''The Simpsons'' is an American
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
created by
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...
for the
Fox Broadcasting Company
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by Fox C ...
. The series is a
satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the
Simpson family
The Simpson family are the fictional characters featured in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of married couple Homer and Marge and their three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Th ...
, which consists of
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,
Bart
Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc.
Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Bartho ...
,
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. The show is set in the fictional town of
Springfield and parodies
American culture
The culture of the United States of America is primarily of Western, and European origin, yet its influences includes the cultures of Asian American, African American, Latin American, and Native American peoples and their cultures. The U ...
and
society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...
, television, and the
human condition
The human condition is all of the characteristics and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, morality, conflict, and death. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered and analyzed f ...
.
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
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often child neglect or abuse and sometimes even all of the above on the part of individual parents occur continuously and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such ...
and named the characters after his own family members, substituting Bart for his own name; he thought Simpson was a funny name in that it sounded similar to "
simpleton". The shorts became a part of ''
The Tracey Ullman Show'' on April 19, 1987. After three seasons, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and became Fox's first series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–1990).
Since its debut on December 17, 1989,
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
''The Simpsons Movie'' is a 2007 American Animation, animated comedy film based on the long-running animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. The film was directed by the show's supervising director David Silverman (animator), David Silverman and star ...
'', 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
Gracie Films is an American film and television production company founded by James L. Brooks in 1986. The company is primarily responsible for producing its long-running flagship animated series ''The Simpsons'', as well as the films '' Big'', ...
and
20th Television
20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Comp ...
. On March 3, 2021, the series was announced to have been renewed for seasons 33 and 34, which were later confirmed to have 22 episodes each, 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.
''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
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' named it the 20th century's best television series, and Erik Adams of ''
The A.V. Club'' named it "television's crowning achievement regardless of format". 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
The main characters are the Simpson family, who live in a fictional "
Middle America" town of Springfield.
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 ...
, the father, works as a safety inspector at the
Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
Springfield is the primary fictional setting of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and related media. It is an average-sized, fictional city within an indeterminate state in the United States. The fictional city's geography, surroundi ...
, 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
Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc.
Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Bartho ...
, a ten-year-old troublemaker and prankster;
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 ...
, 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. Homer's dad
Grampa Simpson
Abraham Jebediah "Abe" Simpson II, better known as Grampa, is a recurring character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He made his first appearance in the episode entitled " Grandpa and the Kids", a one-minute Simpsons short on ...
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
Santa's Little Helper is a fictional dog in the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. He was previously voiced by Frank Welker, and is currently voiced by Dan Castellaneta. The dog ...
, and a cat,
Snowball II, who is replaced by a cat also called Snowball II in the fifteenth season episode "
I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot". Both pets have had starring roles in several episodes.
The show includes an array of quirky supporting characters, which include Homer's co-workers (also friends)
Lenny Leonard and
Carl Carlson
The American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' contains a wide range of minor and supporting characters like co-workers, teachers, students, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, and even animals. The write ...
, the school principal
Seymour Skinner
Principal Seymour Skinner (born Armin Tamzarian) is a recurring fictional character in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', who is voiced by Harry Shearer. He is the principal of Springfield Elementary School, which he struggles to control, ...
and teachers
Edna Krabappel
Edna Krabappel-Flanders ( Krabappel; ) is a fictional character from the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Marcia Wallace from 1990 until her death in October 2013. She was a 4th-grade teacher, who taught Bart Simpson's class a ...
and
Elizabeth Hoover, neighbor
Ned Flanders
Nedward "Ned" Flanders Jr. is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Harry Shearer and first appearing in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire." He is the good-natured, ch ...
, friends
Barney Gumble
Barnard Arnold "Barney" Gumble is a recurring character in the American animated TV series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared in the series premiere episode " Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".
Barney is the ...
,
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a recurring character in the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is an Indian immigrant proprietor who runs the Kwik-E-Mart, a popular convenience store in Springfield, and is known for his catchphra ...
,
Moe Szyslak
Moe Szyslak is a recurring character from the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode " Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". Moe is the proprietor and bartender o ...
,
Milhouse Van Houten, and
Nelson Muntz
Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and the lead school bully from the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', where he is best known for his signature mocking laugh "Ha-ha!". He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was first intro ...
, extended relatives
Patty and Selma Bouvier, townspeople such as
Mayor Quimby, Chief
Clancy Wiggum, local celebrities
Krusty the Clown
Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (; ) better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown (sometimes spelled as Krusty the Klown), is a recurring character on the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castel ...
and news reporter
Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Harry Shearer and first appeared in the episode " Krusty Gets Busted". He is a grumpy, self-centered local Springfield news anchor.
Prof ...
, 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''.
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
A floating timeline (also known as a sliding timescale) is a device used in fiction, particularly in long-running serials in comics and animation as well as other media, to explain why characters age little or not at all over a period of time— ...
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
''Treehouse of Horror'' is an annual series of special Halloween-themed episodes of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', with 33 anthology episodes between 1990 and 2022. Also known as ''The Simpsons Halloween Specials'', each episode typica ...
'' 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
Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (; ) better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown (sometimes spelled as Krusty the Klown), is a recurring character on the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castel ...
