The Simpsons
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 Simpsons | |
|---|---|
Red logo | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Matt Groening |
| Developed by |
|
| Voices of | |
| Composers | Richard Gibbs Arthur B. Rubenstein Patrick Williams Ray Colcord Alf Clausen Bleeding Fingers Music |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | List
|
| Running time | 21–24 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Release | present |
| Related | |
| Futurama | |
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 Jay Simpson. Bart's name is an anagram of Brat. His full name is Bartholomew Jo-Jo 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 Flanders' 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.
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. It has been tremendously successful since onwards.
Shorts
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[1] | "Life on the Fast Lane" |
| 2 | 1990–91 | 22 | October 11, 1990 | July 11, 1991 | Thursday 8:00 pm | 24.4 | 33.6[2] | "Bart Gets an 'F'
|
| 3 | 1991–92 | 24 | September 19, 1991 | August 27, 1992 | 21.8 | 25.5[3] | "Colonel Homer" | |
| 4 | 1992–93 | 22 | September 24, 1992 | May 13, 1993 | 22.4 | 28.6[4] | "Lisa's First Word" | |
| 5 | 1993–94 | 22 | September 30, 1993 | May 19, 1994 | 18.9 | 24.0[5] | "Treehouse of Horror IV" | |
| 6 | 1994–95 | 25 | September 4, 1994 | May 21, 1995 | Sunday 8:00 pm | 15.6 | 22.2[6] | "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[7] | "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)[broken anchor]" |
| 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)[8] |
14.5 | 20.41[9] | "The Springfield Files" |
| 9 | 1997–98 | 25 | September 21, 1997 | May 17, 1998 | Sunday 8:00 pm | 15.3 | 19.80[10] | "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" |
| 10 | 1998–99 | 23 | August 23, 1998 | May 16, 1999 | 13.5 | 19.11[11] | "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" | |
| 11 | 1999–2000 | 22 | September 26, 1999 | May 21, 2000 | 8.8 | 19.16[12] | "Faith Off" | |
| 12 | 2000–01 | 21 | November 1, 2000 | May 20, 2001 | 15.5 | 18.52[13] | "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[14] | "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[15] | "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[16] | "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[17] | "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[18] | "Treehouse of Horror XVI" |
| 18 | 2006–07 | 22 | September 10, 2006 | May 20, 2007 | 9.15 | 11.63[19] | "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" | |
| 19 | 2007–08 | 20 | September 23, 2007 | May 18, 2008 | 8.37 | 11.74[20] | "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[21] | "Treehouse of Horror XIX" |
| 21 | 2009–10 | 23 | September 27, 2009 | May 23, 2010 | Sunday 8:00 pm | 7.1 | 14.62[22] | "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" |
| 22 | 2010–11 | 22 | September 26, 2010 | May 22, 2011 | 7.09 | 12.55[23] | "Moms I'd Like to Forget" | |
| 23 | 2011–12 | 22 | September 25, 2011 | May 20, 2012 | 6.15[24] | 11.48[25] | "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[26] | 8.97[27] | "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[28] | 12.04[29] | "Steal This Episode" |
| 26 | 2014–15 | 22 | September 28, 2014 | May 17, 2015 | Sunday 8:00 pm | 5.61[30] | 10.62[31] | "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner" |
| 27 | 2015–16 | 22 | September 27, 2015 | May 22, 2016 | 4.0[32] | 8.33[33] | "Teenage Mutant Milk-Caused Hurdles" | |
| 28 | 2016–17 | 22 | September 25, 2016 | May 21, 2017 | 4.80[34] | 8.19[35] | "Pork and Burns" | |
| 29 | 2017–18 | 21 | October 1, 2017 | May 20, 2018 | 4.07[36] | 8.04[37] | "Frink Gets Testy" | |
| 30 | 2018–19 | 23 | September 30, 2018 | May 12, 2019 | 3.10[38] | 8.20[39] | "The Girl on the Bus" | |
| 31 | 2019–20 | 22 | September 29, 2019 | May 17, 2020 | 2.58[40] | 5.63[41] | "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[42] | 4.93[43] | "Treehouse of Horror XXXI" |
| 33 | 2021–22 | 22 | September 26, 2021 | May 22, 2022 | 2.25[44] | 3.97[45] | "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[46] | 4.77[47] | "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[48] | 5.41[49] | "Do the Wrong Thing" |
| 36 | 2024–25 | 18 | September 29, 2024 | May 18, 2025 | Sunday 8:00PM | TBA | TBA | TBA |
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 characters sing in song, Snake keeps firing his gun in order to make the music that was playing stop.
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.
The Simpsons Media
Animation director David Silverman, who helped define the look of the show
The Simpsons has been awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
References
- ↑ "NIELSENS; 'Simpsons' soar for No.4 Fox". USA Today: 03.D. March 21, 1990.
- ↑ Eugene Sloan (October 17, 1990). "NIELSENS; For CBS, baseball's a grounder". USA Today: 03.D.
- ↑ Brian Donlon (April 1, 1992). "'Room' in the top 10 for ABC". USA Today: 03.D.
- ↑ Donna Gable (December 9, 1992). "ABC's Tuesday lineup ends up rosy". USA Today: 03.D.
- ↑ DeRosa, Robin (November 3, 1993). ABC usurps CBS as No. 1. p. 3D.
- ↑ DeRosa, Robin (November 2, 1994). ABC is 'Home' alone at the top – Nielsen Ratings. p. 3D.
