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The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Developed by Groening, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon, the series 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.

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, 768 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 2018. 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 is a joint production by Gracie Films and 20th Television. ( Full article...)

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The Simpsons' first season originally aired between December 17 1989 and May 13 1990, beginning with the Christmas special " Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". The show runners for the first production season were Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon. The series was originally set to debut in the fall of 1989 with the episode " Some Enchanted Evening", which was meant to introduce the main characters. However, during the first screening of the episode, the producers discovered that the animation was so appalling that 70% of the episode needed to be redone. The first season won one Emmy Award, and received four additional nominations. Although television shows are limited to one episode a category, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" was considered a separate special, and nominated alongside " Life on the Fast Lane" for Outstanding Animated Program; "Life on the Fast Lane" won the award. "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" was also nominated for "Outstanding Editing in a Miniseries or Special", while "The Call of the Simpsons" was nominated for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special". The main theme song, composed by Danny Elfman, was nominated for "Outstanding Achievement in Main Title Theme Music". The DVD box set was released on September 25, 2001 in Region 1 and September 24, 2001 in both Region 2 and Region 4.

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Empire State Building
Empire State Building
Credit: William Ward

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

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Rod Steiger voiced Captain Tenille
" Simpson Tide" is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons' ninth season and originally aired on the Fox network on March 29, 1998. After being fired from the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Homer decides to join the United States Navy Reserve. The episode was the second and last to be written by Joshua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia and was also the final episode directed by Milton Gray. It guest starred Rod Steiger as Captain Tenille and Bob Denver as himself, with one-time Simpsons writer Michael Carrington making an appearance as the Drill Sargeant. This was the last episode Al Jean and Mike Reiss executive produced together, although both would return in season 13 with Jean as show runner and Reiss as a producer.

Did you know...

Did you know?
  • ...that town of Springfield was partly inspired by Melonville, the town in Second City Television, which featured a large cast of recurring characters and Groening liked the idea of a town that was its own mini-universe?
The following are images from various The Simpsons-related articles on Wikipedia.

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David Mirkin
We're really writing a show that has some of the most esoteric references on television. I mean really, really, really strange, odd, short little moments that very few people get and understand. We do that for ourselves. We're writing it for adults and intelligent adults at that.

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