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
''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. Springfield's geography, and that of its surroundings, contains coastlines, deserts, vast farmland, tall mountains, or whatever the story or joke requires. Groening has said that Springfield has much in common with
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
, the city where he grew up. The name "Springfield" is a common one in America and appears in
at least 29 states. Groening has said that he named it after
Springfield, Oregon, and the fictitious Springfield which was the setting of the series ''
Father Knows Best
''Father Knows Best'' is an American sitcom starring Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six seasons and 203 episodes. Created by ...
''. 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."
Production
Development
![Jameslbrooks](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Jameslbrooks.jpg)
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
Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...
'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.
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.
He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name, adopting an
anagram of the word ''brat''.
The Simpson family first appeared as
shorts
Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ...
in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' on April 19, 1987. 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.
The animation was produced domestically at
Klasky Csupo
Klasky-Csupo, Inc. (stylized as KLaSKY CSUPO INC., doing business as Klasky Csupo, ) is an American animation studio located in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1982 by producer Arlene Klasky and Hungarian animator Gábor Csupó (he ...
,
with
Wes Archer
Wes Archer is an American television animation director and storyboard artist.
Career
Archer was one of the original three animators (along with David Silverman and Bill Kopp) on ''The Simpsons'', Tracey Ullman shorts, and subsequently direc ...
,
David Silverman, and
Bill Kopp being animators for the first season.
The colorist, "Georgie" Gyorgyi Kovacs Peluce (Kovács Györgyike)
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!"
In 1989, a team of production companies adapted ''The Simpsons'' into a half-hour series for the
Fox Broadcasting Company
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by Fox C ...
. 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. 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.
The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989, with "
Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" (titled onscreen as "The Simpsons Christmas Special") is the series premiere of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on Fox in the United States on December 17, 1989. Intro ...
".
"
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. In 1992,
Tracey Ullman
Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman, 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, comedian, singer, writer, producer, and director. Her earliest mainstream appearances were on British television sketch comedy shows '' A Kick Up the Eighties'' ( ...
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''
—a claim rejected by the courts.
Executive producers and showrunners
List of showrunners throughout the series' run:
* Season 1–2:
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...
,
James L. Brooks, &
Sam Simon
Samuel Michael Simon (June 6, 1955 – March 8, 2015) was an American director, producer, writer, animal rights activist and philanthropist, who co-developed the television series ''The Simpsons''.
While at Stanford University, Simon w ...
* Season 3–4:
Al Jean
Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...
&
Mike Reiss
Michael L. Reiss ( '; born ) is an American television comedy writer and author. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series ''The Simpsons'' and co-created the animated series '' The Critic''. He created and wrote ...
* Season 5–6:
David Mirkin
David Mirkin (born ) is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Mar ...
* Season 7–8:
Bill Oakley &
Josh Weinstein
Josh Weinstein (born May 5, 1966) is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animated comedy series ''The Simpsons''. Weinstein and Bill Oakley became best friends and writing partners at St. Albans School; Weinst ...
* Season 9–12:
Mike Scully
Michael C. Scully (born October 2, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, ...
* Season 13–31:
Al Jean
Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...
* Season 32–present:
Al Jean
Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...
&
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
Samuel Michael Simon (June 6, 1955 – March 8, 2015) was an American director, producer, writer, animal rights activist and philanthropist, who co-developed the television series ''The Simpsons''.
While at Stanford University, Simon w ...
, described by former ''Simpsons'' director
Brad Bird
Phillip Bradley Bird (born September 24, 1957) is an American film director, animator, screenwriter, producer, and voice actor. He has had a career spanning forty years in both animation and live-action.
Bird was born in Montana and grew up i ...
as "the unsung hero" of the show, 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
Gracie Films is an American film and television production company founded by James L. Brooks in 1986. The company is primarily responsible for producing its long-running flagship animated series ''The Simpsons'', as well as the films '' Big'', ...
and left in 1993. 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, at least until his passing in 2015. 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.
Writing
The first team of writers, assembled by Sam Simon, consisted of
John Swartzwelder,
Jon Vitti,
George Meyer,
Jeff Martin,
Al Jean
Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...
,
Mike Reiss
Michael L. Reiss ( '; born ) is an American television comedy writer and author. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series ''The Simpsons'' and co-created the animated series '' The Critic''. He created and wrote ...
,
Jay Kogen
Jay Kogen is an American comedy writer, producer, actor and director.
Biography
He was born to a Jewish family. His father is comedy writer Arnie Kogen. In 2001, Kogen had a son, Charlie, who is now a musician.
Career
Kogen co-wrote several ep ...
and
Wallace Wolodarsky
Wallace Wolodarsky, also billed as Wally Wolodarsky, is an American actor, screenwriter, television producer, and film director known for being one of the writers for ''The Simpsons'' during the first four seasons with his writing partner Jay K ...
. Newer ''Simpsons'' writing teams typically consist of sixteen writers who propose episode ideas at the beginning of each December.
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.
Until 2004, 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.
Each episode takes six months to produce so the show rarely comments on current events.
![Simpsons writers2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Simpsons_writers2.jpg)
Credited with sixty episodes,
John Swartzwelder is the most prolific writer on ''The Simpsons''. 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''. 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.
Seth Rogen
Seth Aaron Rogen (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and filmmaker. Originally a stand-up comedian in Vancouver, he moved to Los Angeles for a part in Judd Apatow's series '' Freaks and Geeks'', and then got a part o ...
and
Evan Goldberg, writers of the film ''
Superbad'', wrote the episode "
Homer the Whopper", with Rogen voicing a character in it.
