 pp 35 40 Bart s voice tells all BBC News Online November 10 2000 Archived from the original on July 1 2004 Retrieved May 16 2007 O Neil Tom July 20 2006 Shearer snubbed again Blame that Mr Burns Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on December 22 2007 Retrieved August 10 2007 Andreeva Nellie August 16 2014 Ever Sardonic Harry Shearer On Impeccable Timing of First Emmy Win Deadline Archived from the original on August 19 2014 Retrieved August 18 2014 Groening Matt James L Brooks David Silverman 2001 The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire DVD 20th Century Fox Groening Matt Jay Kogen Wallace Wolodarsky Al Jean David Silverman 2002 The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode Old Money DVD 20th Century Fox Doherty Brian March April 1999 Matt Groening Mother Jones Glaister Dan April 3 2004 Simpsons actors demand bigger share The Age Melbourne Archived from the original on December 2 2008 Retrieved January 15 2022 McGinnis Rick August 9 2004 Star talks Simpsons metro Arak Joel May 1 2004 Simpsons Cast Goes Back To Work CBS News Archived from the original on September 13 2008 Retrieved January 15 2022 Sheridan Peter May 6 2004 Meet the Simpsons Daily Express a b Michael Schneider May 19 2008 Still no deal for Simpsons cast Variety Archived from the original on October 12 2013 Retrieved January 15 2022 Simpsons cast sign new pay deal BBC News Online June 3 2008 Archived from the original on September 14 2008 Retrieved September 8 2008 Block Alex Ben October 7 2011 The Simpsons Renewed for Two More Seasons The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on October 10 2011 Retrieved October 15 2011 McCann amp Groening 2002 p 117 Finley Adam June 20 2006 The Five Great Simpsons guest stars HuffPost TV Archived from the original on November 4 2013 Retrieved January 15 2022 Groening Matt December 29 2004 Fresh Air NPR Interview Interviewed by Terry Gross Philadelphia WHYY FM Archived from the original on June 10 2007 Retrieved November 9 2008 Clarke Patrick November 11 2019 The Simpsons recasts three roles following the death of voice actor Russi Taylor NME Archived from the original on July 16 2020 Retrieved April 23 2020 Turner 2004 p 393 a b THE SIMPSONS Season 19 2007 2008 FoxFlash Archived from the original on December 17 2007 Retrieved October 21 2007 Kay Jonathan September 9 2000 Caste of Characters Saturday Night Magazine Archived from the original on February 10 2008 Retrieved August 7 2007 El Rashidi Yasmine October 14 2005 D oh Arabized Simpsons not getting many laughs The Wall Street Journal Archived from the original on March 2 2015 Retrieved August 7 2007 First episode credit in production order Groening Matt Sam Simon David Silverman Kent Butterworth May 13 1990 Some Enchanted Evening The Simpsons Season 1 Episode 13 Fox First episode credit in production order Jean Al Mike Reiss Jeff Martin George Meyer Sam Simon John Swartzwelder Jim Reardon October 31 1991 Treehouse of Horror II The Simpsons Season 3 Episode 7 Fox First episode credit in production order Meyer George Jim Reardon October 8 1992 Homer the Heretic The Simpsons Season 4 Episode 3 Fox First episode credit in production order Swartzwelder John Susie Dietter September 24 1995 Radioactive Man The Simpsons Season 7 Episode 2 Fox First episode credit in production order Cohen Joel H Matthew Nastuk November 30 2003 The Fat and the Furriest The Simpsons Season 15 Episode 5 Fox Bernstein Sharon January 21 1992 The Simpsons Producer Changes Animation Firms Los Angeles Times p 18 Archived from the original on June 18 2012 Retrieved January 15 2022 Groening Matt Al Jean Jeffrey Lynch Mike Reiss David Silverman 2004 The Simpsons season 4 DVD commentary for the episode Whacking Day DVD 20th Century Fox Grala Alyson A Salute to the Simpsons PDF License p 14 Archived from the original PDF on September 25 2007 Retrieved August 11 2007 Elber Lynn August 5 2001 TV s The Simpsons Goes Global Associated Press Primetime Listings February 8 February 14 FoxFlash January 23 2009 Archived from the original on February 1 2009 Retrieved January 24 2009 Ryan Kyle March 25 2009 Matt Groening The A V Club Archived from the original on November 13 2011 Retrieved January 15 2022 Flew Terry March 3 1994 The Simpsons Culture Class and Popular TV Metro No 97 Archived from the original on July 22 2011 Retrieved June 13 2011 Turner 2004 p 55 Turner 2004 p 388 Turner 2004 pp 221 222 a b Turner 2004 p 223 Turner 2004 p 224 Turner 2004 p 56 Myles Robert 2015 Biblical Literacy and the Simpsons Rethinking Biblical Literacy ed Katie Edwards doi 10 5040 9780567662040 ch 007 ISBN 978 0 56740 321 6 Pinsky Mark I August 15 1999 The Gospel According to Homer Orlando Sentinel Leonard Tom February 17 2009 The Simpsons opening