Gracie Films

Gracie Films is an American film and television production company, created by James L. Brooks in 1986. The company has produced many award-winning films and television series, some of which include Broadcast News and Jerry Maguire, but most notably, The Simpsons. The company is primarily associated with film studio and distributor Sony Pictures Entertainment, but it still has an office at the 20th Century Fox lot due to the indefinite contract Gracie Films has had with Fox for the last 20 years for The Simpsons.

The Gracie production logo depicts noisy movie patrons at a movie theatre hearing a woman in the back row saying "Shhhhh!" so the title, the company's name, can be projected, and that the company's musical signature can be heard. Some special versions of the company's jingle were made to fit certain episodes of the Simpsons.

Variants

Some special versions of the company's jingle were made to fit certain episodes of the Simpsons.
- On Treehouse of Horror episodes from II, there is a pipe organ playing the jingle minorly and a girl screaming.
  - On II and III, the organ played, without the scream.
  - On IV, the scream was added in.
  - On VI, the jingle was played as a Myst/Philip Glass Homage as heard in Homer³.
  - On VII, VIII (along with XVII, XVIII and XX), XI, XIII, XIV, and XVI the organ played slightly different kinds of logos.
    - It seems VII has one of the most scariest screams in this logo, due to it being a different kind of scream.
  - On IX, the organ played, but the scream was replaced with Regis Philbin screaming, "My eyes, my beautiful eyes!" as heard in The Terror of Tiny Toon.
  - X's version of the logo is a reuse of II, III, IV, V and IX in terms of the organ.
  - On XII, the scream is being heard during the organ.
  - On XV, the scream was replaced with Homer screaming through this logo and 20th Century Fox Television logo, similar to The Blunder Years. This variant was reused in XXII and XXIII.
  - On XIX, the jingle was played in a 'Peanuts' style heard in It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse which was then reused in Gone Abie Gone.
  - On XXI, the organ played but the original scream was replaced by a Wilhelm scream.
  - On XXIV, the original scream was replaced with people shouting the phrase, "One of Us!".
- On some episodes that feature songs during the closing credits, the closing song continues playing over the logo.
  - Capital City
  - Maybe I'm Amazed
  - Can't Buy Me Love (This also ran into the 20th Century Fox TV logo)
  - Always Safety First
  - America's Back and We're Feeling Patriotic
- Numerous other alternate versions of the theme have been used over the years.
  - Whistle then Marching Band
  - Cricket bat then Baseball Organ
  - Electric Guitar
  - Mexican Style then Olé chant (Used on the album Songs in the Key of Springfield)
  - Vegas style then slot machine (Used on the album Songs in the Key of Springfield)
  - Renaissance (Used on the album Songs in the Key of Springfield)
  - First Saxophone
  - Second Saxophone
  - Third Saxophone
  - Christmassy
  - Similar Renaissance
- The only time the logo can be seen within the episode was in You Kent Always Say What You Want, where after being interrupted by the 20th Century Fox TV logo when saying 'The truth is-', Homer on a white screen whispers to the fourth wall, "OK. What I was going to say was-," before the 'shush' interruption and the end credits.
- Some episodes might use a sound bite from the episode, or use a voiceover from a character in that episode that plays alongside the jingle or replacing the jingle.
  - These kind of variants are possibly inspired by the 'Deedle-Dee Tag' of Deedle-Dee Productions as heard in nearly every episode of Mike Judge's animated comedy King of the Hill.
- Homer has the most dialogue in the variants he has been heard in:
  - Ringing bicycle bell then giggling
  - You're cut too, Shushy!
  - Larry Flynt is right. You guys stink.
  - Don't shush me, you rich bastard!
  - Save me, Jebus!
  - Baby made a boom-boom.
  - Oh, boy. Buffalo testicles.
  - Cobras!
  - Screaming (overran into the 20th Century Fox TV logo which was then re-used in "Treehouse of Horror XV", "Treehouse of Horror XXII" and "Treehouse of Horror XXIII").
  - Do you guys know 'Funkytown'?
  - Hey, shush yourself!
  - Jeez, sorry Dave.
  - Usher, will you stop that person who's shushing?
- The only visual variation of this logo was in "Last Tap Dance in Springfield", where after the "Shhh!" we hear Little Miss Vicki saying "Tappa, tappa, tappa" and then the logo's main animation slides up to take up the top half of the screen, while the bottom half has an animated black-and-white scene of a cat rubbing its eyes (with fake prop arms from offscreen) and smiling (this was in an old Miss Vicki movie Lisa was watching).
- In two episodes, the jingle is played at the start of the logo and then a sound is heard. In "All Singing, All Dancing", Snake Jailbird shoots his gun to stop the music as in the credits and says, "You too, Gracie music dude. Gaw!" and in Elementary School Musical, a cow moo is heard at the very end of the jingle.

It is often speculated that the main chorus of the 1990 song entitled King of Wishful Thinking by the British pop band Go West can be heard in this musical signature. This has been fervently denied by some members of the successful pop band, though others have expressed their displeasure.

The company's production office is located in the Sidney Poitier Building on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California.

References in The Simpsons

Homer once claimed in his first ramble that he created Gracie Films.^[1]

Notable TV series and films

The Tracey Ullman Show (1987–1990)
Broadcast News (1987)
Big (1988)
Say Anything (1989)
The Simpsons (1989–present)
War of the Roses (1989)
Sibs (1991–1992)
Phenom (1993–1994)
The Critic (1994–1995)
I'll Do Anything (1994)
Jerry Maguire (1996)
The Daytrippers (1996)
Bottle Rocket (1996)
As Good as It Gets (1997)
Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
What About Joan? (2001–2002)
Spanglish (2004)
The Upside Down Show (2006)
The Simpsons Movie (2007)

External links

Official Site

References

↑ "Thursdays with Abie"

view • talk • edit • past The Simpsons
Production • History
20th Television • FOX • Cast and Crew • Guest stars • Writers • Showrunners • Klasky Csupo • Film Roman • Gracie Films
Characters
Homer Simpson • Bart Simpson • Lisa Simpson • Marge Simpson • Maggie Simpson
Media
Episodes (Production order • Episodes with unresolved endings) • The Simpsons shorts • The Simpsons Movie • Comics • Video games
Themes
Law
Others
Aging • Songs • Title cards • Complaints to FCC • Foreign broadcasters

[.5B.5BThursdays_with_Abie.5D.5D-1] "Thursdays with Abie"

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