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 Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is a labor union representing writers in film, television, radio, news, and online media.
The Writers Guild of America, East is affiliated with the Writers Guild of America West. Together the guilds admin ...
. The show's writers had joined the guild in 1998.
Voice actors
''The Simpsons'' has six main cast members:
Dan Castellaneta,
Julie Kavner
Julie Deborah Kavner (born September 7, 1950) is an American actress. Best known for her voice role as Marge Simpson on the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', Kavner first attracted notice for her role as Brenda Morgenstern, the younge ...
,
Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Cartwright (born October 25, 1957) is an American actress. She is the long-time voice of Bart Simpson on the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', for which she has received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Perform ...
,
Yeardley Smith
Martha Maria Yeardley Smith ( ; born July 3, 1964) is an American actress, artist and writer. She currently stars as the voice of Lisa Simpson on the long-running animated television series ''The Simpsons''.
Smith became an actress in 1982 aft ...
,
Hank Azaria
Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for voicing many characters in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), most notably Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, ...
, and
Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...
. Castellaneta voices
Homer Simpson,
Grampa Simpson
Abraham Jebediah "Abe" Simpson II, better known as Grampa, is a recurring character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He made his first appearance in the episode entitled " Grandpa and the Kids", a one-minute Simpsons short on ...
,
Krusty the Clown
Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (; ) better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown (sometimes spelled as Krusty the Klown), is a recurring character on the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castel ...
,
Groundskeeper Willie
William MacMoran MacDougal, better known as Groundskeeper Willie, is a recurring character on ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He is the head groundskeeper and Janitor at Springfield Elementary School. Willie is almost feral in nature ...
,
Mayor Quimby,
Barney Gumble
Barnard Arnold "Barney" Gumble is a recurring character in the American animated TV series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared in the series premiere episode " Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".
Barney is the ...
, and other adult, male characters.
Julie Kavner
Julie Deborah Kavner (born September 7, 1950) is an American actress. Best known for her voice role as Marge Simpson on the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', Kavner first attracted notice for her role as Brenda Morgenstern, the younge ...
voices
Marge Simpson
Marjorie Jacqueline "Marge" Simpson () is a character in the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and part of the eponymous family. Voiced by Julie Kavner, she first appeared on television in '' The Tracey Ullman Show'' short " Good Night ...
and
Patty and Selma
Patricia Maleficent "Patty" Bouvier and Selma Bouvier-Terwilliger-Hutz-McClure-Discotheque-Simpson-D'Amico () are fictional characters in the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. They are identical twins and are voiced by Julie Kavner who ...
, as well as several minor characters. 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. Cartwright voices
Bart Simpson,
Nelson Muntz
Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and the lead school bully from the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', where he is best known for his signature mocking laugh "Ha-ha!". He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was first intro ...
,
Ralph Wiggum
Ralph Wiggum is a recurring character on the animated series, ''The Simpsons.'' He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Ralph, The son of Police Chief Wiggum, is a classmate of Lisa Simpson and is noted for his frequent non-sequiturs and humorous beh ...
and other children. Smith, the voice of
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. She is the middle child and most accomplished of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa was born as a character in '' The Tracey Ullman ...
, is the only cast member who regularly voices only one character, although she occasionally plays other episodic characters. 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, so she was given the role of Lisa instead. 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,
ndclever". Groening let her try out for the part instead, and upon hearing her read, gave her the job on the spot.
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. 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
Moe Szyslak is a recurring character from the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode " Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". Moe is the proprietor and bartender o ...
,
Chief Wiggum
Chief Clancy Wiggum is a fictional character from the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Hank Azaria. He is the chief of police in the show's setting of Springfield, and is the father of Ralph Wiggum and the husband of Sara ...
,
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a recurring character in the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is an Indian immigrant proprietor who runs the Kwik-E-Mart, a popular convenience store in Springfield, and is known for his catchphra ...
and
Professor Frink
Professor John I.Q. Nerdelbaum Frink Jr., is a new recurring character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the 1991 episode "Old Money". Frink is Springfield's nerdy scientist an ...
. Shearer provides voices for
Mr. Burns,
Mr. Smithers,
Principal Skinner
Principal Seymour Skinner (born Armin Tamzarian) is a recurring fictional character in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', who is voiced by Harry Shearer. He is the principal of Springfield Elementary School, which he struggles to control, an ...
,
Ned Flanders
Nedward "Ned" Flanders Jr. is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Harry Shearer and first appearing in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire." He is the good-natured, ch ...
,
Reverend Lovejoy
Reverend Timothy "Tim" Lovejoy, Jr. is a recurring character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head".
Rev. Lovejoy is the minister at The First Ch ...
and formerly
Dr. Hibbert. Every main cast member has won a
Primetime Emmy Award for
Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.
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. 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. In 2003, the cast appeared in an episode of ''
Inside the Actors Studio
''Inside the Actors Studio'' is an American talk show that airs on Ovation. The series premiered in 1994 on Bravo where it aired for 22 seasons and was hosted by James Lipton from its premiere until 2018. It is taped at the Michael Schimmel C ...
'', 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. 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. The strike was resolved a month later and their salaries were increased to something between $250,000 and $360,000 per episode.
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.
[ The negotiations were soon completed, and the actors' salary was raised to $400,000 per episode.] 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.