sequence changes The Daily Telegraph London Archived from the original on February 20 2009 Retrieved March 2 2009 a b Top titles BBC Archived from the original on November 19 2011 Retrieved August 1 2007 Glionna John M 1999 Danny Elfman in the L A Times Danny Elfman s Music for a Darkened People Archived from the original on October 1 2011 Retrieved July 3 2006 Richmond amp Coffman 1997 pp 90 91 Martyn Adrian Wood 2000 The Simpsons Halloween Special BBC Archived from the original on November 3 2010 Retrieved November 9 2007 Turner 2004 p 31 Ryan Andrew November 4 2006 Pick of the Day The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XVII The Globe and Mail p 12 Turner 2004 pp 63 65 Turner 2004 p 62 King 2002 Telephone Trespassing Think only kids make prank calls Now grown ups are dialing baiting their prey and taping what follows And thousands collect the recordings Archived December 3 2013 at the Wayback Machine Mark Ehrman Los Angeles Times June 3 1993 Accessed January 15 2022 Simpsons creator Matt Groening confesses to being a fan of prank tapes The New Saigon calls he says are his favorites although he prefers to characterize the similarity between the Moe s Tavern calls and the Tube Bar tapes as creative synchronicity Kaulessar Ricardo August 10 2005 Joke on Simpsons started in JC Hudson Reporter Archived from the original on January 15 2022 Retrieved January 15 2022 James L Brooks Groening Matt Jean Al 2001 Commentary for Some Enchanted Evening in The Simpsons The Complete First Season DVD 20th Century Fox Reiss Mike 2001 Commentary for Moaning Lisa in The Simpsons The Complete First Season DVD 20th Century Fox Strachan Al March 10 2009 Doh The Simpson s sets a record by staying relevant The Vancouver Sun Burkeman Oliver June 30 2007 Embiggening the smallest man The Guardian London Archived from the original on October 13 2013 Retrieved August 24 2009 She Used to Be My Girl The Simpsons December 5 2004 Fox Grove Lloyd Morgan Hudson December 7 2004 Simpsons on Fox hunt Daily News New York Archived from the original on October 29 2012 Retrieved April 3 2012 Turner 2004 p 60 Turner 2004 p 25 Turner 2004 p 61 Clark Charles November 9 2016 The Simpsons predicted a Donald Trump presidency 16 years ago Business Insider Archived from the original on January 1 2018 Retrieved December 31 2017 Rosario David December 14 2017 The Disney Fox Deal Was Predicted By The Simpsons Nearly 20 Years Ago Heroic Hollywood Archived from the original on December 15 2017 Retrieved December 14 2017 Eitenne Vanessa July 16 2021 The Simpsons Predicted Richard Branson Would Go to Space 7 Years Ago People com Retrieved July 20 2021 Marrone Nico July 17 2021 The Simpsons Seemingly Predicted Richard Branson Space Flight Back in 2014 Screen Rant Retrieved July 20 2021 Hancock Edith Henning Santiago Amanda October 20 2017 15 times The Simpsons accurately predicted the future Business Insider Archived from the original on January 1 2018 Retrieved December 31 2017 The Simpsons Didn t Predict That Snopes com February 6 2017 Archived from the original on October 19 2021 Retrieved December 26 2019 Evon Dan September 26 2019 Did The Simpsons Predict Autocorrect Snopes com Archived from the original on October 19 2021 Retrieved March 26 2021 Evon Dan December 2 2019 Did The Simpsons Predict the Smartwatch Snopes com Archived from the original on October 19 2021 Retrieved March 26 2021 Bahn Christopher Donna Bowman Josh Modell Noel Murray Nathan Rabin Tasha Robinson Kyle Ryan Scott Tobias April 26 2006 Beyond D oh Simpsons Quotes For Everyday Use The A V Club Archived from the original on June 17 2014 Retrieved January 15 2022 a b c d e f Macintyre Ben August 11 2007 Last word Any word that embiggens the vocabulary is cromulent with me The Times London Archived from the original on July 6 2008 Retrieved January 15 2022 It s in the dictionary d oh BBC News Online June 14 2001 Archived from the original on January 13 2007 Retrieved December 24 2006 Simon Jeremy February 11 1994 Wisdom from The Simpsons D ohh boy The Daily Northwestern Archived from the original Interview on May 15 2008 Retrieved September 23 2013 Younge Gary Jon Henley July 7 2006 Wimps weasels and monkeys the US media view of perfidious France Guardian Unlimited London Archived from the original on August 26 2013 Retrieved August 5 2006 cromulent definition Dictionary com LLC Archived from the original on July 17 2011 Retrieved July 24 2011 Sidelines Nature 448 7154 632 August 8 2007 Bibcode 2007Natur 448Q 632 doi 10 1038 448632a Vitti Jon 2001 The Simpsons The Complete First Season DVD commentary for the episode Bart the Genius DVD 20th Century Fox Liberman Mark January 29 2004 I for one welcome our new overlords Language Log Archived from the original on April 12 2011 