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The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Developed by Groening, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon, the series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Set in the fictional town of Springfield, it caricatures society, Western culture, television, and the human condition.

The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with producer Brooks. He created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after his own family members, substituting Bart for his own name; he thought Simpson was a funny name in that it sounded similar to "simpleton". The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After three seasons, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and became Fox's first series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–1990).

Since its debut on December 17, 1989, 768 episodes of the show have been broadcast. It is the longest-running American animated series, longest-running American sitcom, and the longest-running American scripted primetime television series, both in seasons and individual episodes. A feature-length film, The Simpsons Movie, was released in theaters worldwide on July 27, 2007, to critical and commercial success, with a sequel in development as of 2018. The series has also spawned numerous comic book series, video games, books, and other related media, as well as a billion-dollar merchandising industry. The Simpsons is a joint production by Gracie Films and 20th Television. (Full article...)

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The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes, also known as The Simpsons Halloween episodes, are a series of episodes in the animated television series The Simpsons. They are Halloween specials and consist of three separate, self-contained segments. These segments usually involve the Simpson family in some horror, science fiction, or supernatural setting. Considered non-canon, they always take place outside the normal continuity of the show and completely abandon any pretense of being realistic. The first Treehouse of Horror episode aired on October 25, 1990 as part of the second season and was inspired by EC Comics horror tales. There are currently eighteen Treehouse of Horror episodes, with one airing every year. The episodes are known for being more violent than an average Simpsons episode and contain several trademarks, including the alien characters Kang and Kodos, "scary names" in the credits, a special version of the opening sequence, and parodies of horror and science fiction films. The show's staff regard the Treehouse of Horror as being particularly difficult to produce as the scripts often go through many rewrites, and the animators typically have to design many new characters and backgrounds.

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Credit: CoolKid1993

A can of Buzz Cola, an officially licensed product of Twentieth Century Fox. Buzz Cola is one of the many products in The Simpsons which spoofs real-life products. Buzz Cola was sold in 7-Eleven stores as a promotion for The Simpsons Movie.

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“

Who are you? What do you want? What year is it? Who are you?

”

— Abraham Simpson ("Million Dollar Abie")

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"The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" is the first episode of The Simpsons' ninth season, and premiered on September 21, 1997 on Fox. The episode sees the Simpson family traveling to Manhattan to recover the family car, which was taken by Barney and abandoned outside the World Trade Center complex with numerous parking tickets. Upon arrival, the family tour the city, while Homer attempts to find his car. He discovers it outside the World Trade Center, where a parking officer later arrives to remove the clamp, but leaves as Homer is urinating inside one of the towers. In frustration, Homer decides to drive the car with the clamp attached. He successfully removes it later and races to Central Park to find his family and leave the city. Writer Ian Maxtone-Graham was interested in making an episode where the Simpson family travels to New York to retrieve their lost car. Executive producers Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein suggested that the car be found in the World Trade Center plaza, as they wanted a location that would be widely known. Great lengths were taken to make a detailed replica of the city of Manhattan. The episode received generally positive reviews, and has since been on accolade lists of Simpsons episodes. The "You're Checkin' In" musical sequence won two awards. Because of the World Trade Center's central role, the episode was initially taken off syndication in many areas following the September 11, 2001 attacks, but has come back into syndication in recent years.

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Did you know...

...that The Simpsons' history began when Matt Groening conceived of the dysfunctional family in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office?

...that Lisa Simpson's struggles to be a voice of reason in her family struck a chord with viewers in Japan and the broadcasters found they were able to turn the apparent dislike of the series around by focusing marketing attention on her?

...that before Hank Azaria joined the show, he had previously performed only one voice over, as an animated dog in the Fox pilot Hollywood Dog?

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

Image 1
David Mirkin
Image 2Morgan Spurlock produced a documentary on The Simpsons in order to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 3Hank Azaria has won four Emmy awards for Outstanding Voice-over Performance (from List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons)
Image 4In 2001, Yeardley Smith's character Lisa Simpson won an EMA Award. (from List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons)
Image 5David Silverman, director of The Simpsons Movie.
Image 6In 2004, Matt Groening won a Lifetime achievement British Comedy Award.
Image 7In 1991, Nancy Cartwright accepted a Kids' Choice Awards while wearing a Bart Simpson costume. (from List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons)
Image 8Michael Jackson co-wrote the single "Do the Bartman" (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 9Voice actor Phil Hartman was killed by his wife in a murder–suicide in 1998. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 10Voice actress Maggie Roswell left The Simpsons over a pay dispute, but returned three years later. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 11"Lisa the Vegetarian", an episode produced by David Mirkin, won a Genesis Award in 1996
Image 12The Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop, as seen in the Springfield section of Universal Studios Hollywood (from Springfield (The Simpsons))
Image 13James L. Brooks has won twelve Emmys with The Simpsons.
Image 14Matt Selman won a WGA Award in 2004. (from List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons)
Image 15Part of the writing staff of The Simpsons in 1992 (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 16Moe's Bar in Concepción, Chile, based on images from The Simpsons. (from Springfield (The Simpsons))
Image 17The Simpsons' visit to Rio de Janeiro almost led to a lawsuit and a diplomatic incident. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 18The show was criticized by several conservatives. Among those were President George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 19The Simpsons Movie premiered in Springfield, Vermont. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 20A Seattle 7-Eleven store transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart. (from Springfield (The Simpsons))
Image 21
Mike Scully
(from History of The Simpsons)

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

— James L. Brooks

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