The Simpsons is an American animated television series
created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a
satirical parody of a working-class American lifestyle epitomized by its
eponymous family,[1]
which consists of Homer, Marge,
Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional city of Springfield, and lampoons American culture, society,
television and many aspects of the human condition.
The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a pitch for a
series of animated shorts with the producer James L. Brooks. Groening created 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 and was an early hit for Fox, becoming the first Fox
series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–1990).
Since its debut on December 17, 1989 the show has broadcast 464 episodes and the twenty-first season finished airing
on May 23, 2010. The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, was
released in theaters worldwide on July 26 and July 27, 2007, and grossed
US$527 million worldwide.
The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a
series, including 25 Primetime Emmy Awards, 27 Annie
Awards and a Peabody Award. Time magazine's December 31, 1999 issue named it the
20th century's best television series, and on January 14, 2000 the
Simpson family was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The
Simpsons is the longest-running American sitcom, the
longest-running American animated program, and in 2009 it surpassed Gunsmoke as the longest running American
primetime entertainment series. Homer's exclamatory catchphrase "D'oh!"
has been adopted into the English lexicon, while The Simpsons has
influenced many adult-oriented animated sitcoms.