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The Simpsons

TV Show Information Genre: Animation Comedy Created by: Matt Groening Developed by: James L. Brooks Matt Groening Sam Simon Theme music composer: Danny Elfman Opening theme: "The Simpsons Theme" Composer(s): Alf Clausen Country of origin: United States No. of seasons: 21 No. of episodes: 455 (List of episodes) Executive producer(s): Al Jean Ian Maxtone-Graham John Frink James L. Brooks Matt Groening Matt Selman Sam Simon Running time: 22-24 minutes Production company: Gracie Films Fox Broadcasting Company Original channel: FOX Picture format: 480i (SDTV) (1989–2009) 720p (HDTV) (2009–present) Audio format: Stereo (1989–1991) Dolby Surround (1991–2009) Dolby Digital 5.1 (2009–present) Original run: {{{Original run}}} Website: http://www.thesimpsons.com

The Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening and produced by the Fox Broadcasting Company. The main characters is a satire of a working class family, consisting of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. The series lampoons many aspects of American culture, society, politics and history.

The cartoon made its debut as 60 second animated bumpers for the The Tracey Ullman Show, with the first short airing on April 19, 1987. The shorts were then expanded into a full length 30 minute television spin-off in 1989 by the FOX Company, and the first episode aired on

The series currently holds the record for the longest running primetime sitcom in the history of television, running for 21 years since 1989, and becoming the longest running program on FOX.

History

The family as they appeared in 1987.

Main Article: History of The Simpsons

The Simpsons were conceived in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office by Matt Groening. He was asked to do a series of animated shorts, and decided to do his Life in Hell series; but since he 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. He named the characters after his own family, and substituted Bart for his own name; as it was an anagram of 'brat'.

The Simpsons first appeared to the world on April 19th, 1987 on The Tracey Ullman Show. Groening submitted crudely drawn sketches of the family to the animators, assuming they would clean them up in production. However, the animators just re-traced over his drawings; that is why the Simpsons appear crudely drawn in the shorts. In 1989, a team of production companies adapted the Simpsons into a half-hour primetime series, for the FOX Broadcasting Company. FOX was initially nervous to air the Simpsons; as there hasn't been a cartoon in primetime since The Flintstones, and that they were unsure if they could keep the audience's attention for the duration of the episode. They proposed doing three seven-minute shorts and four specials until the audience adjusted, but the producers gambled for thirteen half-hour episodes for the series. The Simpsons was originally to premiere in the fall of 1989; with "Some Enchanted Evening," but when the episode came back from animation in Korea, it had major, major problems with it. James L. Brooks was extremely dissatisfied with the product and called for many parts of the episode to be redone. The producers then decided to just go ahead and air "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," on December 17th, 1989 as a Christmas Special.

Production

Executive Producers

Through the entire show's history, Matt Groening and James L. Brooks have served as the show's executive producers. Sam Simon was also in this position, although not credited. When Simon left in 1993, he arranged a deal to be credited as executive producer as well as get profits even though he no longer works on the show.

Writers

The first team of writers for The Simpsons was assembled by Sam Simon. These were: John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, George Meyer, Jeff Martin, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky. Newer Simpsons writing teams usually have 16 writers and episode ideas are though of and proposed in early December. The main writer writes the first draft and the group changes it, adding in jokes and removing parts they don't like. This can sometimes change a script entirely. Up until 2004, the head of these groups was George Meyer, who apparently wrote a lot of the best lines from episodes.

Voice Actors

Main cast actors

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