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"Simpsons" redirects here. For the department store, see Simpsons (department store). For other uses, see The Simpsons (disambiguation).
| The Simpsons | |
|---|---|
 Clockwise from top left: Homer, Marge, Maggie, Santa\'s Little Helper (dog), Bart, Snowball II (cat), and Lisa. | |
| Genre | Animation Comedy |
| Created by | Matt Groening |
| Developed by | James L. Brooks Matt Groening Sam Simon |
| Voices of | Dan Castellaneta Julie Kavner Nancy Cartwright Yeardley Smith Hank Azaria Harry Shearer (Complete list) |
| Theme music composer | Danny Elfman |
| Opening theme | "The Simpsons Theme" |
| Composer(s) | Alf Clausen |
| Country of origin |  United States
|
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 19 |
| No. of episodes | 414 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Al Jean James L. Brooks Matt Groening Sam Simon |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Fox |
| Picture format | NTSC or ATSC 720p60 pillarbox |
| Audio format | Dolby Surround (NTSC) Dolby Digital 2.0 (ATSC) |
| Original run | December 17, 1989 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Tracey Ullman Show |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
| | The Simpsons Portal |
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.BBC. (2000). \'The Simpsons\': America\'s First Family (6 minute edit for the season 1 DVD) (DVD). UK: 20th Century Fox. The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987.Richmond, p. 14 After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and was an early hit for Fox.
Since its debut on December 17, 1989, the show has broadcast 414 episodes and is currently in its nineteenth season. The season 18 finale, which aired on May 20, 2007, was the show’s 400th episode, and 2007 marked the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons franchise. 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,"The Best Of The Century", TIME, 1999-12-31. Retrieved on 2007-06-03. and on January 14, 2000 it was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Simpsons is the longest-running American sitcomOwen, Rob (2003-01-21). TV Notes: \'Simpsons\' breaks record with contract renewal. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved on 2006-12-19. and the longest-running American animated program.Folkard, Claire (2006). Guinness World Records 2006. Bantam USA. ISBN 0553589067. Homer\'s annoyed grunt "D\'oh!" has been adopted into the English lexicon, while The Simpsons has influenced many adult-oriented animated sitcoms.The Simpsons: The world\'s favourite family. BBC News (2003-02-15). Retrieved on 2006-12-19.
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Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks\'s 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.Groening, Matt. Interview with David Bianculli. Fresh Air. National Public Radio. WHYY Philadelphia. 2003-02-14. Retrieved on 2007-08-08. He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name.
The Simpson family first appeared as shorts 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 short episodes.
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.Kuipers, Dean (2004-04-15). \'3rd Degree: Harry Shearer\'. Los Angeles: City Beat. Retrieved on 2006-09-01. 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.Tucker, Ken. "Toon Terrific", Entertainment Weekly, 1993-03-12, p. 48(3). The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989 with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", a Christmas special."Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" The Simpsons.com. Retrieved on February 5, 2007 "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990 because of animation problems.Groening, Matt. (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Some Enchanted Evening" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
The Simpsons was the Fox network\'s first TV series to rank among a season\'s top 30 highest-rated shows.TV Ratings: 1989–1990. ClassicTVHits.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-03. Its success prompted Fox to reschedule the series to compete with The Cosby Show, a move that hurt the ratings of The Simpsons.Rabin, Nathan (2006-04-26). Matt Groening: Interview. The A.V. Club. Retrieved on 2006-10-22. In 1992, Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit against Fox, claiming that her show was the source of the series\' success. The suit said she should receive a share of the profits of The Simpsons—a claim rejected by the courts.Spotnitz, Frank. "Eat my shorts!", Entertainment Weekly, 1992-10-23, p. 8(1).