Retrieved January 12 2009 The British government welcomes our new insect overlords New Scientist magazine Archived from the original on September 12 2007 Retrieved October 14 2007 Zimmer Ben February 26 2012 The meh generation The Boston Globe Archived from the original on July 9 2012 Retrieved January 15 2022 Hann Michael March 5 2007 Meh the word that s sweeping the internet The Guardian London Archived from the original on October 12 2013 Retrieved October 14 2007 Boswell Randy November 18 2008 Canadian politics The definition of meh The Vancouver Sun Canwest News Service Archived from the original on December 6 2008 Retrieved November 21 2008 Shorto Russell August 24 2007 Simpsons quotes enter new Oxford dictionary The Daily Telegraph London Archived from the original on December 2 2008 Retrieved September 23 2008 Alberti 2003 p xii Daniel Cerone February 28 1992 Fish Police on Endangered Species List LA Times archived from the original on March 5 2016 retrieved January 15 2022 Ortved John August 2007 Simpson Family Values Vanity Fair Archived from the original on August 27 2008 Retrieved January 15 2022 a b Brennan Judy March 3 1995 Matt Groening s Reaction to The Critic s First Appearance on The Simpsons Los Angeles Times Richard Corliss July 29 2007 The Simpsons Bigger and Better Time Archived from the original on December 4 2010 Retrieved January 15 2022 Snierson Dan July 20 2013 The Simpsons to join forces with Futurama for crossover episode Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on July 21 2013 Retrieved January 15 2022 Simpsons in Family Guy crossover BBC News July 19 2013 Archived from the original on July 22 2013 Retrieved July 27 2013 The Simpsons The world s favourite family BBC News Online February 15 2003 Archived from the original on September 22 2006 Retrieved December 19 2006 Wallenstein Andrew Malcolm in the Middle trite Fox fare with a first rate time slot Media Life Magazine Archived from the original on May 25 2016 Retrieved July 3 2006 Schuchardt Richard Ricky Gervais Part One DVDActive com Archived from the original on October 28 2006 Retrieved December 20 2006 Martin Brett August 2010 Gross Prophets GQ Archived from the original on July 18 2010 Retrieved July 19 2010 Putin appears in Georgia s Simpsons like cartoon show BBC February 3 2010 Archived from the original on September 15 2013 Retrieved July 7 2013 Georgia s answer to The Simpsons The Independent December 18 2009 Archived from the original on December 13 2013 Retrieved July 7 2013 Episodes The Simpsons 96 97 Season www cs cmu edu Archived from the original on April 19 2015 Retrieved September 2 2021 The Simpsons Season 23 Ratings TV Series Finale May 23 2012 Archived from the original on October 19 2021 Retrieved February 1 2017 The Simpsons Season 24 Ratings TV Series Finale May 22 2013 Archived from the original on October 19 2021 Retrieved February 1 2017 The Simpsons Season 25 Ratings TV Series Finale May 22 2014 Archived from the original on October 19 2021 Retrieved February 1 2017 Full 2014 15 Series Rankings Deadline Hollywood May 22 2015 Archived from the original on May 22 2015 Retrieved May 22 2015 The Simpsons Season 27 Ratings TV Series Finale May 23 2016 Archived from the original on September 28 2015 Retrieved July 15 2016 Final 2016 17 TV Rankings Sunday Night Football Winning Streak Continues Deadline Hollywood May 26 2017 Archived from the original on June 8 2017 Retrieved May 26 2017 2017 18 TV Series Ratings Rankings NFL Football Big Bang Top Charts Deadline Hollywood May 22 2018 Archived from the original on September 24 2018 Retrieved May 22 2018 The Simpsons Season 30 Ratings TV Series Finale Critic Archived from the original on October 19 2021 Retrieved May 28 2019 The Simpsons Season 31 Ratings TV Series Finale Critic May 19 2020 Archived from the original on June 29 2020 Retrieved May 19 2020 The Simpsons on FOX TV Series Finale Critic June 14 2021 Archived from the original on October 19 2021 Retrieved May 25 2021 Porter Rick June 9 2022 2021 22 TV Ratings Final Seven Day Numbers for Every Network Series The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on June 9 2022 Retrieved June 13 2022 FXX Lands The Simpsons In Biggest Off Network Deal In TV History Archived July 28 2014 at the Wayback Machine Deadline Hollywood November 15 2013 Bradley Bill April 9 2014 The Simpsons Launches on FXX With Longest Continuous Marathon Ever The Huffington Post Archived from the original on July 23 2014 Retrieved August 19 2014 VH1 Celebrates 40 Years of Saturday Night Live with SNL Rewind 2015 1975 Mega Marathon VH1 Archived from the original on February 18 2016 Retrieved October 20 2015 Kissell Rick August 22 2014 The Simpsons Marathon More Than Triples Primetime Audience for FXX Variety