Portal:The Simpsons

Culture · Geography · Health · History · Mathematics · Nature · Philosophy · Religion · Society · Technology

edit

The Simpsons Portal

The Simpsons is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Network. It is a satirical parody of the "Middle American" lifestyle epitomized by its title family, consisting of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Set in the fictional town of Springfield, the show lampoons many aspects of the human condition, as well as American culture, society as a whole and even television itself.

The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a pitch for a series of animated shorts with James L. Brooks. He sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family, and named the characters after members of his own family, substituting Bart for his own name. The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show.

The Simpsons was an early hit for Fox, and has won several major awards. In its 1998 issue celebrating the greatest achievements in arts and entertainment of the 20th century, Time magazine named The Simpsons the century's best television series. On January 14, 2000 the Simpsons was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is the longest-running American sitcom, as well as the longest-running American animated program. The Simpsons has been influential on popular culture. Its catchphrases have been adopted into the English lexicon. The annoyed grunt "D'oh!" has entered the English dictionary. It was cited as an influence on many adult-oriented animated sitcoms of the late 1990s.

Since its debut on December 17, 1989, 400 episodes have aired over 18 seasons. As of March 20, 2006, the show has been renewed for a 19th season, due to be aired in 2007–2008. The 18th season finale was the 400th episode, and the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons franchise was celebrated in 2007. A feature-length movie was released on July 27, 2007.

More about The Simpsons...

Show new selections edit

Selected article

Nedward "Ned" Flanders is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally loathed by Homer Simpson. A devout Christian, he is amongst the most friendly and compassionate Springfieldians and is generally considered a pillar of the Springfield community.

He was one of the first characters outside of the immediate Simpson family to appear on the show, and he has since been central to several episodes, the first being season two's "Dead Putting Society".

...Archive/Nominations

More...

edit

Selected picture

Credit: RonnieBee333

Ricky Gervais portrayed the character Charles in the episode, "Homer Simpson, This is Your Wife". He also wrote the episode, making him the first guest star to ever be credited with writing an episode of The Simpsons.

...Archive/Nominations

More...

edit

Character quote

“ [In response to an aid's concerns that he may have gone mad with power] Well of course I have! Have you ever tried going mad without power? It's boring, no one listens to you. ”

—Russ Cargill (The Simpsons Movie)

...Archive/Nominations

More at Wikiquote...

edit

News

June 2, 2008: The six main voice actors sign a new four year contract. This ends a pay dispute which had delayed work on the twentieth season and resulted in the shortening of the production run from 22 episodes to 20.
May 19, 2008: The Simpsons Ride opens in Universal Studios Hollywood. The version at Universal Studios Florida officially opened four days earlier on May 15.
May 18, 2008: The nineteenth season ends with the airing of the finale "All About Lisa".
May 15, 2008: Fox announces that The Simpsons has been renewed for a twentieth season.
May 11, 2008: "Mona Leaves-a" is seen in 6.02 million homes, making it the least watched episode ever.

...Archive

More at Wikinews...

edit

Main Topics

The Simpsons

Alf Clausen • Awards • Bart Simpson • Cast members • Chalkboard gag • Characters • Couch gag • Dan Castellaneta • Danny Elfman • Discography • D'oh! • DVDs • DVD boxsets • Episodes • Guest stars • Hank Azaria • Harry Shearer • History • Homer Simpson • James L. Brooks • Julie Kavner • Lisa Simpson • Maggie • Marge • Matt Groening • Nancy Cartwright • Opening sequence • Publications • Politics • Recurring jokes • Religion • Simpson family • Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire • The Simpsons Movie • The Simpsons shorts • The Simpsons Theme • Some Enchanted Evening • Springfield • The Tracey Ullman Show • Treehouse of Horror • Video games • Writers • Yeardley Smith

edit

Selected episode

"Mr. Plow" is the ninth episode of The Simpsons' fourth season, which originally aired on November 19th, 1992. In the episode, Homer buys a snow plow and starts a business plowing driveways. It is a huge success, and inspired by Homer's success, Barney Gumble starts a rival company and quickly puts Homer out of business. The episode was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Jim Reardon. In 1993, Dan Castellaneta won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance" for this episode. The episode was also submitted in the "Outstanding Comedy Series" category although ultimately it wasn't nominated.

...Archive/Nominations

More...

edit

Did you know...

...that the title of Dan Castellaneta's album of comedy sketches I Am Not Homer is a parody of Leonard Nimoy's first autobiography I Am Not Spock?
... that for "Homerpalooza", Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Pearl Jam and Hole were all sought to guest star but all four turned the offer down?
...that since leaving the series in 1993, Sam Simon has been credited as "Sam 'Sayonara' Simon" in the opening credits of Treehouse of Horror episodes? ...Archive/Nominations
More...

edit

WikiProjects

edit

Selected quotes

“ We're really writing a show that has some of the most esoteric references on television. I mean really, really, really strange, odd, short little moments that very few people get and understand. We do that for ourselves. We're writing it for adults and intelligent adults at that. ”

—David Mirkin

“ The big thing from the beginning has been to preserve the emotional reality of the characters .. Even though they're cartoon characters, if you insult them, they get mad. It's not the sort of TV give-and-take where somebody is called much worse than you would ever say to a real person, and they just go about their business. ”

—Jon Vitti

“ .. I came back and did some freelance episodes. But now when I go in there, everything done on 'The Simpsons' is done collectively, done as a group. It's run like a kibbutz, with 10 writers sitting around working on the script a line at a time. ”

—Mike Reiss

...Archive/Nominations

More...

edit