In addition to the main cast, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Marcia Wallace
Marcia Karen Wallace (November 1, 1942 – October 25, 2013) was an American actress and comedian, primarily known for her roles in television situation comedies. She is best known for her roles as receptionist Carol Kester on the 1970s sitc ...
, Maggie Roswell, and Russi Taylor voice supporting characters. 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. Wiedergott left the show in 2010, and since then Chris Edgerly
Chris Edgerly (born August 6, 1969) is an American voice actor, comedian and singer.
Life and career
Edgerly provided the voice of Peter Potamus on the Adult Swim animated series, '' Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'', in addition to several ...
has appeared regularly to voice minor characters. Repeat "special guest" cast members include Albert Brooks, Phil Hartman
Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...
, Jon Lovitz
Jonathan Michael Lovitz (; born July 21, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990. Lovitz starred as Jay Sherman in '' The Critic'' and played a baseball scout in '' A League of ...
, Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor.
Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jeff ...
, Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and impressionist. He has voiced the Brain in '' Animaniacs'' as well as its spin-off '' Pinky and the Brain'', Big Bob in ''Hey Arnold!'' (1996–2004), and a variety of ...
, and Kelsey Grammer
Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained notoriety and acclaim for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984-1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993-2004), ...
. Following Hartman's death in 1998, the characters he voiced ( Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz) were retired; Wallace's character of Edna Krabappel
Edna Krabappel-Flanders ( Krabappel; ) is a fictional character from the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Marcia Wallace from 1990 until her death in October 2013. She was a 4th-grade teacher, who taught Bart Simpson's class a ...
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
Grey DeLisle (; born Erin Grey Van Oosbree; August 24, 1973), sometimes credited as Grey Griffin, is an American voice actress, comedian and singer-songwriter. DeLisle is known for various roles in animated productions and video games. On Sept ...
.
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
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...
was the first guest star to appear as himself, appearing briefly in the season two episode "Dancin' Homer
"Dancin' Homer" is the fifth episode of the second season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 8, 1990. In the episode, Homer becomes the Springfield I ...
". ''The Simpsons'' holds the world record for "Most Guest Stars Featured in a Television Series".
''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
Standard French (in French: ''le français standard'', ''le français normé'', ''le français neutre'' eutral Frenchor ''le français international'' nternational French is an unofficial term for a standard variety of the French language. It ...
and Quebec French. 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
Soda or SODA may refer to:
Chemistry
* Some chemical compounds containing sodium
** Sodium carbonate, washing soda or soda ash
** Sodium bicarbonate, baking soda
** Sodium hydroxide, caustic soda
** Sodium oxide, an alkali metal oxide
* Sod ...
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.
Animation
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
Klasky-Csupo, Inc. (stylized as KLaSKY CSUPO INC., doing business as Klasky Csupo, ) is an American animation studio located in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1982 by producer Arlene Klasky and Hungarian animator Gábor Csupó (he ...
. With the debut of the series, because of an increased workload, Fox subcontracted production to several local and foreign studios. These are AKOM, Anivision
Anivision () was a Korean animation studio. It was founded in March 1991, then merged with Sunwoo Entertainment in April 2003.
Filmography
* ''The Simpsons'' (1991–99; 59 episodes)
* ''Rugrats'' (1992–2002; 73 episodes)
* ''Aaahh!!! Real Mon ...
, Rough Draft Studios
Rough Draft Studios, Inc. is an American animation production studio based in Glendale, California, with a second studio in Glendale and its sister studio Rough Draft Korea located in Seoul, South Korea. The studio was founded in Van Nuys, Lo ...
, USAnimation, and Toonzone Entertainment.
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, 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
Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation.
Proc ...
to digital ink and paint
Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation.
Pr ...
. 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.
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.
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. Matt Groening called it a complicated change because it affected the timing and composition of animation.
Themes
''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, serving as a satirical parody of a middle class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...
American lifestyle. 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. 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.
Some commentators say the show is political in nature and susceptible to a left-wing bias. Al Jean
Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...
acknowledged in an interview that "We he showare of liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
bent." The writers often evince an appreciation for progressive leanings, but the show makes jokes across the political spectrum. The show portrays government and large corporations as evil entities that take advantage of the common worker. Thus, the writers often portray authority figures in an unflattering or negative light. In ''The Simpsons'', politicians are corrupt, ministers such as Reverend Lovejoy
Reverend Timothy "Tim" Lovejoy, Jr. is a recurring character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head".
Rev. Lovejoy is the minister at The First Ch ...
are dismissive to churchgoers, and the local police force is incompetent. Religion also figures as a recurring theme. In times of crisis, the family often turns to God, and the show has dealt with most of the major religions.
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
''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).
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. 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.
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,[ 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.
]
Halloween episodes
The special Halloween episode has become an annual tradition. "Treehouse of Horror
''Treehouse of Horror'' is an annual series of special Halloween-themed episodes of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', with 33 anthology episodes between 1990 and 2022. Also known as ''The Simpsons Halloween Specials'', each episode typica ...
" first broadcast in 1990 as part of season two and established the pattern of three separate, self-contained stories in each Halloween episode. 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. 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
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
with Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
's World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
. 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. 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
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
, 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. 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."