Archived from the original on August 24 2014 Retrieved August 24 2014 Kondolojy Amanda August 28 2014 FXX Paints Labor Day Weekend Yellow TV By the Numbers Archived from the original on September 6 2014 Retrieved September 2 2014 Foxtel is Celebrating The Simpsons 30th Anniversary Foxtel Archived from the original on August 9 2020 Turchiano Danielle May 14 2019 Freeform to begin airing The Simpsons in Fall 2019 Variety Archived from the original on June 5 2019 Retrieved August 5 2019 A deep dive into the glorious time suck that is Simpsons World Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on October 28 2014 Retrieved January 15 2022 Alissa Walker September 29 2014 Simpsons World Preview Nearly 300 Hours of Springfield in Your Pocket Gizmodo Archived from the original on October 30 2014 Retrieved October 30 2014 Jason Schreier October 23 2014 The New Simpsons World App Has Some Issues Kotaku Archived from the original on November 1 2014 Retrieved October 30 2014 Jon Fingas At last The Simpsons is streaming in its original aspect ratio Engadget AOL Archived from the original on April 5 2017 Retrieved September 16 2017 Otterson Joe April 11 2019 The Simpsons to stream exclusively on Disney Variety Archived from the original on April 12 2019 Retrieved April 12 2019 Watch the Simpsons Full episodes Disney Archived from the original on November 21 2021 Retrieved November 21 2021 Gennis Sadie November 12 2019 The Simpsons Fans Are Rightfully Annoyed at Disney Plus Cropping Old Episodes TV Guide Archived from the original on November 12 2019 Retrieved November 12 2019 Spangler Todd November 16 2019 Disney Plus Will Make The Simpsons Available in Original Uncropped Format in Early 2020 Variety Archived from the original on November 16 2019 Retrieved November 16 2019 Peters Jay November 15 2019 Disney will fix The Simpsons joke destroying 16 9 aspect ratio starting in 2020 The Verge Archived from the original on November 16 2019 Retrieved November 16 2019 Lyles Taylor May 20 2020 The Simpsons in original aspect ratio coming to Disney Plus on May 28th The Verge Archived from the original on May 28 2020 Retrieved May 20 2020 Flint Joe March 7 2019 Simpsons Episode Featuring Michael Jackson s Voice to Be Pulled The Wall Street Journal Archived from the original on March 9 2019 Retrieved March 9 2019 The Simpsons producers unanimously agree to pull Michael Jackson episode Film Industry Network Archived from the original on October 19 2021 Retrieved July 3 2019 The Simpsons The Complete 3rd Season DVD Information TVShowsOnDVD com Archived from the original on October 18 2012 Retrieved August 4 2012 Woo hoo The Simpsons seasons 4 19 now available for digital download on iTunes in Canada Toronto Sun July 26 2017 Archived from the original on June 22 2018 Retrieved August 5 2019 a b Nielsen s top 50 shows USA Today April 18 1990 p 3D Turner 2004 pp 120 121 Cassidy John July 8 1990 Cartoon leads a revolt against apple pie family Simpsons The Sunday Times Simpsons set for big screen The Daily Telegraph July 15 2007 Archived from the original on November 26 2013 Retrieved April 15 2009 Kleinfield N R April 29 1990 Cashing in on a Hot New Brand Name The New York Times Archived from the original on May 16 2013 Retrieved April 15 2009 Barmash Isadore December 30 1990 The T Shirt Industry Sweats It Out The New York Times Archived from the original on May 16 2013 Retrieved April 15 2009 a b Bart Simpson Defiant Saw Topped and Cheeky the Brat Terrible Gave Underachievers a Good Name People Vol 34 no 26 December 31 1990 Archived from the original on February 6 2009 Retrieved April 15 2009 a b c d Griffiths Nick April 15 2000 America s First Family The Times Magazine pp 25 27 28 Archived from the original on August 11 2014 Rohter Larry October 7 1990 Television Overacheiver And Learning To Deal With It Man The New York Times Archived from the original on May 16 2013 Retrieved September 18 2008 Burey Chris 1990 ABC News report about the Bart Simpson t shirt controversy included as an Easter Egg in The Simpsons The Complete First Season 2001 DVD 20th Century Fox Groening Matt Jean Reiss Moore Rich Reiss Mike Vitti Jon 2002 Commentary for Lisa s Substitute in The Simpsons The Complete Second Season DVD 20th Century Fox a b Brooks James L Groening Matt Jrean Al Reiss Mike Silverman David 2002 Commentary for Bart Gets an F in The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD 20th Century Fox Cerone Daniel May 9 1991 Simpsons steals away Cosby viewers Los Angeles Times p 4 Scott D Pierce October 18 1990 Don t have a cow man More viewers watch The Simpsons than Cosby Deseret News p C5 Potts Kimberly 2006 The Simpsons Best Episodes No 15 11 AOL Archived from the original on January 1 2009 Retrieved April 15 2009 Duffy Mike