The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the

Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...

. It is a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

depiction of a

dysfunctional Abnormality (or dysfunctional behavior) is a behavioral characteristic assigned to those with conditions that are regarded as rare or dysfunctional. Behavior is considered to be abnormal when it is atypical or out of the ordinary, consists of un ...

middle-class American lifestyle starring the eponymous

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

Marge Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret (name), Margaret. Notable Marges include: People *Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist *Marge Anderson (1932� ...

, Bart,

Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...

, and

Maggie Maggie is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret. Maggie may refer to: People Women * Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician * Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist * Maggie Alderson (born 1959), Aust ...

. Set in the town of

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

, the show lampoons both American culture and the human condition. Later released on the 2001 DVD ''The Simpsons – The Complete First Season'' by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a pitch for a series of

animated shorts A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

with producer

James L. Brooks James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. His television and film work includes ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''Taxi'', ''The Simpsons'', '' Broadcast News'', ''As G ...

. Groening named each character (other than Bart) after members of his own family. The shorts became part of the Fox series ''

The Tracey Ullman Show ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' is an American television variety show starring Tracey Ullman. It debuted on Fox on April 5, 1987, the network's second original primetime series to air following '' Married... with Children'', and ran until May 26, ...

'' on April 19, 1987. After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a half-hour primetime hit show. The show holds several American television longevity records. It is the longest-running primetime animated series and longest-running sitcom in the United States.Owen, Rob (January 21, 2003).
TV Notes: 'Simpsons' breaks record with contract renewal
". ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

''. Retrieved January 22, 2022. With its 21st season (2009–10), the series surpassed ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...

'' (which had 20 seasons) to claim the spot as the longest-running American primetime scripted television series, and later also surpassed ''Gunsmoke'' (which had 635 episodes) for episode count in this category, starting with the 29th-season episode "

Forgive and Regret "Forgive and Regret" is the eighteenth episode of the twenty-ninth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the 636th episode of the series overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on April 29, 2018. The title ...

" on April 29, 2018. Episodes of ''The Simpsons'' have won dozens of awards, including 31

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s (ten for Outstanding Animated Program), 30

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

s, and a Peabody. ''

The Simpsons Movie ''The Simpsons Movie'' is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the long-running animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. The film was directed by the show's supervising director David Silverman and stars the show's regular cast of Dan Caste ...

'', a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on July 26 and 27, 2007, and grossed US$526.2 million worldwide. The first 20 seasons are available on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in regions 1, 2, and 4, with the twentieth season released on both DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

in 2010 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series. On April 8, 2015, showrunner Al Jean announced that there would be no more DVD or Blu-ray releases, shifting focus to digital distribution, although this was later reversed on July 22, 2017. Almost two years later, on July 20, 2019, it was announced that Season 19 would be released on December 3, 2019, on DVD. On March 3, 2021, ''The Simpsons'' was renewed for seasons 33 and 34. On February 19, 2012, ''The Simpsons'' reached its 500th episode in the 23rd season.Snierson, Dan (January 30, 2012).
WikiLeaks' Julian Assange to guest on 'The Simpsons'
". ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

''. Retrieved January 22, 2022. It reached its 600th episode on October 16, 2016, in its 28th season. On March 21, 2021, ''The Simpsons'' reached its 700th episode in its 32nd season. Season 34 premiered on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

on September 25, 2022. On January 26, 2023 The Simpons was renewed for seasons 35 and 36

Tracey Ullman Shorts

Series overview

*Seasons 1–11 are ranked by ''households'' (in millions). *Seasons 12–33 are ranked by ''total viewers'' (in millions).

Notes

# Until the 1996–97 television season, ratings were calculated over 30 weeks from September to mid-April. Episodes that aired after mid-April were not part of the overall average and ranking. # Season one had approximately 13.4 million viewing households. Season two dropped 9%, resulting in an average of approximately 12.2 million viewing households. # Season three had an average rating of 13.0 points. For the 1991–92 season, each point represented 921,000 viewing households, resulting in a total average of approximately 12.0 million viewing households. # Season four had approximately 12.1 million viewing households. Season five dropped 13%, resulting in an average of approximately 10.5 million viewing households.

List of episodes

Seasons 1–20 (1989–2009)

Seasons 21–present (2009–present)

Film

Shorts

Theatrical

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

Miscellaneous

Specials

Ratings

With its first season, ''The Simpsons'' became the Fox network's first series to rank among the top thirty highest-rated shows of a television season. Due to this success, Fox decided to switch ''The Simpsons'' timeslot in hopes of higher ratings for the shows airing after it. The series moved from 8:00 p.m. eastern time on Sundays to the same time on Thursdays, where it competed with '' The Cosby Show'', the number-one show at the time. Many of the producers were against the move, as ''The Simpsons'' had been in the top ten while airing on Sunday, and they felt the move would destroy its ratings. Ratings-wise, new episodes of ''The Cosby Show'' beat ''The Simpsons'' every time during the second season, and ''The Simpsons'' eventually fell out of the top ten. At the end of the season, ''Cosby'' averaged as the fifth-highest-rated show on television, while ''The Simpsons'' was thirty-eighth. The show continued in its Thursday timeslot until the sixth season, which is when, in 1994, it reverted to its original slot on Sunday. It has remained there ever since.

References

External links

* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpsons episodes, List of The Episodes Lists of American adult animated television series episodes Lists of American sitcom episodes