People Behind The Simpsons
by JoshE117 | created - 13 Jul 2016 | updated - 04 Jul 2017 | PublicList of people that made The Simpsons into a great show in the '90s. First 15 people are the creatives and the rest are the primary voice actors. There have been hundreds of celebrity voice appearances, and it would take forever to list them here.
However, they can be found here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Simpsons_guest_stars
In the mid 2000's the show significantly started to drop off in quality. In addition to the people on the list who no longer work on the show, I made a list of other reasons why the show isn't what it used to be. Here are a few theories/reasons why:
1. in 2003, they started production on "The Simpsons Movie"
2. Complacency. The show had already won numerous awards and praise from critics and fans alike. The show started to become more of a parody of itself, rather than outside inspirations. Since it was already a cultural cornerstone, it became a victim of its own success. Unlike Seinfeld, the show has overstayed its welcome.
3. Lack of healthy competition. In the earlier seasons, the show had to compete for ratings just to stay on.
4. Running out of ideas. There isn't much new that we can learn about the main characters. After 300 episodes or so, the show started to get stale.
5. The show stopped being touching. Earlier seasons had heart to them, and the plot revolved around something important to one of the protagonists.
6. Futurama. A lot of the creative team on The Simpsons were also working on another great show. While it didn't cause much trouble at first, after a couple years the quality in both shows started to drop off.
7. New competition from edgier, more controversial shows. South Park, Family Guy, etc., became the enemy of a great deal of parents like The Simpsons was in the early years. They also emerged when the show's quality was declining and suddenly it wasn't the funniest thing on TV anymore.
8. An excessive number of guest stars. As seen in the list posted above, there have been a ton of celebrities on the show. While used sparingly and in a great way in the early seasons, the show has come to rely on cameos just to keep the show running.
9. The show lost some of its darker, cynical tone. The series had a unique feel to it that gradually faded. It was a sense of reality that people around the world could relate to. While the show has retained it to an extent, it is largely gone. This tone was also reflected in the iconic animation.
1. Matt Groening
Writer | Futurama
Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Matt Groening did not particularly like school, which is what originally turned him towards drawing. In the mid-1980s, he moved to Los Angeles and started drawing a comic strip named "Life in Hell", which eventually became published in the newspaper where he worked. ...
2. James L. Brooks
Writer | Broadcast News
James L. Brooks was born on May 9, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York, USA as James Lawrence Brooks. He is a writer and producer, known for Broadcast News (1987), As Good as It Gets (1997) and Terms of Endearment (1983). He was previously married to Holly Holmberg Brooks and Marianne Catherine Morrissey.
3. Al Jean
Producer | The Simpsons
Al Jean was born on January 9, 1961 in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA as Alfred Ernest Jean III. He is a producer and writer, known for The Simpsons (1989), The Simpsons Movie (2007) and It's Garry Shandling's Show. (1986). He has been married to Stephanie Gillis since 2002.
4. Sam Simon
Producer | The Simpsons
Sam Simon was born on June 6, 1955 in Los Angeles, California, USA as Samuel Michael Simon. He was a producer and writer, known for The Simpsons (1989), The Tracey Ullman Show (1987) and Shanghai Noon (2000). He was married to Jami Ferrell and Jennifer Tilly. He died on March 8, 2015 in Los Angeles.
5. John Swartzwelder
Writer | The Simpsons
John Swartzwelder was born on November 16, 1950 in the USA as John Joseph Swartzwelder. He is known for his work on The Simpsons (1989), The Simpsons Movie (2007) and The Dictator (1988).
6. David X. Cohen
Producer | Futurama
Cohen is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley; he studied theoretical computer science. His real name is David 'S.' Cohen. He used that name when he worked on The Simpsons (1989), but when he starting working on Futurama (1999), he joined the Writer's Guild (the TV writer's union). ...
7. David Silverman
Producer | The Simpsons
David Silverman was born on March 15, 1957 in New York City, New York, USA. He is known for his work on The Simpsons (1989), The Simpsons Movie (2007) and Monsters, Inc. (2001).
8. Conan O'Brien
Writer | Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien grew up in a large, Irish Catholic family in Massachusetts. At an early age, he developed a love of comedy and goofing off, this carried on when he entered the prestigious Harvard University, acting out many pranks in his time, as well as become the president of the Harvard humor ...
9. Bill Oakley
Producer | The Simpsons
Bill Oakley is an American writer and producer from Westminster, Maryland known for working on The Simpsons, Futurama, Regular Show and Mission Hill. He wrote several Simpsons episodes during the 1990s. He also wrote the infamous "Steamed Hams" scene from the episode "22 Short Films About ...
10. Josh Weinstein
Producer | The Simpsons
Josh Weinstein was born on May 5, 1966 in Alexandria, Virginia, USA as Joshua Moses Weinstein. He is a producer and writer, known for The Simpsons (1989), Futurama (1999) and Gravity Falls (2012). He has been married to Lisa Simmons since July 2, 1995. They have two children.