September 3 1994 Fifth Season Finds The Simpsons Still Fresh Funny Pittsburgh Post Gazette p C 8 Drozdowski Ted 1997 Eye pleasers The Boston Phoenix Archived from the original on February 3 2008 Retrieved January 27 2008 Ken Tucker May 18 1990 The Simpsons Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on October 25 2014 Retrieved January 15 2022 Ken Tucker June 15 1990 The Simpsons Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on October 25 2014 Retrieved January 15 2022 McCampbell Marlene December 26 1997 1997 Timeline Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on May 25 2007 Retrieved January 15 2022 a b Owen Rob January 21 2003 TV Notes Simpsons breaks record with contract renewal Pittsburgh Post Gazette Archived from the original on August 1 2012 Retrieved December 19 2006 Coldplay Silverman to guest on The Simpsons CBC July 28 2009 Archived from the original on November 10 2012 Retrieved August 18 2009 20 Years of The Simpsons Guinness World Records Archived from the original on May 24 2012 Retrieved May 31 2010 Scooby Doo breaks cartoon record BBC October 25 2004 Archived from the original on November 3 2010 Retrieved August 21 2006 Folkard 2006 a b Vineberg Andy November 15 2007 Some records will last forever PhillyBurbs com Archived from the original on December 16 2008 Retrieved November 17 2007 Wallace Lewis January 13 2009 Simpsons Poster Contest Will Have Fans Seeing Yellow Wired Archived from the original on May 2 2009 Retrieved January 15 2022 Ward Kate July 13 2009 Morgan Spurlock tapped for The Simpsons 20th anniversary special Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on August 7 2011 Retrieved January 15 2022 Harris Bill July 14 2009 The Simpsons to celebrate in style Edmonton Sun Keveney Bill September 28 2008 The Simpsons Hits a Landmark ABC Archived from the original on October 2 2008 Retrieved October 2 2008 The Simpsons TVShow Time TV Time December 17 1989 Archived from the original on June 24 2021 Retrieved June 17 2021 Andreeva Nellie February 6 2019 The Simpsons Renewed For Seasons 31 amp 32 By Fox Deadline Archived from the original on February 6 2019 Retrieved February 6 2019 Sotoodeh Sarah March 3 2021 The Simpsons renewed for season 33 and 34 MSN Archived from the original on March 4 2021 Retrieved June 20 2021 Legacy 20th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners 1992 Annie Awards Archived from the original on November 2 2012 Retrieved October 16 2007 George Foster Peabody Award Winners Peabody Awards Archived from the original on October 7 2014 Retrieved October 15 2006 The Best of the Century Time December 31 1999 Archived from the original on January 15 2012 Retrieved January 10 2012 Corliss Richard June 8 1998 The Cartoon Character Bart Simpson Time Archived from the original on September 23 2011 Retrieved September 19 2011 The Simpsons Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Archived from the original on July 26 2011 Retrieved April 10 2011 100 Greatest Kids TV Shows Channel 4 com Archived from the original on April 26 2009 Retrieved December 31 2007 100 Greatest Cartoons Channel 4 com Archived from the original on May 20 2009 Retrieved December 31 2007 100 Greatest TV Characters Channel 4 com Archived from the original on May 31 2009 Retrieved December 31 2007 The 50 Greatest TV Icons Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on July 9 2014 Retrieved January 15 2022 TV Guide s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time TV Guide May 4 2002 25 Top Cult Shows Ever TV Guide May 30 2004 TV Guide Names the Top Cult Shows Ever TV Guide June 29 2007 Archived from the original on May 7 2019 Retrieved June 21 2019 All TIME 100 TV Shows Time September 6 2007 Archived from the original on July 21 2013 Retrieved January 15 2022 Armstrong Jennifer Pastorek Whitney Snierson Dan Stack Tim Wheat Alynda 2008 Watch The Simpsons from EW s New Classics Collection Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on February 16 2009 Retrieved January 15 2022 The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time 01 The Simpsons Empire 2008 Archived from the original on January 6 2010 Retrieved September 27 2008 Vary Adam B June 1 2010 The 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years Here s our full list Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on January 26 2013 Retrieved January 15 2022 11 The Simpsons Writers Guild of America 2013 Archived from the original on June 11 2013 Retrieved July 17 2013 Sands Rich September 24 2013 The Definitive Ranking of The Simpsons Peanuts and More Old Cartoons From Your Childhood TV Guide Archived from the original on July 10 2018 Retrieved January 15 2022 Fretts Bruce Roush Matt The Greatest Shows on Earth TV Guide Magazine Vol 61 no 3194 3195 