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The Simpsons

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The Simpsons
Red logo
Genre
Created byMatt Groening
Based onThe Simpsons shorts
by Matt Groening
Developed by
Voices of
Theme music composerDanny Elfman
Opening theme"The Simpsons Theme"
ComposersRichard Gibbs (1989)
Alf Clausen (1990–2017)
Bleeding Fingers Music (2017–present)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons36
No. of episodes775 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
List
Running time21–24 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkFox
ReleaseDecember 17, 1989 (1989-12-17) –
present

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom. It was created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show started on December 17, 1989 and so far over 700 episodes have aired in 36 seasons. As of today, the show is in its 36th 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 fictional town of Springfield, although it is speculated that its location may correspond to the real-life cities of Springfield, Oregon (a city near where Groening grew up) or Springfield, Wyoming, from the adventures of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Homer's name is an Homerous. His full name is Homer J. Simpson. 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 1998, Phil Hartman was murdered by his wife, resulting in his characters being removed from the show. In 2000, Ned Flander's wife, Maude Flanders was killed off. Also in 2000, Barney Gumble became sober. 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. "Sneed's Feed and Seed" from the episode E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) became an internet meme.[1][2]

History

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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. It has been tremendously successful since onwards.

Shorts

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See the main article: The Simpsons shorts

Episodes

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See the main article: List of The Simpsons episodes
Season No. of
episodes 		Originally aired Viewership
Season premiere Season finale Time slot (ET) Avg. viewers
(in millions) 		Most watched episode
Viewers
(millions) 		Episode title
1 1989–90 13 December 17, 1989 May 13, 1990 Sunday 8:30 pm 27.8 33.5[3] "Life on the Fast Lane"
2 1990–91 22 October 11, 1990 July 11, 1991 Thursday 8:00 pm 24.4 33.6[4] "Bart Gets an 'F'"
3 1991–92 24 September 19, 1991 August 27, 1992 21.8 25.5[5] "Colonel Homer"
4 1992–93 22 September 24, 1992 May 13, 1993 22.4 28.6[6] "Lisa's First Word"
5 1993–94 22 September 30, 1993 May 19, 1994 18.9 24.0[7] "Treehouse of Horror IV"
6 1994–95 25 September 4, 1994 May 21, 1995 Sunday 8:00 pm 15.6 22.2[8] "Treehouse of Horror V"
7 1995–96 25 September 17, 1995 May 19, 1996 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–24)
Sunday 8:30 pm (Episode 25) 		15.1 22.6[9] "Who Shot Mr. Burns? – Part II"
8 1996–97 25 October 27, 1996 May 18, 1997 Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 1–3)
Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 4–12, 14–25)
Friday 8:00 pm (Episode 13)[10] 		14.5 20.41[11] "The Springfield Files"
9 1997–98 25 September 21, 1997 May 17, 1998 Sunday 8:00 pm 15.3 19.80[12] "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons"
10 1998–99 23 August 23, 1998 May 16, 1999 13.5 19.11[13] "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday"
11 1999–2000 22 September 26, 1999 May 21, 2000 8.8 19.16[14] "Faith Off"
12 2000–01 21 November 1, 2000 May 20, 2001 15.5 18.52[15] "HOMR"
13 2001–02 22 November 6, 2001 May 22, 2002 Tuesday 8:30 pm (Episode 1)
Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 2–20)
Sunday 7:30 pm (Episode 21)
Wednesday 8:00 pm (Episode 22) 		12.5 14.91[16] "The Parent Rap"
14 2002–03 22 November 3, 2002 May 18, 2003 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–11, 13–21)
Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 12, 22) 		14.4 22.04[17] "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can"
15 2003–04 22 November 2, 2003 May 23, 2004 Sunday 8:00 pm 11.0 16.30[18] "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot"
16 2004–05 21 November 7, 2004 May 15, 2005 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–7, 9–16, 18, 20)
Sunday 10:30 pm (Episode 8)
Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 17, 19, 21) 		10.2 23.07[19] "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass"
17 2005–06 22 September 11, 2005 May 21, 2006 Sunday 8:00 pm 9.55 11.66[20] "Treehouse of Horror XVI"
18 2006–07 22 September 10, 2006 May 20, 2007 9.15 11.63[21] "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer"
19 2007–08 20 September 23, 2007 May 18, 2008 8.37 11.74[22] "Treehouse of Horror XVIII"
20 2008–09 21 September 28, 2008 May 17, 2009 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–7, 9–21)
Sunday 8:30 pm (Episode 8) 		7.1 12.40[23] "Treehouse of Horror XIX"
21 2009–10 23 September 27, 2009 May 23, 2010 Sunday 8:00 pm 7.1 14.62[24] "Once Upon a Time in Springfield"
22 2010–11 22 September 26, 2010 May 22, 2011 7.09 12.55[25] "Moms I'd Like to Forget"
23 2011–12 22 September 25, 2011 May 20, 2012 6.15[26] 11.48[27] "The D'oh-cial Network"
24 2012–13 22 September 30, 2012 May 19, 2013 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–21)
Sunday 8:30 pm (Episode 22) 		5.41[28] 8.97[29] "Homer Goes to Prep School"
25 2013–14 22 September 29, 2013 May 18, 2014 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–11, 13–22)
Sunday 7:30 pm (Episode 12) 		5.02[30] 12.04[31] "Steal This Episode"
26 2014–15 22 September 28, 2014 May 17, 2015 Sunday 8:00 pm 5.61[32] 10.62[33] "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner"
27 2015–16 22 September 27, 2015 May 22, 2016 4.0[34] 8.33[35] "Teenage Mutant Milk-Caused Hurdles"
28 2016–17 22 September 25, 2016 May 21, 2017 (2017-05-21) 4.80[36] 8.19[37] "Pork and Burns"
29 2017–18 21 October 1, 2017 May 20, 2018 4.07[38] 8.04[39] "Frink Gets Testy"
30 2018–19 23 September 30, 2018 May 12, 2019 3.10[40] 8.20[41] "The Girl on the Bus"
31 2019–20 22 September 29, 2019 May 17, 2020 2.58[42] 5.63[43] "Go Big or Go Homer"
32 2020–21 22 September 27, 2020 May 23, 2021 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–10, 12–22)
Sunday 9:00 pm
(Episode 11) 		2.32[44] 4.93[45] "Treehouse of Horror XXXI"
33 2021–22 22 September 26, 2021 May 22, 2022 2.25[46] 3.97[47] "Portrait of a Lackey on Fire"
34 2022–23 22 September 25, 2022 May 21, 2023 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–8, 10–22)
Sunday 8:30 pm (Episode 9) 		1.83[48] 4.77[49] "From Beer to Paternity"
35 2023–24 18 October 1, 2023 May 19, 2024 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–5, 7, 10–18)
Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 6, 8, 9) 		1.99[50] 5.41[51] "Do the Wrong Thing"
36 2024–25 TBA September 29, 2024 TBA Sunday 8:00PM TBA TBA TBA

