The Simpsons (1989– )

The satiric adventures of a working-class family in the misfit city of Springfield.

Creator:

Matt Groening

Stars:

Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 119 wins & 159 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Dan Castellaneta	...	Homer Simpson (529 episodes, 1989-2013)
Julie Kavner	...	Marge Simpson (529 episodes, 1989-2013)
Nancy Cartwright	...	Bart Simpson (529 episodes, 1989-2013)
Yeardley Smith	...	Lisa Simpson (529 episodes, 1989-2013)
Harry Shearer	...	Ned Flanders (528 episodes, 1989-2013)
Hank Azaria	...	Moe Szyslak (511 episodes, 1989-2013)
Pamela Hayden	...	Milhouse Van Houten (442 episodes, 1989-2013)
Tress MacNeille	...	Agnes Skinner (399 episodes, 1990-2013)
Karl Wiedergott	...	Additional Voices (246 episodes, 1998-2010)
Maggie Roswell	...	Helen Lovejoy (190 episodes, 1990-2013)
Marcia Wallace	...	Edna Krabappel (174 episodes, 1990-2013)
Russi Taylor	...	Martin Prince (160 episodes, 1990-2013)

Storyline

The Simpsons is an animated sitcom about the antics of a dysfunctional family called the Simpsons (surprise surprise). Homer is the oafish unhealthy beer loving father, Marge is the hardworking homemaker wife, Bart is the ten year old underachiever (and proud of it), Lisa is the unappreciated eight year old genius, and Maggie is the cute, pacifier loving silent infant.

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Plot Keywords:

nuclear power plant | dysfunctional family | school | neighbor | beer | 

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Taglines:

Putting the Fun back in Dysfunctional!

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Official Sites:

FOX Fox (Spanish)

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Albanian French Japanese German Russian Hindi Swahili Italian Swedish Turkish Cantonese Mandarin Hebrew Arabic Klingon Bengali

Release Date:

17 December 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los Simpson

Box Office

Budget:

$750,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gracie Films, 20th Century Fox Television, Curiosity Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min 22 min (441 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo (season 1-2) Dolby Digital (season 20-) Dolby (seasons 3-19)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The new HD opening sequence includes a gag at the format's expense. Their new HDTV is shown hooked up with white, yellow, and red "composite A/V" cables, which can't actually carry an HD signal.

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Goofs

Ralph is in Bart's class in some episodes and Lisa's in others.

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Quotes

Lisa: [running past Moe's] It's noon. That's usually when dad gets the brew shakes.

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Crazy Credits

Many of the episodes include in-jokes during the credits, the Halloween specials change the cast and crews names to sound more morbid (E.g. Grave-Yeardly Smith). Sometimes the end credits theme is variated into something more thematic to the episode or spoofing a famous TV show or movie theme. The Gracie Films logo may have it's music changed to match the episode's theme, and a character may be saying something comical during the end credits.

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Mischief & Mayhem (2010)

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Soundtracks

"'The Itchy & Scratchy Show' Theme"
Written by Robert Israel and Sam Simon
Performed by Cast
(various episodes)

User Reviews

It started off fantastic...

No one, not even Matt Groening himself, could've imagined that The Simpsons would become as big as it did. Nor could anyone anticipate it could become so cultural. "D'oh" is in the dictionary, and it has spawned off several catch-phrases and one liners. Truly, The Simpsons is the biggest thing since Seinfeld! The first three seasons showed them as if they were an actual family. Like the kind of family you'd meet on the street (only a lot more dysfunctional). Homer trying to do the fatherly thing in each episode. Marge being the voice of reason all the time. Lisa and Bart with their sibling rivalry. These first three seasons are not usually sighted as being the best, but they are often brought up when one speaks of "The Best Episode Ever!" By Season four, the show took a turn for what may have been the best. It left it's more realistic roots and became more of a satire. With more zany antics and more clever, witty, and often times sophisticated humor, The Simpsons became the most popular family on television. Each episode still contained it's own merits, themes and messages. Seasons 4 to about 10 are often said to be the "Golden Age" of The Simpsons.

However, as the year 2000 came, fans began to see themselves divided. Those who stuck with the show since it came about in 1989 were quick to jump on how the show changed. The humor became more lurid and toilet like, with antics becoming heavily more unrealistic and zany (to the point where some even say it isn't funny... but stupid). Some characters becoming unrealistically stupid, and the show shifting gears from focusing on Bart to Homer... to everyone outside of the Simpson family. The show also began to see more cumbersome and meaningless plots. Plots that didn't focus on current issues, or that didn't seem to be as strong as older episodes. Despite this, new fans seem to have come about to replace then, and the show continues to remain at the top of its game, even today.

I'm sure you all know where I stand on that debate. Nine stars to nine fantastic seasons.