pp 16 19 Hollywood s 100 Favorite TV Shows The Hollywood Reporter September 16 2015 Archived from the original on July 17 2019 Retrieved July 17 2019 Hogan Gerard O Donovan Ben Lawrence Chris Harvey Andrew Pettie Neil Midgley and Michael The 10 best TV sitcoms of all time Archived from the original on November 18 2018 Retrieved February 24 2019 via The Telegraph Champagne Christine August 31 2016 Two Critics Pick The All Time Best TV Shows And They Know You Already Hate Their List Co Create Mansueto Ventures LLC Archived from the original on September 15 2016 Retrieved September 2 2016 Sepinwall Alan September 26 2022 The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time 50 1 Rolling Stone Turner 2004 p 131 Rosenbaum Martin June 29 2007 Is The Simpsons still subversive BBC News Online Archived from the original on July 8 2007 Retrieved August 6 2007 Freedman Donna June 2 1990 Is Bart a brat Popular cartoon kid as annoying to some as he is funny to others Anchorage Daily News Dunne Mike June 1 1990 Bart Simpson Cool dude or smart aleck menace The Sacramento Bee A Badder Bart The Record September 25 1991 Turner 2004 pp 230 231 Ortved John August 2007 Simpson Family Values Vanity Fair Archived from the original on August 27 2008 Retrieved August 26 2008 a b Associated Press December 6 1990 Nuclear industry having meltdown over Simpsons Southeast Missourian Retrieved July 18 2022 Carroll Steven March 17 2009 Cartoon family get animated on first Irish visit The Irish Times Archived from the original on October 17 2012 Retrieved April 15 2009 Simpsons apologize to Rio BBC News Online April 15 2002 Archived from the original on March 25 2012 Retrieved March 17 2009 Richmond Ray March 4 1995 Groening s point well taken but probably best made privately Los Angeles Daily News Wilonsky Robert April 27 2001 Shearer Delight East Bay Express Archived from the original on October 2 2013 Retrieved April 15 2009 McDonald Joe August 13 2006 China Bans Simpsons From Prime Time TV The Washington Post Archived from the original on October 25 2012 Retrieved August 12 2011 Simpsons ditched by Venezuelan TV BBC News Online April 9 2008 Archived from the original on October 12 2013 Retrieved August 12 2011 Kozenko Andrej June 15 2009 Prokuraturu poprosili iz Yuzhnogo parka Kommersant Moscow Archived from the original on January 20 2012 Retrieved January 10 2012 Remington Bob October 26 1990 It s The Simpsons Man Calgary Herald TV Times p 10 Suellentrop Chris February 12 2003 Who turned America s best TV show into a cartoon Slate Archived from the original on January 13 2012 Retrieved July 3 2006 Weinman Jaime J January 24 2000 Worst Episode Ever Salon com Archived from the original on November 3 2011 Retrieved July 3 2006 Bonne Jon September 2 2000 The Simpsons has lost its cool msnbc com Archived from the original on June 24 2013 Retrieved January 27 2008 a b Leopold Todd December 14 2009 Is it time for The Simpsons to g oh CNN Archived from the original on December 31 2009 Retrieved January 15 2010 Pop spoofs no longer the main draw The Sydney Morning Herald November 10 2011 Archived from the original on October 20 2013 Retrieved November 10 2011 The Simpsons 10 classic episodes BBC News Online January 14 2010 Archived from the original on June 5 2016 Retrieved January 15 2010 Wilson Tyler July 27 2007 The 10 best Simpsons episodes out on DVD Coeur d Alene Press p D3 Nathan Ian The Simpsons Movie PG Empire Archived from the original on January 22 2012 Retrieved July 25 2007 Best Episodes Ever The Simpsons Seasons 1 10 Ludic Works Archived from the original on November 9 2016 a b Suellentrop Chris February 12 2003 The Simpsons Who turned America s Best TV Show into a Cartoon Slate Archived from the original on January 13 2012 Retrieved May 15 2008 Turner 2004 p 42 Clark Stuart January 19 2007 Homer is where the heart is page 4 Hot Press Archived from the original on March 14 2010 Retrieved July 19 2009 Al Jean AlJean March 22 2021 WonderedAlways TBD 4 at least plus something special Tweet via Twitter Ortved 2009 p 225 Ortved 2009 p 226 Ortved 2009 pp 227 28 Wilson Benji January 9 2010 The writer Radio Times p 16 Leggett Chris August 4 2004 Harry Shearer UK Teletext Elber Lynn August 23 2004 D oh The Voice of Homer Is Deceivingly Deadpan Fox News Archived from the original on July 3 2013 Retrieved January 15 2022 Turner 2004 p xiii The Smithers question why do we keep retrofitting progressive narratives in pop culture April 5 2016 Archived from the original on June 12 2016 Retrieved September 3 2016 Andreeva Nellie May 27 2010 Full Series Rankings for the 2009 10 Broadcast Season Deadline Archived from the original on July 9 2013 Retrieved December 22 2010 Sepinwall Alan Seitz Matt Zoller September 6 2016 TV The