One of Bart's early hallmark
A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term '' hallmark'' can a ...
s was his prank calls to Moe's Tavern
Springfield is the primary fictional setting of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and related media. It is an average-sized, fictional city within an indeterminate state in the United States. The fictional city's geography, surroundi ...
owner Moe Szyslak
Moe Szyslak is a recurring character from the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode " Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". Moe is the proprietor and bartender o ...
in which Bart calls Moe and asks for a gag name
A gag name is a pseudonym intended to be humorous through its similarity to both a real name and a term or phrase that is funny, strange, or vulgar. The source of humor stems from the double meaning behind the phrase, although use of the name wit ...
. 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.
Moe was based partly on Tube Bar owner Louis "Red" Deutsch, whose often profane responses inspired Moe's violent side. 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.[ James L. Brooks; Groening, Matt; Jean, Al. (2001). Commentary for " Some Enchanted Evening", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete First Season'' VD 20th Century Fox.] ''The Simpsons'' also often includes self-referential
Self-reference occurs in natural or formal languages when a sentence, idea or formula refers to itself. The reference may be expressed either directly—through some intermediate sentence or formula—or by means of some encoding. In philoso ...
humor. The most common form is jokes about Fox Broadcasting. 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
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
's "We Are the Champions
"We Are the Champions" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released from the band's sixth album ''News of the World'' (1977). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, it remains among rock's most recognisable anthems. ", in reference to the 2004 U.S. presidential election and claims of conservative bias in Fox News.
The show uses catchphrase
A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
s, and most of the primary and secondary characters have at least one each. Notable expressions include Homer's annoyed grunt " D'oh!", Mr. Burns' "Excellent" and Nelson Muntz
Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and the lead school bully from the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', where he is best known for his signature mocking laugh "Ha-ha!". He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was first intro ...
's "''Ha''-ha!" Some of Bart's catchphrases, such as "''¡Ay, caramba!
"''¡Ay, caramba!''" (), from the Spanish interjections (denoting surprise or pain) and (a minced oath for ), is an exclamation used in Portuguese (''Ai, caramba!'') and Spanish to denote surprise (usually positive).
In popular culture
The ex ...
''", "Don't have a cow, man!" and "Eat my shorts!" appeared on T-shirts in the show's early days. 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."
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
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
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. Another episode, " When You Dish Upon a Star", lampooned 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 ...
as a division of The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
. Nineteen years later, Disney purchased Fox. Other examples purported as ''The Simpsons'' predicting the future include the introduction of the Smartwatch, video chat services, autocorrection technology, and Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
's acrobatic performance at the Super Bowl LI
Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New ...
halftime show.
Fact-checking sources such as Snopes
''Snopes'' , formerly known as the ''Urban Legends Reference Pages'', is a fact-checking website. It has been described as a "well-regarded reference for sorting out myths and rumors" on the Internet. The site has also been seen as a source f ...
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". For example, the device shown on ''The Simpsons'' with autocorrection is an Apple Newton
The Newton is a series of personal digital assistants (PDAs) developed and marketed by Apple Computer, Inc. An early device in the PDA category (the Newton originated the term), it was the first to feature handwriting recognition. Apple started ...
, a real 1993 device notorious for its poor handwriting recognition
Handwriting recognition (HWR), also known as handwritten text recognition (HTR), is the ability of a computer to receive and interpret intelligible handwritten input from sources such as paper documents, photographs, touch-screens and other de ...
. Technologically advanced watches have appeared in numerous works of fiction, decades before ''The Simpsons''.
Influence and legacy
Idioms
A number of neologism
A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...
s that originated on ''The Simpsons'' have entered popular vernacular.[ ]Mark Liberman
Mark Yoffe Liberman is an American linguist. He has a dual appointment at the University of Pennsylvania, as Trustee Professor of Phonetics in the Department of Linguistics, and as a professor in the Department of Computer and Information Scienc ...
, director of the Linguistic Data Consortium The Linguistic Data Consortium is an open consortium of universities, companies and government research laboratories. It creates, collects and distributes speech and text databases, lexicons, and other resources for linguistics research and developm ...
, 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." 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
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'', but without the apostrophe. 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.
Groundskeeper Willie
William MacMoran MacDougal, better known as Groundskeeper Willie, is a recurring character on ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He is the head groundskeeper and Janitor at Springfield Elementary School. Willie is almost feral in nature ...
's description of the French as " cheese-eating surrender monkeys" was used by ''National Review
''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...
'' columnist Jonah Goldberg
Jonah Jacob Goldberg (born March 21, 1969) is an American conservative syndicated columnist, author, political analyst, and commentator. The founding editor of ''National Review Online'', from 1998 until 2019 he was an editor at '' National Revie ...
in 2003, after France's opposition to the proposed invasion of Iraq. The phrase quickly spread to other journalists.[ "" and "embiggen", words used in "]Lisa the Iconoclast
"Lisa the Iconoclast" is the sixteenth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 18, 1996. In this episode, Lisa writes an ...
", have since appeared in the Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon, and scientific journals respectively.[ "Kwyjibo", a fake ]Scrabble
''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left t ...
word invented by Bart in " Bart the Genius", was used as one of the aliases of the creator of the Melissa worm. "I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords", was used by Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Harry Shearer and first appeared in the episode " Krusty Gets Busted". He is a grumpy, self-centered local Springfield news anchor.
Prof ...
in " Deep Space Homer" and has become a snowclone
A snowclone is a cliché and phrasal template that can be used and recognized in multiple variants. The term was coined as a neologism in 2004, derived from journalistic clichés that referred to the number of Inuit words for snow.
History and ...
