The Simpsons
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| The Simpsons | |
|---|---|
| Format | Animated television series, Comedy |
| Created by | Matt Groening |
| Developed by | James L. Brooks Matt Groening Sam Simon |
| Voices of | Dan Castellaneta Julie Kavner Nancy Cartwright Yeardley Smith Hank Azaria Harry Shearer (Complete list) |
| Theme music composer | Danny Elfman |
| Country of origin |  |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 420 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Al Jean James L. Brooks Matt Groening Sam Simon |
| Running time | 20–23 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Fox |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) (1989 - 2009) 720p (HDTV) (2009) |
| Original run | December 17, 1989 – present (renewed through 2007–2008) |
| Other websites | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Simpsons is an American television program that is an animated comedy, created by Matt Groening. The comedy takes place in the fake (make-believe) town of Springfield. It started on December 17, 1989 and so far 420 episodes have aired over 19 seasons. As of May 2008, the show has been renewed for a 20th season, which should be aired in 2008-2009. The end of the 18th season was the 400th episode. A full-length movie, The Simpsons Movie has been made, released on July 27, 2007, in order to celebrate The Simpsons franchise.
Contents |
[change] About the show
The television show The Simpsons was originally shown as short shows on The Tracy Ullman Show. Then Fox decided to give them their own show in 1989. However, some say that there was a show very similar to the Simpsons before.[needs proving]
[change] Elements of the show
[change] Chalkboard gag
Many episodes open with a scene of Springfield Elementary School, where Bart Simpson is shown writing lines on a chalkboard as punishment for being bad. The line is always funny. Not every episode has a new one and sometimes the chalkboard gag may be cut because there is not enough time.
[change] Couch gag
In the opening, all the Simpsons come home to the family. After Homer Simpson is almost hit by Marge's car, they all go into the living room, where again something humorous happens. One such gag was when Homer Simpson walked onto the screen like James Bond and shot the camera, a homage to the James Bond gun barrel sequence. 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.
[change] Ending credits
At the end of the show, the credits are shown. Sometimes they 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.
[change] Movie
A film based on the show,The Simpsons Movie, was released in 2007.
[change] The Simpson family
- Homer J. Simpson, the father, who is overweight, lazy and works at a nuclear power plant.
- Marge Simpson, the mother, a housewife, who is very tolerant (understanding) of her family.
- Bart Simpson, the 10-year old son, who is a troublemaker.
- Lisa Simpson, the 8-year old daughter, who is very smart.
- Maggie Simpson, the baby girl, who doesn't speak much. She said "daddy" and never speaks again. She is always doing mischief.
- "Grandpa" Abe Simpson, the father of Homer Simpson. He lives in an old folks home.
- Patty and Selma Bouvier, Marge's sisters, whom have rough voices and often smoke cigarettes. Note that in one episode, Patty is revealed to be a lesbian. Selma has been married several times.
- Mona Simpson, the mother of Homer Simpson; wife of Abe Simpson.
- Santa's Little Helper, the family dog, a former racing greyhound.
- Snowballs (I-V) and Coltrane, pet cats. All have died at one point in the series. The current cat is Snowball V (though she is called Snowball II) as she looks like it.
[change] Other characters
Some of the many different characters who appeared on the show include:
- Montgomery Burns, Homer's greedy, evil boss
- Waylon Smithers, Montgomery Burns' assistant
- Moe Szyslak, a grumpy bartender who owns a bar (Moe's Tavern)
- Barney Gumble, one of Homer's friends, an alcoholic
- Kent Brockman, a television news journalist|anchor
- Mayor Quimby, the corrupt mayor of Springfield
- Lenny Leonard and Carl Carlson, two of Homer's coworkers.
- Krusty The Klown, TV star and host of a popular Children's/Comedy/Variety show who smokes and drinks a lot
- Doctor Hibbert, the Simpsons' family doctor
- Ned Flanders, the Simpsons' religious devout neighbour
- Ned has two shy children, Rod and Todd. His wife Maude died at an auto race in the episode Alone Again, Natura-Diddly.
- Milhouse Van Houten, Bart's nerdy best friend
- His parents, Kirk and Luann, are divorced.
- Nelson Muntz, school bully
- Martin Prince, Classmate of Bart, and a nerd.
- Comic Book Guy, comic book store owner
- Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, convenience store owner
- Apu and his wife Manjula have eight infant children.
- Seymour Skinner, principal of the school
- Chief Wiggum, chief of police who is not good at his job
- Chief Wiggum's son, Ralph, is a mentally-disabled classmate of Lisa.
- Jasper, friend of Grandpa's
- Captain McAllister, sea captain
- Otto Mann, who drives the school bus
- Bumblebee Man, Spanish-speaking TV actor
- Itchy and Scratchy, cartoon cat and mouse who are a different more violent version of Tom and Jerry
- Troy McClure, out of work actor. He was once married to Selma.
- Snake, robber and criminal.
- Old Gil Gunderson, a salesman who has bad luck.
- Side Show Bob (Robert Terwilliger), was Krusty the Clown's assistant before he was jailed after framing Krusty.
- He was married to Selma once, has tried to kill Bart several times, and has gone to prison.
- Fat Tony, the town's chief gangster who has a group of mobsters
- Side Show Cecil (Cecil Terwilliger), Sideshow Bob's somewhat evil brother, who was also once a clown
- Janie, Lisa's best friend
- Ranier Wolfcastle, The Arnold Schwarzenegger-like Hollywood action hero of Springfield who is in a lot of movies in Springfield
- Mr Largo, the Springfield Elementary music teacher
- Bruno, the stereotypical Australian boy telephoned by Bart in the "Simpson's in Australia" episode
- Superintendent Chalmers, The superintendent of all Springfield elementary schools who does not like Principal Skinner
- Agnes Skinner, The mean mother of Principal Skinner
- Mrs. Krabappel and Ms. Hoover, Bart and Lisa's teachers, who both don't want to live or teach because of they don't have relationships
- Side Show Mel, Krusty's second assistant who replaced Bob after going to prison for trying to frame Krusty for murder. He doesn't say much on the Krusty show (talks with a whistle) and once tried to get gum out of his hair with a bone ....it just made matters worse.
[change] Other websites
- TheSimpsons.com Official website
- The Simpsons at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
- The Simpsons at TV.com
- The Simpsons Archive (See The Simpsons Archive)
- The Simpsons at the Encyclopedia of Television
- The Simpsons Wiki
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