Book Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time Grand Central Publishing ISBN 978 1455588190 Seitz Matt Zoller Sepinwall Alan September 6 2016 Why The Simpsons Is the Best TV Show Ever Vulture New York Media LLC Archived from the original on October 19 2016 Retrieved October 17 2016 Kurp Josh April 18 2020 Making The Case For Still Watching The Simpsons After 30 Plus Seasons Uproxx Archived from the original on May 18 2020 Retrieved May 13 2020 Celestino Mike October 5 2020 TV Recap The Simpsons Season 32 Episode 2 I Carumbus Laughing Place Archived from the original on May 4 2021 Retrieved June 9 2021 McMahon James November 16 2021 The Simpsons showrunner on uncanny predictions 9 11 was bizarre NME Archived from the original on November 19 2021 Retrieved November 19 2021 Itzkoff Dave July 18 2018 Simpsons Creator Matt Groening Says Debate Around Apu Is Tainted The New York Times Archived from the original on July 18 2018 Retrieved July 18 2018 Lam Katherine May 1 2018 Simpsons creator Matt Groening on Apu controversy People love to pretend they re offended Fox News Archived from the original on May 1 2018 Retrieved May 1 2018 Lisa Respers France Hank Azaria willing to step aside from playing Apu on The Simpsons CNN Archived from the original on May 2 2018 Retrieved May 1 2018 The Simpsons Indian character Apu axed after racial controversy Sky News Archived from the original on October 30 2018 Retrieved October 29 2018 The Simpsons confirm Apu won t be axed after all NME August 27 2019 Archived from the original on December 19 2019 Retrieved March 7 2020 Gelman Vlada June 26 2020 Simpsons Will No Longer Have White Actors Play Non White Characters TVLine Archived from the original on June 26 2020 Retrieved June 26 2020 Schneider Michael September 24 2020 The Simpsons Season Premiere Here s Who Took Over Carl s Voice From Hank Azaria EXCLUSIVE Variety Archived from the original on September 24 2020 Retrieved September 24 2020 AlJean October 11 2020 TheSimpsons And a warm Simpsons welcome to Eric Lopez Tweet Retrieved October 11 2020 via Twitter Moreau Jordan February 22 2021 Harry Shearer No Longer Voicing Black Simpsons Character Dr Hibbert Kevin Michael Richardson to Take Over Variety Archived from the original on February 1 2022 Retrieved February 1 2022 Shutt Craig Sundays with the Simpsons msnbc com Archived from the original on July 8 2007 Retrieved March 10 2009 Meyers Kate March 29 1991 The new Simpsons magazine Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on September 28 2012 Retrieved January 15 2022 a b Radford Bill November 19 2000 Groening launches Futurama comics The Gazette Simpsons search at Harper Collins Harper Collins Archived from the original on October 12 2013 Retrieved August 3 2008 Treehouse of Horror search at Harper HarperCollins Archived from the original on October 14 2013 Retrieved August 4 2008 Bart Simpson search at Harper HarperCollins Archived from the original on July 1 2015 Retrieved August 4 2008 a b c Fleming Michael April 2 2006 Homer going to bat in 07 Variety Archived from the original on March 4 2014 Retrieved July 3 2006 Groening Matt Al Jean Mark Kirkland David Silverman 2004 The Simpsons season 4 DVD commentary for the episode Kamp Krusty DVD 20th Century Fox Burwick Kevin August 10 2018 The Simpsons Movie 2 Reportedly in Development at Fox Movieweb com Archived from the original on August 11 2018 Retrieved August 11 2018 Dozens Of Simpsons Songs Bundled For Testify Billboard Archived from the original on February 9 2008 Retrieved January 15 2022 Trust Gary April 27 2010 TV on the Radio Before There Was Glee Billboard Archived from the original on April 14 2013 Retrieved January 15 2022 RIAA Searchable database Gold and Platinum Recording Industry Association of America Archived from the original on November 3 2015 Retrieved November 5 2008 Michael Jackson Update News From Korea Poland And Groening MTV February 23 1998 Archived from the original on April 26 2010 Retrieved October 28 2008 Toons with tude hum a tired tune Fort Worth Star Telegram December 4 1998 Archived from the original on December 8 2015 Retrieved November 29 2015 Some favorite TV shows now featured on albums Series Home amp Garden Pqasb pqarchiver com December 5 1998 Archived from the original on January 6 2015 Retrieved September 18 2013 Browne David March 26 1993 I Act Therefore I Sing Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on December 21 2009 Retrieved January 15 2022 Adalian Josef March 1 2008 Universal launches Simpsons ride Variety Archived from the original on March 4 2016 Retrieved April 23 2007 Clark Jane April 4 2008 Orlando unveils a few new tricks to boost bookings USA Today Archived from the original on October 20 2012 Retrieved August 11 2008 The Simpsons