The Simpsons

The Simpsons, animated television series, created by cartoonist Matt Groening, that debuted in 1989 and has since become the longest-running animated TV show, longest-running sitcom, and longest-running scripted prime-time TV show in U.S. history. The Simpsons follows the exploits of Homer Simpson, his wife, Marge, and their children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, in the fictional American town of Springfield—which, according to Groening, was named after Springfield, Oregon—and features numerous recurring characters and celebrity guest stars. Now broadcast in many languages to audiences around the world, the show has become an iconic cultural touchstone for generations of viewers and has won dozens of Emmy Awards.

Origins and development

The Simpsons began in 1987 as a cartoon short on The Tracey Ullman Show, a variety program on the Fox Broadcasting Company. Expanded to half an hour, it debuted as a Christmas special on December 17, 1989, and then began airing regularly in January 1990. With veteran television and film producer-director James L. Brooks (The Mary Tyler Moore Show [1970–77], As Good As It Gets [1997]) as its executive producer, along with Groening and Sam Simon, the show was slow to gain an audience, but its popularity took off later in the year, and it helped establish the upstart Fox network as a major competitor on broadcast television.

Premise and characters

The Simpsons centers on a family with all the dysfunctions of the modern era but the demographics of the 1950s: two married parents, two preadolescent children and an infant, living grandparents, aunts, and uncles. The children are exceptional: Lisa is a superb jazz saxophonist and is inclined to philosophy and mathematics; Bart is a prankster of the highest order, a connoisseur of mayhem. The adults are grown-up versions of the children: Homer Simpson, an operator in a nuclear power plant, is a devotee of beer, doughnuts, and bacon, while his long-suffering wife, Marge, is the sound-minded glue who holds the family together. (The family are, according to Groening, “creatures of consumption and envy, laziness and opportunity, stubbornness and redemption. Just like the rest of us. Only exaggerated.”)

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Added to this list are the town’s varied and sometimes strange residents. Many voice actors have contributed to the show, but the six main cast members, all of whom play more than one character, are Hank Azaria (Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum), Dan Castellaneta (Homer), Nancy Cartwright (Bart), Julie Kavner (Marge), Harry Shearer (Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner), and Yeardley Smith (Lisa). In addition, an endless series of walk-on guest stars have been voiced by their real-life counterparts, such as former Beatle George Harrison and astrophysicist Stephen Hawking.

Influence

The Simpsons has heavily influenced popular culture and other television series. The characters’ voices are widely recognized, and many of the characters’ neologisms and catchphrases (such as Homer’s “D’oh!”) have entered common currency. Moreover, the show branched out to include comic books, video games, theme park attractions, and, in 2007, a feature film. The Emmy Award-winning Groening remains the show’s creative consultant and an executive producer.