11. Jon Vitti
Producer | The Larry Sanders Show
12. Matt Selman
Producer | The Simpsons
Matt Selman was born on September 9, 1971 in Watertown, Massachusetts, USA as Matthew David Selman. He is a producer and writer, known for The Simpsons (1989), The Simpsons Movie (2007) and The Simpsons Game (2007). He is married to Renee Ridgeley. They have two children.
13. Jeff Martin
Writer | Baby Blues
Jeff Martin was born as Jeff Summerlin Martin. He is a writer and producer, known for Baby Blues (2000), Late Night with David Letterman (1982) and The Good Life (1994). He has been married to Suzanne Martin since February 15, 1986. They have two children.
14. Greg Daniels
Producer | The Office
Greg Daniels was born on June 13, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA as Gregory Martin Daniels. He is a producer and writer, known for The Office (2005), Parks and Recreation (2009) and King of the Hill (1997). He has been married to Susanne Daniels since September 15, 1991. They have ...
15. Brad Bird
Writer | The Incredibles
Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and occasional voice actor, known for both animated and live-action films. Bird was born in Kalispell, Montana, the youngest of four children of Marjorie A. (née Cross) and Philip Cullen Bird. His father worked in...
16. Dan Castellaneta
Actor | The Simpsons
Daniel Louis Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian and screenwriter. Castellaneta is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series The Simpsons (1989) (as well as other characters on the show such as Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, ...
17. Julie Kavner
Actress | The Simpsons
Julie Deborah Kavner is an American actress. She first attracted notice for her role as Brenda Morgenstern, the younger sister of Valerie Harper's title character in the sitcom Rhoda (1974), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She is best ...
18. Nancy Cartwright
Actress | The Simpsons
For over three decades, Nancy Cartwright has given voice to a spikey-headed-10-year-old boy even though she's a grown woman; she's often been arrested for truancy and vandalism, yet she maintains a spotless criminal record; and finally, she's repeated the fourth-grade dozens of times in spite of ...
19. Yeardley Smith
Actress | The Simpsons
Offbeat comic actress and voice specialist Yeardley Smith has made a virtue out of her odd looks, small figure and distinctive, child-like nasal tones. Lending vocal life to the animated role of "Lisa Simpson," the intelligent, caring, saxophone-droning, vegetarian member of the Simpson family, has...
20. Hank Azaria
Actor | The Simpsons
Hank Azaria was born on April 25, 1964 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA as Henry Albert Azaria. He is an actor and producer, known for The Simpsons (1989), Free Agents (2011) and The Birdcage (1996). He was previously married to Helen Hunt.
21. Harry Shearer
Actor | The Simpsons
Harry Shearer was born in 1943 in Los Angeles, California. His film debut was with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953), followed by The Robe (1953). Probably best known for his Saturday Night Live (1975) gigs, his NPR satire program "Le Show" and The Simpsons (1989)...
22. Pamela Hayden
Actress | The Simpsons Movie
Pamela Hayden born November 28, 1953 is an American actress and voice actress, known for providing various voices for the animated television show The Simpsons (1989) including Bart Simpson's unlucky best friend Milhouse Van Houten, teenage thug Jimbo Jones, Ned Flanders' first-born son Rod, Chief ...
23. Tress MacNeille
Actress | The Simpsons
Tress MacNeille is one of the most talented women in the voice-over industry to date. With her versatile talent has done the voices of Dot Warner from Animaniacs, Babs Bunny from Tiny Toon Adventures to being a featured singer in the Weird "Al" Yankovic song "Ricky", She has also appeared in a ...
24. Marcia Wallace
Actress | The Simpsons
Some might have easily doled out the phrase "laughing on the outside, crying on the inside" to describe funny lady Marcia Wallace. She had many uphill battles in both life and career, over the past three-and-a-half decades, but the carrot-cropped comedienne with the ever-toothy smile remained ...
25. Phil Hartman
Actor | NewsRadio
Phil Hartman was born Philip Edward Hartmann on September 24, 1948, in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. His surname was originally "Hartmann", but he later dropped the second "n". He was one of eight children of Doris Marguerite (Wardell) and Rupert Loebig Hartmann, a salesman. He was of German, Irish, ...
26. Joe Mantegna
Actor | The Godfather: Part III
Joe Mantegna is an American actor who has made over 200 film and TV appearances. He is also a producer, writer, and director, and is probably best known for his role as Joey Zasa in the Francis Ford Coppola epic The Godfather: Part III (1990), in which he stars alongside Al Pacino and Andy Garcia.
...
27. Kelsey Grammer
Actor | Cheers
A six-time Emmy Award winner, Kelsey Grammer was born in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, to Sally (Cranmer), a singer, and Frank Allen Grammer, Jr., a musician and restaurateur. He was raised in New Jersey and Florida. Grammer was drawn to the works of William Shakespeare and spent two years at ...
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