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The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a satirical parody of the middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its titular family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield, and it lampoons many aspects of the human condition, as well as American culture, society as a whole, and television itself.



The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a pitch for a series of animated shorts with the producer James L. Brooks. Groening created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family, substituting Bart for his own name.[1] The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987.[2] After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and was an early hit for Fox, becoming the first Fox series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1992-1993).[3]



Since its debut on December 17, 1989, the show has broadcast 420 episodes and the twentieth season will commence airing in fall of 2008.[4] The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on July 26 and July 27, 2007, and has grossed approximately US$526.2 million worldwide to date.



The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 23 Emmy Awards, 26 Annie Awards and a Peabody Award. Time magazine's December 31, 1999 issue named it the 20th century's best television series,[5] and on January 14, 2000 it was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Simpsons is the longest-running American sitcom[6] and the longest-running American animated program.[7] Homer's annoyed grunt "D'oh!" has been adopted into the English lexicon, while The Simpsons has influenced many adult-oriented animated sitcoms.[8]

Contents

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* 1 Origins

* 2 Production

o 2.1 Executive producers

o 2.2 Writing

o 2.3 Voice actors

o 2.4 Animation

* 3 Characters

* 4 Setting

* 5 Themes

* 6 Hallmarks

o 6.1 Opening sequence

o 6.2 Halloween episodes

o 6.3 Humor

* 7 Influences on culture

o 7.1 Influences on language

o 7.2 Influence on television

* 8 Reception and achievements

o 8.1 Awards

o 8.2 Run length achievements

o 8.3 Criticism of declining quality

* 9 Merchandise

o 9.1 DVDs

o 9.2 Video games

* 10 Film

* 11 Notes

* 12 References

* 13 Further reading

* 14 External links



Origins



Main articles: History of The Simpsons and The Simpsons shorts



Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. Brooks had asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts, which Groening initially intended to present as his Life in Hell series. However, when Groening realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life's work, he chose another approach and formulated his version of a dysfunctional family.[9] He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name.[1]

The Simpson family as they first appeared in The Tracey Ullman Show.

The Simpson family as they first appeared in The Tracey Ullman Show.



The Simpson family first appeared as shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987.[2] 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 short episodes.[1]



In 1989, a team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included what is now the Klasky Csupo animation house. Jim Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content.[10] 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.[11] The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989 with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", a Christmas special.[12] "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990 because of animation problems.[13]



The Simpsons was the Fox network's first TV series to rank among a season's top 30 highest-rated shows.[14] Its success prompted Fox to reschedule the series to compete with The Cosby Show, a move that hurt the ratings of The Simpsons.[15] In 1992, Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit against Fox, claiming that her show was the source of the series' success. The suit said she should receive a share of the profits of The Simpsonsâ??a claim rejected by the courts.[16]



The show was controversial from its beginning. The rebellious lead character at the time, Bart, frequently received no punishment for his misbehavior, which led some parents and conservatives to characterize him as a poor role model for children.[17][18] At the time, then-President George H. W. Bush said, "We're going to strengthen the American family to make them more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons."[19] Several U.S. public schools even banned The Simpsons merchandise and t-shirts, such as one featuring Bart and the caption "Underachiever ('And proud of it, man!')".[19] Despite the ban, The Simpsons merchandise sold well and generated US$2 billion in revenue during the first 14 months of sales.[19]



Production



Executive producers



List of show runners throughout the series' run:



* Season 1â??2: Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, & Sam Simon

* Season 3â??4: Al Jean & Mike Reiss

* Season 5â??6: David Mirkin

* Season 7â??8: Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein

* Season 9â??12: Mike Scully

* Season 13â??present: Al Jean



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, who served as creative supervisor for the first four seasons, also still receives an executive producer credit despite not having worked on the show since 1993.[20] A more involved position on the show is the show runner, who acts as head writer and manages the show's production for an entire season.[21]



Writing



Main article: List of writers of The Simpsons



Al Jean (left) is the current executive producer of the show and David Mirkin (right) is a former executive producer and has been a part of the writing staff since 1994.

Al Jean (left) is the current executive producer of the show and David Mirkin (right) is a former executive producer and has been a part of the writing staff since 1994.