, with variants of the utterance used to express obsequious submission. It has been used in media, such as '' New Scientist'' magazine. The dismissive term "Meh", believed to have been popularized by the show, entered the Collins English Dictionary
The ''Collins English Dictionary'' is a printed and online dictionary of English. It is published by HarperCollins in Glasgow.
The edition of the dictionary in 1979 with Patrick Hanks as editor and Laurence Urdang as editorial director, wa ...
in 2008. Other words credited as stemming from the show include "yoink" and "craptacular".[
''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.
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
''The Simpsons'' was the first successful animated program in American prime time since ''Wait Till Your Father Gets Home
''Wait Till Your Father Gets Home'' is an American comedy animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that aired in first-run syndication in the United States from 1972 to 1974. The show originated as a one-time segment on ''Love, ...
'' in the 1970s. 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, initially leading to a short period where networks attempted to recreate prime-time cartoon success with shows like ''Capitol Critters
''Capitol Critters'' is an American animated sitcom about the lives of mice, rats and roaches who reside in the basement and walls of the White House in Washington, D.C. The series was produced by Steven Bochco Productions and Hanna-Barbera in ...
'', '' Fish Police'', and '' Family Dog'', which were expensive and unsuccessful. ''The Simpsons'' use of Korean animation studios for tweening
Inbetweening, also known as tweening, is a process in animation that involves creating intermediate frames, called inbetweens, between two keyframes. The intended result is to create the illusion of movement by smoothly transitioning one image i ...
, 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. 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
''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an Am ...
'', '' Futurama'' (which was created by Matt Groening), and ''The Critic
''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers a ...
'' (which was also produced by Gracie Films). 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."
''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''. ''South Park'' later paid homage to ''The Simpsons'' with the episode " Simpsons Already Did It". In " Simpsorama", the Planet Express crew from ''Futurama'' come to Springfield in the present to prevent the Simpsons from destroying the future. In the ''Family Guy'' episode " The Simpsons Guy", the Griffins visit Springfield and meet the Simpsons.
''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
A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...
unlike most sitcoms. ''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'', and fellow British sitcom '' Spaced'' was, according to its director Edgar Wright, "an attempt to do a live-action ''The Simpsons''." In Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, 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.
Release
Broadcast
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.[FXX Lands 'The Simpsons' In Biggest Off-Network Deal In TV History]
''Deadline Hollywood'', November 15, 2013
FXX premiered ''The Simpsons'' on their network on August 21, 2014, by starting a twelve-day Marathon (television), 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). 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. 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. 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).
After Disney Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, acquired both 20th Television and FX Networks, it was announced that ''The Simpsons'' would air on the company's Freeform (TV channel), Freeform channel starting October 2, 2019.
Streaming and digital sell-through
On October 21, 2014, a digital service courtesy of the FX (TV channel)#Other services, 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. 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. Later it was announced that ''Simpsons World'' would now let users watch all of the SD episodes in their original format. ''Simpsons World'' was discontinued after the launch of Disney+ on November 12, 2019, where the series streams exclusively. 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. 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." 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. 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. 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.
In July 2017, all episodes from seasons 4 to 19 were made available for purchase on the iTunes Store in Canada.
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. In 1990, Bart quickly became one of the most popular characters on television in what was termed "Bartmania". 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; as many as one million were sold on some days. 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!')". ''The Simpsons'' merchandise sold well and generated $2 billion in revenue during the first 14 months of sales. 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.
Due to the show's success, over the summer of 1990 the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Network decided to switch ''The Simpsons'' time slot from 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time Zone, ET on Sunday night to the same time on Thursday, where it competed with ''The Cosby Show'' on NBC, the Nielsen ratings, number one show at the time. Through the summer, several news outlets published stories about the supposed "Bill vs. Bart" rivalry.[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'' VD 20th Century Fox.] "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, and it is still the highest rated episode in the history of ''The Simpsons''. The show moved back to its Sunday slot in 1994 and has remained there ever since.
''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." 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." Tucker also described the show as a "pop-cultural phenomenon, a prime-time cartoon show that appeals to the entire family."
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. 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. 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). 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). 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. 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''. For example, the Japanese anime series ''Sazae-san#Anime series, Sazae-san'' has over 2,000 episodes (7,000+ segments) to its credit.[
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. 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''".
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."]
''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.
On February 6, 2019, it was announced that ''The Simpsons'' has been renewed for seasons 31 and 32.
On March 3, 2021, it was announced that ''The Simpsons'' was renewed for seasons 33 and 34.
Awards and honors
''The Simpsons'' has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 34 Primetime Emmy Awards, 34 Annie Awards and a Peabody Award. 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. In that same issue, ''Time'' included Bart Simpson in the ''Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century, Time 100'', the publication's list of the century's 100 most influential people. 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. Also in 2000, ''Entertainment Weekly'' magazine TV critic Ken Tucker named ''The Simpsons'' the greatest television show of the 1990s in television, 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, and 2005's The 100 Greatest Cartoons, with Homer Simpson voted into first place in 2001's 100 Greatest TV Characters. Homer also placed ninth on ''Entertainment Weekly'' list of the "50 Greatest TV icons". In 2002, ''The Simpsons'' ranked No. 8 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, ''TV Guide''s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and was ranked the No. 6 cult show in 2004. In 2007, it moved to No. 8 on TV Guide's cult shows list and was included in ''Time'' list of the "100 Best TV Shows of All Time". In 2008 the show was placed in first on ''Entertainment Weekly'' "Top 100 Shows of the Past 25 Years". ''Empire (film magazine), Empire'' named it the greatest TV show of all time. In 2010, ''Entertainment Weekly'' named Homer "the greatest character of the last 20 years", while in 2013 the Writers Guild of America listed ''The Simpsons'' as the 11th "best written" series in television history. In 2013, TV Guide ranked ''The Simpsons'' as the greatest TV cartoon of all time and the tenth greatest show of all time. A 2015 ''The Hollywood Reporter'' survey of 2,800 actors, producers, directors, and other industry people named it as their No. 10 favorite show. In 2015, British newspaper ''The Telegraph'' named ''The Simpsons'' as one of the 10 best TV sitcoms of all time. 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): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time, TV (The Book)''. In 2022, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked ''The Simpsons'' as the second-greatest TV show of all time.