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.Turner, p. 131Rosenbaum, Martin. "Is The Simpsons still subversive?", BBC News, 2007-06-29. Retrieved on 2007-08-06. At the time, then-current 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."Griffiths, Nick. "America\'s First Family", The Times Magazine, 2000-04-15, pp. 25, 27–28. Several US public schools even banned The Simpsons merchandise and t-shirts, such as one featuring Bart and the caption "Underachiever (\'And proud of it, man!\')". Despite the ban, The Simpsons merchandise sold well and generated US$2 billion in revenue during the first 14 months of sales.
List of show runners throughout the series\' run:
Matt Groening and James L. Brooks have served as executive producers during the show\'s entire history, and also function as creative consultants. Sam Simon, 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.Dan Snierson. "D\'Oh!", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 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.Cagle, Daryl. The David Silverman Interview. MSNBC. Retrieved on 2005-11-30.
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.Mitchell, Gail. "Mike Scully", Ultimate TV, 1999-01-24. 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.Owen, David. "Taking Humor Seriously", The New Yorker, 2000-03-13. 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. Each episode takes six months to produce so the show rarely comments on current events.Nixon, Geoff. "Mmmmmm... pop culture", The Silhouette, 2004-03-04. However, episodes occasionally mention planned events, such as the Olympics or the Super Bowl.
Credited with sixty episodes, John Swartzwelder is the most prolific writer on The Simpsons\' staff.Turner, p. 21 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.McGinty, Stephen. "The icing on the Simpsons\' cake", Scotsman, 2005-01-04. Retrieved on 2007-08-10. 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.Gervais writing Simpsons episode. BBC News (2004-12-23). Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
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.Munoz, Lorenza. "Why SpongeBob is sitting out the writers strike", Los Angeles Times, 2007-12-23. Retrieved on 2008-01-09. The strike will only affect one of the planned twenty-three episodes in the 19th season.On the Firing Line. Army Archerd (2007-11-08). Retrieved on 2007-11-11.
Hank Azaria has been a part of the Simpsons regular voice cast since the second season.Azaria, Hank. Interview with Terry Gross. Fresh Air. National Public Radio. WHHY Philadelphia. 2004-12-06. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
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.Groening, Matt; James L. Brooks, David Silverman. (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. 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.Groening, Matt; Jay Kogen, Wallace Wolodarsky, Al Jean, David Silverman. (2002). The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Old Money" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. 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.Richmond, pp. 178–179 Julie Kavner speaks the voices of Marge Simpson and Patty and Selma, as well as several minor characters. Nancy Cartwright performs the voice of Bart Simpson and other children. 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. 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, and Dr. Hibbert. With the exception of Harry Shearer, every main cast member has won an Emmy for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.O\'Niel, Tom. "Shearer snubbed again! Blame that Mr. Burns?", The Envelope, 2006-07-20. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
In addition to the main cast, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Marcia Wallace, Maggie Roswell, and Russi Taylor voice supporting characters. 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.McCann, Jesse L.; Matt Groening [2002]. The Simpsons Beyond Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family ...Still Continued. Harper Collins Publishers, p. 117. ISBN 0-06-050592-3. Repeat "special guest" cast members include Albert Brooks, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Joe Mantegna, and Kelsey Grammer.Finley, Adam (2006-06-20). The Five: Great Simpsons guest stars. TV Squad. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
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".Turner, p. 393 The Simpsons holds the world record for "Most Guest Stars Featured in a Television Series"."THE SIMPSONS - Season 19 (2007-2008", FoxFlash. Retrieved on 2007-10-21.
The main cast has been involved in much-publicized pay disputes with Fox on more than one occasion. In 1998, they threatened to strike, forcing 20th Century Fox to increase their salary from $30,000 per episode to $125,000. The series creator Groening supported the actors in their action.Doherty, Brian. "Matt Groening", Mother Jones, March/April 1999. The show\'s revenue continued to rise through syndication and DVD sales, the main cast stopped appearing for script readings in April 2004. The work stoppage occurred after weeks of unsuccessful negotiations with Fox, in which the cast asked for an increase in their pay to $360,000 per episode, or $8 million over a 22-episode season. On May 2, 2004, the actors reached an agreement with Fox.McGinnis, Rick. "Star talks Simpsons", metro, 2004-08-09.