- ↑ Graham, Jefferson (September 1995). "A scrambling CBS slips behind Fox". USA Today: 3D.
- ↑ Episodes: The Simpsons (96–97 Season). www.cs.cmu.edu. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
- ↑ National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 6–12, 1997). The Los Angeles Times (January 15, 1997)Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
- ↑ "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 10–16)". The Los Angeles Times. November 19, 1997. https://www.newspapers.com/article/41313879/the-los-angeles-times/. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
- ↑ National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 25–31, 1999). Los Angeles Times (February 3, 1999). Retrieved March 1, 2023.
- ↑ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 10–16)". The Los Angeles Times. January 19, 2000. https://www.newspapers.com/article/41381605/the-los-angeles-times/. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
- ↑ National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 1–7, 2001). The Los Angeles Times (January 10, 2001)Newspapers.com. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
- ↑ National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 5–11, 2001). The Los Angeles Times (November 7, 2001)Newspapers.com. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
- ↑ Top 20 Network Primetime Report: Week of 2/10/03 – 2/16/03. Zap2it. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
- ↑ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 5–11)". The Los Angeles Times. January 14, 2004. https://www.newspapers.com/article/41428762/the-los-angeles-times/. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
- ↑ Weekly Program Rankings (February 8, 2005)ABC Medianet. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
- ↑ Weekly Program Rankings (Oct. 31-Nov. 6) (November 8, 2005)ABC Medianet. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
- ↑ Weekly Program Rankings Report (Sept. 4–10) (September 12, 2006)ABC Medianet. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
- ↑ Gorman, Bill. Top Fox Primetime Shows, Oct 29 – Nov 4 (November 8, 2007)TV by the Numbers. Retrieved June 10, 2023. Alt URL Archived January 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Weekly Program Rankings (Oct. 27-Nov. 2). ABC Medianet (November 4, 2008)ABC Medianet. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
- ↑ TV Ratings: Pro and College Football and The Simpsons and NCIS top weekly viewingTVbytheNumbers.com. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert. Sunday Final Ratings: 'Desperate Housewives,' 'Cleveland' Adjusted Up; 'Brothers & Sisters' Down; No Change for 'The Cape' or 'Bob's Burgers'. TV by the Numbers (January 11, 2011). Retrieved June 11, 2023.
- ↑ The Simpsons: Season 23 Ratings. TV Series Finale (May 23, 2012). Retrieved February 1, 2017.
- ↑ Gorman, Bill. Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Good Wife' Adjusted up; 'Pan Am' adjusted down + Giants/Packers, Unscrambled Fox. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
- ↑ The Simpsons: Season 24 Ratings. TV Series Finale (May 22, 2013). Retrieved February 1, 2017.
- ↑ Bibel, Sara. Sunday Final Ratings: 'Family Guy', 'Revenge' & 'The Biggest Loser' Adjusted Up; 'The Simpsons' Adjusted Down + Final Football Numbers. TV by the Numbers (January 8, 2013). Retrieved January 8, 2013.
- ↑ The Simpsons: Season 25 Ratings. TV Series Finale (May 22, 2014). Retrieved February 1, 2017.
- ↑ Bibel, Sara. 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 (January 7, 2014). Retrieved January 7, 2014.
- ↑ Full 2014–15 Series Rankings. Deadline Hollywood (May 22, 2015). Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- ↑ Bibel, Sara. Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Simpsons', 'Madam Secretary', 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine', 'The Celebrity Apprentice', 'Bob's Burgers' & 'CSI' Adjusted Up (January 8, 2014)TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
- ↑ The Simpsons: Season 27 Ratings. TV Series Finale (May 23, 2016). Retrieved July 15, 2016.
- ↑ Porter, Rick. Sunday final ratings: 'Simpsons' still at a season high after downward adjustment. TV by the Numbers (January 12, 2016). Retrieved January 12, 2016.
- ↑ Final 2016–17 TV Rankings: 'Sunday Night Football' Winning Streak Continues. Deadline Hollywood (May 26, 2017). Retrieved May 26, 2017.
- ↑ Porter, Rick. 'The Simpsons' and FOX adjust down, still above average: Sunday final ratings. TV by the Numbers (January 10, 2017). Retrieved January 10, 2017.
- ↑ 2017–18 TV Series Ratings Rankings: NFL Football, 'Big Bang' Top Charts. Deadline Hollywood (May 22, 2018). Retrieved May 22, 2018.
- ↑ Porter, Rick. 'NCIS: LA' and 'Family Guy' adjust up, other FOX shows adjust down: Sunday final ratings (January 17, 2018)TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ↑ The Simpsons: Season 30 RatingsTV Series Finale Critic. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
- ↑ Welch, Alex. 'The Simpsons,' 'REL,' 'Bob's Burgers,' and 'Family Guy' adjust down: Sunday final ratings. TV by the Numbers (January 15, 2019). Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- ↑ The Simpsons: Season 31 Ratings (May 19, 2020)TV Series Finale Critic. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ↑ Welch, Alex. 'Sunday Night Football' adjusts up, 'The Simpsons', 'Bless the Harts', and others adjust down: Sunday final ratings. TV by the Numbers (October 8, 2019). Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ↑ The Simpsons on FOX (June 14, 2021)TV Series Finale Critic. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
- ↑ Metcalf, Mitch. Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 11.1.2020. Showbuzz Daily (November 3, 2020). