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The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It 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, and is still in current release.

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, 780 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 2024. 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 was initially a joint production by Gracie Films and 20th Television; 20th Television's involvement was later moved to 20th Television Animation, a separate unit of Disney Television Studios. (Full article...)

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Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He has become perhaps the most popular of the members of the hugely successful Simpsons cartoon family, and his catchphrase, the annoyed grunt "D'oh!", has been included in the Oxford English Dictionary. Homer embodies several American working class stereotypes: he is crude, overweight, incompetent, intolerant, clumsy, thoughtless and a borderline alcoholic. Despite the suburban blue-collar routine of his life, he has had a number of remarkable experiences. Although gluttonous, lazy, accident-prone and extraordinarily stupid, he has occasionally displayed flashes of brilliance and an integrity reflecting his own values, including a fierce devotion to and protectiveness of his family. He has been described by the UK newspaper The Times as the greatest comedic creation of modern time.

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Credit: nick aleck

Hank Azaria became a part of the regular cast of The Simpsons during the second season and voices many characters, including Moe, Chief Wiggum and Apu, Comic Book Guy, Carl, Cletus, Professor Frink and Dr. Nick. He has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.

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Character quote

“

Back in my day we had people who stood up to ruffians, we called them men!

”

— Agnes Skinner ("Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge")

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"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", also known as "The Simpsons Christmas Special", is the first full-length episode of The Simpsons to air despite originally being the eighth episode produced for season one. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 17, 1989. In the episode, Homer discovers that he will not be getting a Christmas bonus and thus the family has no money to buy Christmas presents. He decides to keep their financial troubles a secret and gets a job as a department store Santa, but later discovers that the job does not pay enough. Desperate for a miracle, Homer and Bart go to the dog racing track on Christmas Eve in hopes of earning some money. The episode was written by Mimi Pond and directed by David Silverman. (pictured in 2007) The title alludes to "The Christmas Song", also known as "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire". "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" was nominated for two Emmy Awards in 1990, and has received positive reviews from television critics. It was viewed by approximately 13.4 million viewers in its original airing.

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Did you know...

...that The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer, a book that analyzes The Simpsons using philosophical concepts, is the main textbook in philosophy courses offered at some universities?

...that Nancy Cartwright originally auditioned for the role of Lisa, but soon thought that her voice would be better suited for Bart, so Matt Groening let her try out for the part and gave her the job on the spot?

...that in 1992 Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit claiming that her show was the source of The Simpsons success and therefore should receive a share of the show's profit although eventually the courts ruled in favor of the network?

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

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

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The Simpsons are fairly surprised to find themselves in a movie; they can't believe "anyone would pay to see what we did on TV for free." But I suspect a lot of people will...The movie is funny, sassy and intelligent in that moronic Simpsons' way.

— Roger Ebert

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