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.Kay, Jonathan (2000-09-09). Caste Of Characters. Saturday Night Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-08-07. 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."D\'oh! Arabized Simpsons not getting many laughs", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2005-10-14. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
International animation studios involved:
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.Deneroff, Harvey. "Matt Groening\'s Baby Turns 10", Animation Magazine, Vol. 14, #1, January 2000, pp. 10, 12. With the debut of the series, because of an increased workload, Fox subcontracted production to several international studios, located in South Korea. 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 U.S. to be delivered to Fox three to four months later.Elber, Lynn. "TV\'s \'The Simpsons\' Goes Global", Associated Press, 2001-08-05. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
For the first three seasons, Klasky Csupo animated The Simpsons in the U.S. In 1992, the show\'s production company, Gracie Films, switched domestic production to Film Roman,"\'The Simpsons\' Producer Changes Animation Firms", Los Angeles Times, 1992-01-21. who continue to animate the show as of 2008.
In Season 14, production switched from traditional cel animation to digital ink and paint.Groening, Matt; Al Jean, Jeffrey Lynch, Mike Reiss, David Silverman. (2004). The Simpsons season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "Whacking Day" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. 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.Grala, Alyson. "A Salute to the Simpsons", License Mag, pp. p. 14. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
The Simpsons sports a vast array of secondary and tertiary characters.
The Simpsons are a typical family who live in a fictional "Middle American" town of Springfield.Turner, p. 28 Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant—a position at odds with his careless, buffoonish personality. He is married to Marge Simpson, a stereotypical American housewife and mother. They have three children: Bart, a ten-year-old troublemaker; Lisa, a precocious eight-year-old activist; and Maggie, a baby who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. The family owns a dog, Santa\'s Little Helper, and a cat, Snowball II. Both pets have had starring roles in several episodes. Despite the passing of yearly milestones such as holidays or birthdays, the Simpsons do not physically age and still appear just as they did at the end of the 1980s.
The show includes an array of quirky characters: co-workers, teachers, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople and local celebrities. The creators originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokesters 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.
The Simpsons takes place in the fictional American town of Springfield, without any geographical coordinates or references to U.S. states that might identify which part of the country it represents. Nevertheless, fans have tried to determine the town\'s location by taking the town\'s characteristics, surrounding geography, and nearby landmarks as clues. As a response, the show has become intentionally evasive in regard to Springfield\'s location.Turner, pp. 289–290 The name "Springfield" is a common one in America and appears in over half of the states.Geographic Names Information System Feature Query Results. US Geological Survey. Retrieved on 2007-06-05. Springfield\'s geography, and that of its surroundings, contain coastlines, deserts, vast farmland, tall mountains, or whatever the story or joke requires.Turner, p. 30 Despite this, Groening has said that Springfield has much in common with Portland, Oregon, the city where he grew up.Hamilton, Don (2002-07-19). Matt Groening’s Portland. Portland Tribune. Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
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. However, because of its animated nature, The Simpsons\'s 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.Turner, p. 55 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 media channels—from kids\' television programming to local news, which enables the producers to make jokes about themselves and the entertainment industry.Turner, p. 388
Some commentators say the show is political in nature and susceptible to a left-wing bias.Turner, pp. 221–222 Al Jean admitted in an interview that "We [the show] are of liberal bent."Turner, p. 223 The writers often evince an appreciation for progressive ideals, but the show makes jokes across the political spectrum.Turner, p. 224 The show portrays government and large corporations as callous 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 are indifferent to churchgoers, and the local police force is incompetent.Turner, p. 56 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.Pinsky, Mark I. "The Gospel According to Homer", Orlando Sentinel, 1999-08-15.