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

Elements of the show

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Chalkboard gag

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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

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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

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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 characters sing in song, Snake keeps firing his gun in order to make the music that was playing stop.

Movie

[change | change source]
See the 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.

References

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  1. ↑ "Sneed's Feed and Seed". Know Your Meme. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  2. ↑ "/co/ - Comics & Cartoons » Thread #37643352". desuarchive.org. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  3. ↑ "NIELSENS; 'Simpsons' soar for No.4 Fox". USA Today. March 21, 1990. p. 03.D.
  4. ↑ Eugene Sloan (October 17, 1990). "NIELSENS; For CBS, baseball's a grounder". USA Today. p. 03.D.
  5. ↑ Brian Donlon (April 1, 1992). "'Room' in the top 10 for ABC". USA Today. p. 03.D.
  6. ↑ Donna Gable (December 9, 1992). "ABC's Tuesday lineup ends up rosy". USA Today. p. 03.D.
  7. ↑ DeRosa, Robin (November 3, 1993). "ABC usurps CBS as No. 1". USA Today. p. 3D.
  8. ↑ DeRosa, Robin (November 2, 1994). "ABC is 'Home' alone at the top – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today. p. 3D.
  9. ↑ Graham, Jefferson (September 1995). "A scrambling CBS slips behind Fox". USA Today. p. 3D.
  10. ↑ "Episodes: The Simpsons (96–97 Season)". www.cs.cmu.edu. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  11. ↑ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 6–12, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times. Newspapers.com. January 15, 1997. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  12. ↑ "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 10–16)". The Los Angeles Times. November 19, 1997. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.Free to read
  13. ↑ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 25–31, 1999)". Los Angeles Times. February 3, 1999. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  14. ↑ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 10–16)". The Los Angeles Times. January 19, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.Free to read
  15. ↑ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 1–7, 2001)". The Los Angeles Times. Newspapers.com. January 10, 2001. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  16. ↑ "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 5–11, 2001)". The Los Angeles Times. Newspapers.com. November 7, 2001. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Top 20 Network Primetime Report: Week of 2/10/03 – 2/16/03". Zap2it. Archived from the original on June 9, 2003. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  18. ↑ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 5–11)". The Los Angeles Times. January 14, 2004. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.Free to read
  19. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. February 8, 2005. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings (Oct. 31-Nov. 6)". ABC Medianet. November 8, 2005. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings Report (Sept. 4–10)". ABC Medianet. September 12, 2006. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  22. ↑ Gorman, Bill (November 8, 2007). "Top Fox Primetime Shows, Oct 29 – Nov 4". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2023. Alt URL Archived January 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  23. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings (Oct. 27-Nov. 2)". ABC Medianet. ABC Medianet. November 4, 2008. Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  24. ↑ "TV Ratings: Pro and College Football and The Simpsons and NCIS top weekly viewing". TVbytheNumbers.com. Archived from the original on February 7, 2011. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  25. ↑ Seidman, Robert (January 11, 2011). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Desperate Housewives,' 'Cleveland' Adjusted Up; 'Brothers & Sisters' Down; No Change for 'The Cape' or 'Bob's Burgers'". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 14, 2011. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  26. ↑ "The Simpsons: Season 23 Ratings". TV Series Finale. May 23, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  27. ↑ Gorman, Bill. "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Good Wife' Adjusted up; 'Pan Am' adjusted down + Giants/Packers, Unscrambled Fox". Archived from the original on January 20, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  28. ↑ "The Simpsons: Season 24 Ratings". TV Series Finale. May 22, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  29. ↑ Bibel, Sara (January 8, 2013). