Portal:The Simpsons

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The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. 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 James L. 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, 760 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' sixth season originally aired between September 4, 1994 and May 21, 1995. The first two episodes, "Bart of Darkness" and "Lisa's Rival", were held over from the previous season, as production was delayed because of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The show runner for the sixth production season was David Mirkin. The sixth season won one Emmy Award, and received three additional nominations. "Lisa's Wedding" won the Emmy for "Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less). Alf Clausen received a nomination in the category "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)" for "Treehouse of Horror V", whilst he and John Swartzwelder were nominated for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music and Lyrics" for the Stonecutters' song "We Do" in the episode "Homer the Great". Finally, "Bart vs. Australia" was nominated for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special". The Complete Sixth Season DVD was released in the United States on August 16, 2005, and September 24, 2005 in Australia. The packaging was changed from the standard box design used for the previous five seasons, to one shaped like Homer's head. After many fans complained of the change, a separate standard box was released.

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Maggie Roswell
Maggie Roswell
Credit: Tommy Collier

Maggie Roswell voices several characters on the show, including Helen Lovejoy.

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"Brother from Another Series" is the sixteenth episode of The Simpsons' eighth season and originally aired February 23, 1997. Sideshow Bob is released from prison into the care of his brother Cecil and claims to be a changed man. However, Bart does not believe him and tries to find out what Bob is up to. It was the first episode directed by Pete Michels and was written by Ken Keeler. Guest starring Kelsey Grammer in his sixth appearance as Sideshow Bob and David Hyde Pierce as Cecil. The title is not only a pun on the movie The Brother from Another Planet, but also a reference to the fact that guest stars Kelsey Grammer (Frasier Crane) and David Hyde Pierce (Niles Crane) also play bickering brothers on the sitcom Frasier.

Did you know...

Did you know?
  • ...that for "Homer's Enemy", Hank Azaria provided the voice of Frank Grimes although he felt that the role should go to William H. Macy and ended up modeling many of Grimes' mannerisms after him?
  • ...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?

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

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Matt Groening
It is pretty amazing to go from being a print cartoonist to having a hit animated television show, although I secretly expected it do well.

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