The Simpsons

The Simpsons
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Genre	Comedy Satire Sitcom
Created by	Matt Groening
Developed by	James L. Brooks Matt Groening Sam Simon
Voices of	United States: Dan Castellaneta Julie Kavner Nancy Cartwright Yeardley Smith Hank Azaria Harry Shearer Canada: R.H Thomson as Homer Simpson Cree Summer as Marge Simpson Jessica DiCicco as Bart Simpson and Lisa Simpson Vincent Tong (1990-1991) as Maggie Simpson Mila Kunis (1991-present) as Maggie Simpson George Clooney as Santa's Little Helper
Theme music composer	Danny Elfman
Opening theme	"The Simpsons Theme" (United States) "I Threw It All Away" by Bob Dylan (Canada)
Composer(s)	Alf Clausen
Country of origin	United States Canada
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	31
No. of episodes	684 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Al Jean John Frink James L. Brooks Matt Groening Matt Selman Sam Simon
Running time	21–24 minutes
Production company(s)	Gracie Films 20th Century Fox Television Klasky Csupo (seasons 0 (pre-1)-3 (1987–1992)) Film Roman (seasons 4-present (1992–present)) Fuzzy Door Productions Nelvana
Distributor	20th Television CBC
Release
Original network	Fox (United States) CBC (Canada)
Picture format	480i/576i (4:3 SDTV) (seasons 0 (pilot)-20 (1987–2009)) 720p (16:9 HDTV) (seasons 21-present (2009–present))
Audio format	Stereo (seasons 0-2 (1987–1991)) Dolby Surround 2.0 (seasons 3-20 (1991-2009)) Dolby Surround 5.1 (seasons 20-present (2009-present))
Original release	December 17, 1989 (1989-12-17) – present
Chronology
Preceded by	The Simpsons shorts from The Tracey Ullman Show
Other websites
Official website

The Simpsons is an American adult animated sitcom. It was created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show started on December 17, 1989 and so far over 677 episodes have aired in 31 seasons. As of today, the show is in its 31st season. As a full-length movie, The Simpsons Movie, was released on July 27, 2007 as a celebration of the franchise. It is aimed at the whole family.

The comedy takes place in the fake (make-believe) town of Springfield, although it is speculated that this town may correspond to the real-life cities of Springfield, Oregon (a city near where Groening grew up) or Springfield, Virginia. Bart's name is an anagram of Brat. His full name is Bartholomew Jojo Simpson. This TV show has a yellow skinned cartoon family. In 2002, the production of The Simpsons had switched from cels to digital ink and paint. During that time, The Simpsons had suffering of franchise fatigue.

History

The television show The Simpsons was originally shown as short shows on The Tracey Ullman Show. Fox then decided to give them their own show in 1989.