The Simpsons's writing team consists of sixteen writers who propose episode ideas at the beginning of each December.[22] 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 showâ??s vocal performers.[23] The leader of these sessions is George Meyer, who has developed the show since Season One. According to long-time writer Jon Vitti, Meyer usually invents the best lines in a given episode, even though other writers may receive script credits.[23] Each episode takes six months to produce so the show rarely comments on current events.[24] However, episodes occasionally mention planned events, such as the Olympics or the Super Bowl.

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

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



Credited with sixty episodes, John Swartzwelder is the most prolific writer on The Simpsons' staff.[25] 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.[26] English comedian Ricky Gervais wrote the episode "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife", becoming the first celebrity to both write and guest star in an episode.[27] Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, writers of the film Superbad will write an episode and Rogen will voice a character in it.[28][29]



At the end of 2007 the writers of The Simpsons went on strike together with the rest of the Writers Guild of America. The show's writers had joined the guild in 1998.[30] The strike will only affect one of the planned twenty-three episodes in the 19th season.[31]



Voice actors



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



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.[32] 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.[33] In 2003, the cast appeared in an episode of Inside the Actors Studio, doing live performances of their characters' voices.



The Simpsons has six main cast members. Dan Castellaneta performs Homer Simpson, Abraham Simpson, Krusty the Clown, and other adult, male characters.[34] Julie Kavner speaks the voices of Marge Simpson and Patty and Selma, as well as several minor characters.[34] Nancy Cartwright performs the voices of Bart Simpson, Ralph Wiggum and other children.[34] Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson, is the only cast member who regularly voices only one character, although she occasionally plays other episodic characters.[34] There are two male actors who do not voice members of the title family but play a majority of the male townspeople. Hank Azaria voices recurring characters such as Moe, Chief Wiggum, and Apu, and Harry Shearer provides voices for Mr. Burns, Smithers, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, and Dr. Hibbert.[34] With the exception of Harry Shearer, every main cast member has won an Emmy for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.[35]

Hank Azaria has been a part of the Simpsons regular voice cast since the second season.

Hank Azaria has been a part of the Simpsons regular voice cast since the second season.[36]



Up until 1998, the six main actors were paid $30,000 per episode. In 1998 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. The series creator Groening supported the actors in their action.[37] However, 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.[38][39] The strike was resolved a month later[40] and their salaries were increased to something between $250,000[41] and $360,000 per episode.[42] 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.[42] The dispute was soon resolved, and the actors' salary was raised to $400,000 per episode.[43]



In addition to the main cast, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Marcia Wallace, Maggie Roswell, and Russi Taylor voice supporting characters.[34] From 1999 to 2002, Maggie Roswell's characters were voiced by Marcia Mitzman Gaven. Karl Wiedergott has appeared in minor roles, but does not voice any recurring characters.[44] Repeat "special guest" cast members include Albert Brooks, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Joe Mantegna, and Kelsey Grammer.[45]



Episodes will quite often feature guest voices from a wide range of professions, including actors, athletes, authors, bands, musicians and scientists. In the earlier seasons, most of the guest stars voiced characters, but eventually more started appearing as themselves. Tony Bennett was the first guest star to appear as himself, appearing briefly in the season two episode "Dancin' Homer".[46] The Simpsons holds the world record for "Most Guest Stars Featured in a Television Series".[47]



The show has been dubbed into several other languages, including Japanese, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. It is also one the few programs dubbed in both French and Quebec French.[48] The Simpsons has been broadcast in Arabic, but due to Islamic customs, numerous aspects of the show have been changed. For example, Homer drinks soda instead of beer and eats Egyptian beef sausages instead of hot dogs. Because of such changes, the Arabized version of the series met with a negative reaction from the life-long Simpsons fans in the area.[49]



Animation



International animation studios involved:



AKOM



* Exclusively produced the first two seasons of the series.

* Produced episodes throughout the run of the series.



Anivision



* Produced animation for episodes from seasons 3â??10.



Rough Draft Studios



* Produced animation for episodes from Season Four onwards.



U.S. Animation, Inc.



* Jointly produced "Radioactive Man" with Anivision.

* Produced "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular"



Toonzone Entertainment



* Produced "The Fat and the Furriest" and "She Used to Be My Girl".



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.[50] With the debut of the series, because of an increased workload, Fox subcontracted production to several international studios, located in South Korea.[50] Artists at the U.S. animation studio, Film Roman, draw storyboards, design new characters, backgrounds, props and draw 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.[51]



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,[52] who continue to animate the show as of 2008.



In Season 14, production switched from traditional cel animation to digital ink and paint.[53] 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 "