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. 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. Others described him as "egotistical, aggressive and mean-spirited". 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 ndhe thinks normal is very boring, and does things that others just wished they dare do." 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." 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 Great Depression, the Depression, too."
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. In a letter to the nuclear power-backed Greenwashing#Examples, 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."
Various episodes of the show have generated controversy. The Simpsons visit Australia in "Bart vs. Australia" (The Simpsons (season 6), season six, 1995) and Brazil in "Blame It on Lisa" (The Simpsons (season 13), season 13, 2002) and both episodes generated controversy and negative reaction in the visited countries. 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. Groening was a fierce and vocal critic of the episode " A Star Is Burns" (The Simpsons (season 6), season six, 1995) which featured a fictional crossover, crossover with ''The Critic
''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers a ...
''. 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."
"The Principal and the Pauper" (The Simpsons (season 9), season nine, 1997) is one of the most controversial episodes of ''The Simpsons''. Many fans and critics reacted negatively to the revelation that Principal Skinner, Seymour Skinner, a recurring character since the first season, was an impostor. The episode has been criticized by Groening and by Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...
, 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."
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." In 2008, Venezuela barred the show from airing on morning television as it was deemed "unsuitable for children". The same year, several Russian Pentecostalism, 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.
Perceived decline in quality
Critics' reviews of early ''Simpsons'' episodes praised the show for its sassy humor, wit, realism, and intelligence. 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". 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.[ 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."]
In 2010, the BBC noted "the common consensus is that ''The Simpsons'' golden era ended after The Simpsons (season 9), season nine", and Todd Leopold of CNN, in an article looking at its perceived decline, stated "for many fans ... the glory days are long past." Similarly, Tyler Wilson of ''Coeur d'Alene Press'' has referred to seasons one to nine as the show's "golden age", and Ian Nathan of ''Empire (film magazine), Empire'' described the show's classic era as being "say, the first ten seasons." 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."
Mike Scully
Michael C. Scully (born October 2, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, ...
, who was showrunner during seasons nine through The Simpsons (season 12), twelve, has been the subject of criticism. Chris Suellentrop of ''Slate (magazine), Slate'' wrote that "under Scully's tenure, ''The Simpsons'' became, well, a cartoon ... Episodes that once would have ended with Duffless, Homer and Marge bicycling into the sunset now end with It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge, Homer blowing a tranquilizer dart into Marge's neck. The show's still funny, but it hasn't been touching in years." 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."
Al Jean
Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...
, who was showrunner during seasons The Simpsons (season 13), thirteen through The Simpsons (season 33), thirty-three, 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." John Ortved, author of ''The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History'', characterized the Jean era as "toothless", and criticized what he perceived as the show's increase in social and political commentary. 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."
In 2004, cast member Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...
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." 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." 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." 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."
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. 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., the twenty-first season had an average of 7.2 million viewers.
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."
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
Seth Aaron Rogen (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and filmmaker. Originally a stand-up comedian in Vancouver, he moved to Los Angeles for a part in Judd Apatow's series '' Freaks and Geeks'', and then got a part o ...
and Evan Goldberg, Pete Holmes and Megan Amram to write episodes. In the season 32 episode, "I, Carumbus", the show itself makes a nod to these concerns in its credits gag where the god Jupiter (mythology), Jupiter notes that "It definitely feels like they're wrapping it up ... any day now."
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".
Race controversy
The stereotypical nature of the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a recurring character in the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is an Indian immigrant proprietor who runs the Kwik-E-Mart, a popular convenience store in Springfield, and is known for his catchphra ...
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." 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". In response to the controversy, Apu's voice actor, Hank Azaria
Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for voicing many characters in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), most notably Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, ...
, 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." 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, which Groening denied.
On June 26, 2020, in light of the various Black Lives Matter George Floyd protests, protests, Fox announced that recurring characters of color (such as List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Lenny Leonard, Carl Carlson and Dr. Hibbert, among others) will no longer be voiced by white actors. Beginning with season 32, Carl, a black character originally voiced by Azaria, is now voiced by black actor Alex Désert. In addition, Bumblebee Man, a Spanish-speaking Latino character also originally voiced by Azaria, is now voiced by Mexican-American actor Eric Lopez (voice actor), Eric Lopez, and Dr. Hibbert, a black character originally voiced by Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...
, is now voiced by black actor Kevin Michael Richardson.