Ride coming May 19 Universal Parks amp Resorts Archived from the original on July 18 2011 Retrieved March 14 2008 Albright Mark April 29 2008 Universal takes new Simpsons ride for a spin St Petersburg Times Archived from the original on July 4 2013 Retrieved April 30 2008 MacDonald Brady April 9 2008 Simpsons ride features 29 characters original voices Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on December 28 2008 Retrieved April 17 2008 Mr Burns Sucks in Real Life Too TMZ com April 15 2008 Archived from the original on October 14 2010 Retrieved April 28 2008 The Simpsons The Arcade Game IGN Archived from the original on May 28 2012 Retrieved June 19 2010 Simpsons Space Mutants GameSpot Archived from the original on October 19 2012 Retrieved June 19 2010 Zdyrko David November 27 2001 The Simpsons Road Rage IGN Archived from the original on January 3 2013 Retrieved June 19 2010 The Simpsons Hit amp Run overview IGN Archived from the original on May 31 2012 Retrieved March 30 2007 Navarro Alex October 29 2007 The Simpsons Game review GameSpot Archived from the original on July 5 2013 Retrieved October 30 2007 Sinclair Brendan November 4 2005 EA secures exclusive Simpsons license GameSpot Archived from the original on October 19 2012 Retrieved June 19 2010 Barnholt Ray January 22 2010 The Konami Arcade Redo A Thon UGO Archived from the original on June 15 2011 Retrieved June 19 2010 Davis Justin February 27 2012 Build Your Own Springfield in The Simpsons Tapped Out iPhone Preview at IGN IGN News Corporation Archived from the original on May 30 2012 Retrieved March 22 2012 The Simpsons Tapped Out Google Play Archived from the original on August 16 2013 Retrieved August 15 2013 The Simpsons Tapped Out Kindle Tablet Edition Amazon Archived from the original on August 5 2013 Retrieved August 15 2013 Stern Pinball Inc Announces A Wild Simpsons Pinball Party Stern Pinball Inc Archived from the original on June 26 2012 Retrieved August 12 2007 Lambert David September 19 2004 Chappelle s Show S1 DVD Passes The Simpsons As 1 All Time TV DVD Celebrates by Announcing Season 2 TV Shows On DVD Archived from the original on July 4 2006 Retrieved July 3 2006 Jean Al AlJean April 8 2015 thesimpsons EverySimpsonsEver I personally am v sorry to see DVDs discontinued We did them purely for the love of hearing ourselves talk Tweet Archived from the original on March 12 2016 Retrieved November 1 2015 via Twitter a b Sean O Neal April 9 2015 The Simpsons will no longer be released on DVD The A V Club Archived from the original on October 23 2015 Retrieved January 15 2022 Animation on FOX July 23 2017 THE SIMPSONS Panel at Comic Con 2017 Season 28 Archived from the original on September 1 2019 Retrieved July 23 2019 via YouTube The Simpsons Will Finally Release Season 19 on DVD Helping Out Purist Collectors Variety July 20 2019 Archived from the original on July 21 2019 Retrieved July 23 2019 Bonne Jon November 7 2003 Simpsons evolves as an industry Today Archived from the original on June 24 2013 Retrieved January 15 2022 7 Eleven Becomes Kwik E Mart for Simpsons Movie Promotion Fox News July 1 2007 Archived from the original on October 12 2013 Retrieved January 15 2022 Lieberman David May 14 2009 Pressure is on The Simpsons to capitalize on merchandise USA Today Archived from the original on October 24 2012 Retrieved October 18 2010 Simpsons stamps unveiled Sify News Archived from the original on November 19 2011 Retrieved May 16 2009 The Simpsons get postage stamps BBC News Online April 1 2009 Archived from the original on April 2 2009 Retrieved April 1 2009 Szalai George April 1 2009 Postal Service launching Simpsons stamps The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on January 10 2011 Retrieved April 1 2009 Simpsons stamps to hit post offices d oh CNN April 9 2009 Archived from the original on November 5 2012 Retrieved April 9 2009 The Simpsons stamps launched in US Newslite May 8 2009 Archived from the original on August 28 2009 Retrieved May 8 2009 Stamp Manufacturing and Inventory Management PDF United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General July 23 2012 Archived from the original PDF on April 27 2014 Retrieved April 27 2014 Bibliography Alberti John 2003 Leaving Springfield The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture Detroit Wayne State University Press ISBN 978 0 8143 2849 1 McCann Jesse L Groening Matt 2002 The Simpsons Beyond Forever A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family Still Continued Harper Collins Publishers ISBN 978 0 06 050592 9 Beck Jerry 2005 The Animated Movie Guide Chicago Review Press ISBN 978 1 55652 591 9 Cartwright Nancy 2000 My Life as a 10 Year Old Boy New York City a, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.