The Simpsons\' opening sequence is one of the show\'s most memorable hallmarks. Most episodes open with the camera zooming 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 opening was created by David Silverman, the first task he did when production began on the show.Top titles. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-08-01. The series\' distinctive theme song was composed by musician Danny Elfman in 1989, after Groening approached him requesting a retro style piece. This piece, which took two days to create, has been noted by Elfman as the most popular of his career.Glionna, John M. (1999). Danny Elfman in the L.A. Times. Danny Elfman\'s Music For A Darkened People. Retrieved on 2006-07-03.
One of the most distinctive aspects of the opening is that several segments are changed from episode to episode. Bart writes something different on the school chalkboard, Lisa may play a different solo on her saxophone and a different visual gag accompanies the family as they enter their living room to sit on the couch.Richmond, pp. 90–91
The special Halloween episode has become an annual tradition. "Treehouse of Horror" first broadcast in 1990 as part of season two and established the pattern of three separate, self-contained stories in each Halloween episode.Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). The Simpsons Halloween Special. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-11-09. 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.Turner, p. 31 They always take place outside the normal continuity of the show. Although the Treehouse series is meant to be seen on Halloween, in recent years, new installments have premiered after Halloween due to Fox\'s current contract with Major League Baseball\'s World Series.Ryan, Andrew. "Pick of the Day: The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XVII", The Globe and Mail, 2006-11-04, pp. p. 12.
The show\'s humor also turns on cultural references that cover a wide spectrum of society so that viewers from all generations can enjoy the show.Turner pp. 63–65 Such references, for example, come from movies, television, music, literature, science, and history. Whenever possible, the animators also put jokes or sight gags into the show\'s background via humorous or incongruous bits of text in signs, newspapers, and elsewhere.Turner p. 62 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. 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."King, Geoff (2002-03-29). New Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction. I B Tauris & Co. ISBN 1860647502.
The show uses catchphrases, and most of the primary and secondary characters have at least one each.Turner p. 60 Notable expressions include Homer\'s annoyed grunt "D\'oh!", Mr. Burns\' "Excellent..." and Nelson Muntz\'s "Ha-ha!". Some of Bart\'s catchphrases, such as "¡Ay, caramba!", "Don\'t have a cow, man!" and "Eat my shorts!" appeared on t-shirts in the show\'s early days.Turner p. 25 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 for saying "I didn\'t do it."Turner p. 61
The Simpsons creator Matt Groening.
A number of neologisms that originated on The Simpsons have entered the popular vernacular.Bahn, Christopher; Donna Bowman, Josh Modell, Noel Murray, Nathan Rabin, Tasha Robinson, Kyle Ryan, Scott Tobias (2006-04-26). Beyond "D\'oh!": Simpsons Quotes For Everyday Use. The A.V. Club. Retrieved on 2006-07-03. Mark Liberman, director of the Linguistic Data Consortium, remarked, "The Simpsons has apparently taken over from Shakespeare and the Bible as our culture\'s greatest source of idioms, catchphrases and sundry other textual allusions."Macintyre, Ben (2007-08-11), "Last word: Any word that embiggens the vocabulary is cromulent with me", The Times, <http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article2234263.ece> The most famous catchphrase is Homer\'s annoyed grunt: "D\'oh!" So ubiquitous is the expression that it is now listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, but without the apostrophe.It\'s in the dictionary, d\'oh!. BBC News (2001-06-14). Retrieved on 2006-12-24. Dan Castellaneta says he borrowed the phrase from James Finlayson, an actor in early Laurel and Hardy comedies, who pronounced it in a more elongated and whining tone. The director of The Simpsons told Castellaneta to shorten the noise, and it went on to become the well-known exclamation in the TV series.Simon, Jeremy. "Wisdom from The Simpsons\' \'D\'ohh\' boy" (Interview), The Daily Northwestern, 1994-02-11.