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Family Guy', 'Revenge' & 'The Biggest Loser' Adjusted Up; 'The Simpsons' Adjusted Down + Final Football Numbers". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  30. ↑ "The Simpsons: Season 25 Ratings". TV Series Finale. May 22, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  31. ↑ Bibel, Sara (January 7, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Family Guy', '60 Minutes' & 'The Mentalist' Adjusted Up; 'The Simpsons', 'Bob's Burgers', 'The Best of Jimmy Fallon' & 'Betrayal' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Full 2014–15 Series Rankings". Deadline Hollywood. May 22, 2015. Archived from the original on May 22, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  33. ↑ Bibel, Sara (January 8, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Simpsons', 'Madam Secretary', 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine', 'The Celebrity Apprentice', 'Bob's Burgers' & 'CSI' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 8, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  34. ↑ "The Simpsons: Season 27 Ratings". TV Series Finale. May 23, 2016. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  35. ↑ Porter, Rick (January 12, 2016). "Sunday final ratings: 'Simpsons' still at a season high after downward adjustment". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 14, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  36. ↑ "Final 2016–17 TV Rankings: 'Sunday Night Football' Winning Streak Continues". Deadline Hollywood. May 26, 2017. Archived from the original on June 8, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  37. ↑ Porter, Rick (January 10, 2017). "'The Simpsons' and FOX adjust down, still above average: Sunday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 11, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  38. ↑ "2017–18 TV Series Ratings Rankings: NFL Football, 'Big Bang' Top Charts". Deadline Hollywood. May 22, 2018. Archived from the original on September 24, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  39. ↑ Porter, Rick (January 17, 2018). "'NCIS: LA' and 'Family Guy' adjust up, other FOX shows adjust down: Sunday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 18, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  40. ↑ "The Simpsons: Season 30 Ratings". TV Series Finale Critic. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  41. ↑ Welch, Alex (January 15, 2019). "'The Simpsons,' 'REL,' 'Bob's Burgers,' and 'Family Guy' adjust down: Sunday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  42. ↑ "The Simpsons: Season 31 Ratings". TV Series Finale Critic. May 19, 2020. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  43. ↑ Welch, Alex (October 8, 2019). "'Sunday Night Football' adjusts up, 'The Simpsons', 'Bless the Harts', and others adjust down: Sunday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  44. ↑ "The Simpsons on FOX". TV Series Finale Critic. June 14, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  45. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (November 3, 2020). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 11.1.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  46. ↑ Porter, Rick (June 9, 2022). "2021–22 TV Ratings: Final Seven-Day Numbers for Every Network Series". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  47. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (November 23, 2021). "ShowBuzzDaily's Sunday 11.21.2021 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  48. ↑ "The Simpsons: Season 34 Ratings". TV Series Finale Critic. May 24, 2023. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  49. ↑ Salem, Mitch (November 15, 2022). "ShowBuzzDaily's Sunday 11.13.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  50. ↑ "TV Ratings 2023-24: Final Numbers for (Almost) Every Network Series" (Press release). June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  51. ↑ Pucci, Douglas (December 25, 2023). "Sunday Ratings: Cowboys-Dolphins on Fox Draws Monster Christmas Eve Numbers, NFL Network Tops Prime Time with Patriots-Broncos". Programming Insider. Retrieved January 5, 2024.

Series 6-8 Were In CBeebies

Series 9-11 Were In 4Severn

Series 12-13 Were In Sky One

  1. ↑ Known as 20th Century Fox Television until season 31.

Other websites

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Simpsons.
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Simpsons
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