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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, 781 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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The Simpsons' second season originally aired between October 11, 1990 and May 9, 1991, and contained 21 episodes, beginning with "Bart Gets an F". Another episode, "Blood Feud" aired during the summer after the official season finale. The show runners for the second production season were Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon, who had also been EPs for the previous season. The DVD box set was released on August 6, 2002 in Region 1, July 8, 2002 in Region 2 and in September, 2002 in Region 4. The episode "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour), and was also nominated in the "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special" category.

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Credit: William Ward

Empire State Building illuminated yellow to promote the home video release of The Simpsons Movie.

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“

The League of Uninformed Voters presents the Springfield Mayoral Debates. I'm your moderator, Larry King. Now, a word to our audience: even though we're being broadcast on Fox, there's no need for obnoxious hooting and hollering.

”

— Larry King ("Sideshow Bob Roberts")

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"Deep Space Homer" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons' fifth season and first aired on February 24, 1994. The episode was directed by Carlos Baeza and was the only episode of The Simpsons written by David Mirkin, who was also the executive producer at the time. The episode follows Homer becoming an astronaut, and the ensuing chaos when the navigation system on his Space Shuttle is destroyed. Buzz Aldrin and James Taylor both guest starred as themselves. The critically acclaimed episode became the source of the Overlord meme, and features numerous film parodies, mostly referencing The Right Stuff and 2001: A Space Odyssey. A copy of the episode is available for astronauts to watch at the International Space Station.

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Did you know...

...that in 1993, the producers submitted "A Streetcar Named Marge" and "Mr. Plow" in the "Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series" category but did not receive a nomination?

... that for "Homerpalooza", Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Pearl Jam and Hole were all sought to guest star but all four turned the offer down?

...that when it came time to give Grampa Simpson a first name, the writers named him Abraham which by coincidence was the name of Matt Groening's grandfather?

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

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

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I was taking animation and illustration and I was just a huge fan of the show and I knew the show was going to be something big. However, I never thought it would last this long, but I wanted to be part of it. I really thought that it was something that could last maybe one or two or years or so and I took a few animation tests but I failed the first group and so I asked them what was right and wrong about it and I followed directions and gave it to them within 48 hours and they hired me.

— Lance Wilder

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