Other Simpsons expressions that have entered popular use include "excellent" (drawn out as a sinister "eeeexcelllent…" in the style of Charles Montgomery Burns), Homer\'s triumphant "Woohoo!" and Nelson Muntz\'s mocking "HA-ha!" Groundskeeper Willie\'s description of the French as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" was used by conservative National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg in 2003, after France\'s opposition to the proposed invasion of Iraq. The phrase quickly spread to other journalists.Younge, Gary; Jon Henley (2006-07-07). Wimps, weasels and monkeys - the US media view of \'perfidious France\'. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2006-08-05. "Cromulent", a word used in "Lisa the Iconoclast" has since appeared in the Webster’s New Millennium Dictionary of English.lookup via reference.com "Kwyjibo", a fake Scrabble word invented by Bart in "Bart the Genius", was used as one of the aliases of the creator of the Melissa worm.Vitti, Jon. (2001). The Simpsons The Complete First Season DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the Genius" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. "I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords", was used by Kent Brockman in "Deep Space Homer" and has seeped into popular culture to describe a number of events. Variants of Brockman\'s utterance are used to express mock submission, usually for the purpose of humor.Turner, p. 300 It has been used in media, such as New Scientist magazine.The British government welcomes our new insect overlords. New Scientist magazine. Retrieved on 2007-10-14. The dismissive term "Meh" has also been popularized by the show.Michael Hann. "Meh - the word that\'s sweeping the internet", The Guardian, 2007-03-05. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
The Simpsons was the first successful animated program in prime time since Wait Till Your Father Gets Home in the 1970s.Alberti, p. xii. During most of the 1980s, 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. The use of Korean animation studios doing in-betweening, coloring, and filming made the episodes cheaper. The success of The Simpsons and the lower production cost prompted television networks to take chances on other animated series. This development led to a 1990s boom in new, animated prime-time shows, such as South Park, Family Guy, King of the Hill, Futurama, and The Critic. South Park later paid homage to The Simpsons with the episode "Simpsons Already Did It".Richard Corliss. "The Simpsons Did It!", TIME, 2007-07-29. Retrieved on 2007-08-01.
The Simpsons has also influenced live-action shows like Malcolm in the Middle, which debuted January 9, 2000 in the time slot after The Simpsons.Wallenstein, Andrew. \'Malcolm in the Middle\': trite Fox fare with a first-rate time slot. Media Life Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-07-03. Malcolm in the Middle featured the use of sight gags and did not use a laugh track like most sitcoms. Ricky Gervais has called The Simpsons a major influence on his British comedy The Office, which also dispenses with a laugh track.Schuchardt, Richard. Ricky Gervais Part One. DVDActive.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-20.
The Simpsons has been praised by many critics, being described as "the most irreverent and unapologetic show on the air."Ted Drozdowski (1997). Eye pleasers. The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved on 2008-01-27. 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."Ken Tucker (May 18, 1990). TV review: The Simpsons. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2008-01-27. Tucker would also describe the show as a "pop-cultural phenomenon, a prime-time cartoon show that appeals to the entire family."Ken Tucker (June 15, 1990). TV review: The Simpsons. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
The Simpsons have been awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 23 Emmy Awards, 26 Annie Awards"Legacy: 20th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners (1992)", Annie Awards. Retrieved on 2007-10-16. and a Peabody Award.George Foster Peabody Award Winners. Peabody.uga.edu. Retrieved on 2006-10-15. In a 1998 issue celebrating the 20th century\'s greatest achievements in arts and entertainment, Time magazine named The Simpsons the century\'s best television series.Citation In that same issue, Time included Bart Simpson in the Time 100, the publication\'s list of the century\'s 100 most influential people.Corliss, Richard (1998-06-08). Bart Simpson. TIME. Retrieved on 2006-07-03. 