Other media
Comic books
Numerous Simpson-related comic books have been released over the years. So far, nine comic book series have been published by Bongo Comics Group, Bongo Comics since 1993. The first comic strips based on ''The Simpsons'' appeared in 1991 in the magazine ''Simpsons Illustrated'', which was a companion magazine to the show. The comic strips were popular and a one-shot comic book titled ''List of The Simpsons comics#Simpsons Comics and Stories, Simpsons Comics and Stories'', containing four different stories, was released in 1993 for the fans. The book was a success and due to this, the creator of ''The Simpsons'', Matt Groening, and his companions Bill Morrison (comics), Bill Morrison, Mike Rote, Steve Vance and Cindy Vance created the publishing company Bongo Comics. Issues of ''List of The Simpsons comics, Simpsons Comics'', ''List of The Simpsons comics#Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror paperbacks, Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror'' and ''Big Bad Book of Bart Simpson, Bart Simpson'' have been collected and reprinted in trade paperback (comics), trade paperbacks in the United States by HarperCollins.
Film
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 ...
and Gracie Films
Gracie Films is an American film and television production company founded by James L. Brooks in 1986. The company is primarily responsible for producing its long-running flagship animated series ''The Simpsons'', as well as the films '' Big'', ...
produced ''The Simpsons Movie
''The Simpsons Movie'' is a 2007 American Animation, animated comedy film based on the long-running animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. The film was directed by the show's supervising director David Silverman (animator), David Silverman and star ...
'', an animated film that was released on July 27, 2007. 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
Michael L. Reiss ( '; born ) is an American television comedy writer and author. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series ''The Simpsons'' and co-created the animated series '' The Critic''. He created and wrote ...
, John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, David Mirkin
David Mirkin (born ) is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Mar ...
, Mike Scully
Michael C. Scully (born October 2, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, ...
, Matt Selman, and Ian Maxtone-Graham. 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. 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. For a long time, difficulties such as lack of a suitable story and an already fully engaged crew of writers delayed the project.
On August 10, 2018, 20th Century Fox announced that a sequel is in development.
Music
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''. 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, ''Billboard'' 200 and becoming certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The first single from the album was the Hip hop music, 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. ''The Yellow Album'' was released in 1998, but received poor reception and did not chart in any country.
''The Simpsons'' Ride
In 2007, it was officially announced that The Simpsons Ride, ''The Simpsons'' Ride, a simulator ride, would be implemented into the Universal Orlando, Universal Studios Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood. It officially opened May 15, 2008, in Florida and May 19, 2008, in Hollywood. In the ride, patrons are introduced to a cartoon theme park called Krustyland built by Krusty the Clown
Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (; ) better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown (sometimes spelled as Krusty the Klown), is a recurring character on the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castel ...
. However, Sideshow Bob is loose from prison to get revenge on Krusty and the Simpson family
The Simpson family are the fictional characters featured in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of married couple Homer and Marge and their three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Th ...
. 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
Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained notoriety and acclaim for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984-1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993-2004), ...
. Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...
did not participate in the ride, so none of his characters have vocal parts.
Video games
Numerous video games based on the show have been produced. Some of the early games include Konami's arcade game ''The Simpsons Arcade Game, The Simpsons'' (1991) and Acclaim Entertainment's ''The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants'' (1991). More modern games include ''The Simpsons: Road Rage'' (2001), ''The Simpsons: Hit & Run'' (2003) and ''The Simpsons Game'' (2007). Electronic Arts, which produced ''The Simpsons Game'', has owned the exclusive rights to create video games based on the show since 2005. In 2010, they released a game called ''The Simpsons Arcade'' for iOS. Another EA-produced mobile game, ''The Simpsons: Tapped Out, Tapped Out'', was released in 2012 for iOS users, then in 2013 for Android (operating system), Android and Kindle Fire, Kindle users. Two ''Simpsons'' pinball machines have been produced: one that was available briefly after the first season, and another in 2007, both out of production.
Merchandise
The popularity of ''The Simpsons'' has made it a billion-dollar merchandising industry. 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 Cluedo, Clue, Scrabble
''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left t ...
, Monopoly (game), Monopoly, Operation (game), 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 (card games), 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''. In particular, seasons one through seventeen were released on DVD for 13 years between September 2001 to December 2014 in the U.S./Canada (DVD region code#1, Region 1), Europe (DVD region code#2, Region 2), and Australia/New Zealand/Latin America (DVD region code#4, 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. 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. Two years later, however, on July 22, 2017, it was announced that Season 18 would be released on December 5, 2017, on DVD. Another two years later, on July 20, 2019, it was announced that Season 19 would be released on December 3, 2019, on DVD.
In 2003, about 500 companies around the world were licensed to use ''Simpsons'' characters in their advertising. As a promotion for ''The Simpsons Movie
''The Simpsons Movie'' is a 2007 American Animation, animated comedy film based on the long-running animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. The film was directed by the show's supervising director David Silverman (animator), David Silverman and star ...
'', 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".
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. 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. ''The Simpsons'' is the first television series still in production to receive this recognition. The stamps, designed by Matt Groening, were made available for purchase on May 7, 2009. Approximately one billion were printed, but only 318 million were sold, costing the Postal Service $1.2 million.
Notes
References
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External links
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''The Simpsons''
on Disney+
''The Simpsons'' Archive
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''The Simpsons''
on Metacritic
''The Simpsons''
on Rotten Tomatoes
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''The Simpsons''
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia]
Archived
from the original on June 4, 2017.
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