Shorts

Main article: The Simpsons shorts

Episodes

Main article: List of The Simpsons episodes

Season		Episodes	Originally aired		Production line	DVD release dates
			Season premiere	Season finale		Region 1	Region 2	Region 4	Region 5
	1	13	December 17, 1989 (1989-12-17)	May 13, 1990 (1990-05-13)	7Gxx	September 25, 2001 (2001-09-25)	September 24, 2001 (2001-09-24)	September 24, 2001 (2001-09-24)	August 21, 2008 (2008-08-21)
	2	22	October 11, 1990 (1990-10-11)	July 11, 1991 (1991-07-11)	7Fxx	August 6, 2002 (2002-08-06)	July 8, 2002 (2002-07-08)	July 23, 2002 (2002-07-23)	September 18, 2008 (2008-09-18)
	3	24	September 19, 1991 (1991-09-19)	August 27, 1992 (1992-08-27)	8Fxx	August 26, 2003 (2003-08-26)	October 6, 2003 (2003-10-06)	October 22, 2003 (2003-10-22)	December 3, 2009 (2009-12-03)
	4	22	September 24, 1992 (1992-09-24)	May 13, 1993 (1993-05-13)	9Fxx	June 15, 2004 (2004-06-15)	August 2, 2004 (2004-08-02)	August 25, 2004 (2004-08-25)	March 25, 2010 (2010-03-25)
	5	22	September 30, 1993 (1993-09-30)	May 19, 1994 (1994-05-19)	1Fxx	December 21, 2004 (2004-12-21)	March 21, 2005 (2005-03-21)	March 23, 2005 (2005-03-23)	May 27, 2010 (2010-05-27)
	6	25	September 4, 1994 (1994-09-04)	May 21, 1995 (1995-05-21)	2Fxx	August 16, 2005 (2005-08-16)	October 17, 2005 (2005-10-17)	September 28, 2005 (2005-09-28)	September 9, 2010 (2010-09-09)
	7	25	September 17, 1995 (1995-09-17)	May 19, 1996 (1996-05-19)	3Fxx / 3Gxx	December 13, 2005 (2005-12-13)	January 30, 2006 (2006-01-30)	March 29, 2006 (2006-03-29)	N/A
	8	25	October 27, 1996 (1996-10-27)	May 18, 1997 (1997-05-18)	4Fxx	August 15, 2006 (2006-08-15)	October 2, 2006 (2006-10-02)	September 27, 2006 (2006-09-27)	N/A
	9	25	September 21, 1997 (1997-09-21)	May 17, 1998 (1998-05-17)	5Fxx	December 19, 2006 (2006-12-19)	January 29, 2007 (2007-01-29)	March 21, 2007 (2007-03-21)	N/A
	10	23	August 23, 1998 (1998-08-23)	May 26, 1999 (1999-05-26)	AABFxx	August 7, 2007 (2007-08-07)	September 10, 2007 (2007-09-10)	September 26, 2007 (2007-09-26)	N/A
	11	22	September 26, 1999 (1999-09-26)	May 21, 2000 (2000-05-21)	BABFxx	October 7, 2008 (2008-10-07)	October 6, 2008 (2008-10-06)	November 5, 2008 (2008-11-05)	N/A
	12	21	November 1, 2000 (2000-11-01)	May 20, 2001 (2001-05-20)	CABFxx	August 18, 2009 (2009-08-18)	September 28, 2009 (2009-09-28)	September 2, 2009 (2009-09-02)	N/A
	13	22	November 6, 2001 (2001-11-06)	May 22, 2002 (2002-05-22)	DABFxx	August 24, 2010 (2010-08-24)	September 20, 2010 (2010-09-20)	December 1, 2010 (2010-12-01)	N/A
	14	22	November 3, 2002 (2002-11-03)	May 18, 2003 (2003-05-18)	EABFxx	December 6, 2011 (2011-12-06)	October 10, 2011 (2011-10-10)	November 2, 2011 (2011-11-02)	N/A
	15	22	November 2, 2003 (2003-11-02)	May 23, 2004 (2004-05-23)	FABFxx	December 4, 2012 (2012-12-04)	December 3, 2012 (2012-12-03)	December 12, 2012 (2012-12-12)	N/A
	16	21	November 7, 2004 (2004-11-07)	May 15, 2005 (2005-05-15)	GABFxx	December 3, 2013 (2013-12-03)	December 2, 2013 (2013-12-02)	December 11, 2013 (2013-12-11)	N/A
	17	22	September 11, 2005 (2005-09-11)	May 21, 2006 (2006-05-21)	HABFxx	December 2, 2014 (2014-12-02)	December 1, 2014 (2014-12-01)	December 3, 2014 (2014-12-03)	N/A
	18	22	September 10, 2006 (2006-09-10)	May 20, 2007 (2007-05-20)	JABFxx	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	19	20	September 23, 2007 (2007-09-23)	May 18, 2008 (2008-05-18)	KABFxx	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	20	21	September 28, 2008 (2008-09-28)	May 17, 2009 (2009-05-17)	LABFxx	January 12, 2010 (2010-01-12)	October 20, 2010 (2010-10-20)	January 20, 2010 (2010-01-20)	N/A
	21	23	September 27, 2009 (2009-09-27)	May 23, 2010 (2010-05-23)	MABFxx	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	22	22	September 26, 2010 (2010-09-26)	May 22, 2011 (2011-05-22)	NABFxx	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	23	22	September 25, 2011 (2011-09-25)	May 20, 2012 (2012-05-20)	PABFxx	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	24	22	September 30, 2012 (2012-09-30)	May 19, 2013 (2013-05-19)	RABFxx	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	25	22	September 29, 2013 (2013-09-29)	May 18, 2014 (2014-05-18)	SABFxx	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	26	22	September 28, 2014 (2014-09-28)	May 17, 2015	TABFxx	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	27	22	September 27, 2015 (2015-09-27)	May 22, 2016	VABFxx	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	28	22	September 25, 2016	May 21, 2017	WABFxx

Seasons of The Simpsons mostly have a total of 22 episodes.

Elements of the show

Chalkboard gag

Many episodes begin with a scene of Springfield Elementary School, where Bart Simpson is shown writing lines on a chalkboard as punishment for being bad. For example, in one episode, Bart writes, "I will not conduct my own fire drills." The line is supposed to be humourous. Not every episode has a new one and sometimes the chalkboard gag may be cut (removed) because there is not enough time.

Couch gag

In the opening, all the Simpsons come home after work or school. After Homer Simpson is almost or is hit by Marge's car, they all go into the living room, where something comical happens again. These are called "couch gags". On one couch gag Homer Simpson walked onto the screen like James Bond and shot the camera. Sometimes if an episode is a short one, then the couch gag will be very long. A couple of couch gags have been over one minute long. Couch gags in earlier seasons were simple but then became more interesting in later seasons.

Ending credits

At the end of the show, the credits are shown. Sometimes they might be changed. In one episode, the ending showed Homer reading from a document about Dateline. In another episode, where all of the character sung in song, the character Snake kept firing his gun in order to make the music that was playing stop.

Movie

Main article: The Simpsons Movie

A film based on the show, The Simpsons Movie, was released in 2007, specifically on the day that it was released. It included the character Spider Pig as Homer's new pet after rescuing him from a chain restaurant, Krusty Burger.

Other websites

• TheSimpsons.com Official website
• The Simpsons on IMDb
• The Simpsons at TV.com
• The Simpsons Archive
• The Simpsons at the Encyclopedia of Television
• The Simpsons Wiki
• The Simpsons Wiki at Wikia