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."The Simpsons" in the Hollywood Walk of Fame Directory. Retrieved on 2007-10-17. Also in 2000, Entertainment Weekly magazine TV critic Ken Tucker named The Simpsons the greatest television show of the 1990s. Furthermore, viewers of the UK television channel Channel 4 have voted "The Simpsons" at the top of two polls: 2001\'s 100 Greatest Kids\' TV shows,100 Greatest Kids\' TV Shows. Channel 4.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. and 2005\'s 100 Greatest Cartoons,100 Greatest Cartoons. Channel 4.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. with Homer Simpson voted into first place in 2001\'s 100 Greatest TV Characters.100 Greatest TV Characters. Channel 4.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. Homer would also place ninth on Entertainment Weekly\'s list of the "50 Greatest TV icons"."The 50 Greatest TV Icons", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2007-11-15. In 2002, The Simpsons ranked #8 on TV Guide\'s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time,"TV Guide\'s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time", TV Guide, 2002-05-04. and in 2007 it was included in TIME\'s list of the "100 Best TV Shows of All Time.""The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME", TIME. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
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 October 2004, Scooby-Doo briefly overtook The Simpsons as the American animated show with the highest number of episodes.Scooby-Doo breaks cartoon record. BBC (2004-10-25). Retrieved on 2006-08-21. 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.Andy Vineberg. "Some records will last forever", PhillyBurbs.com, 2007-11-15. Retrieved on 2007-11-17. For example, the Japanese anime series Sazae-san has close to 2,000 episodes to its credit.
The year 2007 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Simpsons franchise. With its nineteenth year (2007–2008), the series will be only one season behind Gunsmoke\'s US primetime, scripted television record of 20 produced seasons. However, Gunsmoke\'s episode count of 635 episodes far surpasses The Simpsons, which would not reach that mark until its 29th season, under normal programming schedules.
For many years, critics\' reviews of new Simpsons episodes praised the show for its wit, realism, and intelligence.Remington, Bob. "It\'s The Simpsons, Man", TV Times (Calgary Herald), 1990-10-26, p. 10. In the late-1990s, the tone and emphasis of the show began to change. Some critics started calling the show "tired".Suellentrop, Chris (2003-02-12). Who turned America\'s best TV show into a cartoon?. Slate. Retrieved on 2006-07-03. 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.Weinman, Jaime J. (2000-01-24). Worst Episode Ever. Salon.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-03.Bonné, Jon (2000-09-02). ’The Simpsons’ has lost its cool. MSNBC. Retrieved on 2008-01-27. Author Douglas Coupland described these claims as "hogwash", saying "The Simpsons hasn\'t fumbled the ball in fourteen years, it\'s hardly likely to fumble it now."Turner, p. xiii
In 2003, to celebrate the show\'s 300th episode "Barting Over", USA Today published a pair of Simpsons related articles: a top-ten episodes list chosen by the webmaster of The Simpsons Archive fansite,Paakkinen, Jouni (2003-02-06). 10 fan favorites. USA Today. Retrieved on 2006-07-03. and a top-15 list by The Simpsons\' own writers."15 writer favorites", USA Today, 2003-02-06. Retrieved on 2006-07-03. The most recent episode listed on the fan list was 1997\'s "Homer\'s Phobia"; the Simpsons\' writers most recent choice was 2000\'s "Behind the Laughter". In 2004, Harry Shearer criticized what he perceived as the show\'s declining quality: "I rate the last three seasons as among the worst, so Season Four looks very good to me now."Leggett, Chris. "Harry Shearer", UK Teletext, 2004-08-04.
The Simpsons managed to maintain a large viewership and attract new fans. While the first season enjoyed an average of 13.4 million viewers per episode in the US,TV Ratings: 1989–1990. ClassicTVHits.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-03. the seventeenth season ended with an average of 9.2 million viewers.Mahan, Colin (2006-05-26). 2006 Ratings Wrap-Up (continued). TV.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-03. In an April 2006 interview, Matt Groening said, "I honestly don\'t see any end in sight. I think it\'s possible that the show will become 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, and the stories do things that we haven\'t done before. So creatively there\'s no reason to quit."Rabin, Nathan (2006-04-26). Matt Groening interview with The A.V. Club (page 3). A.V. Club. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
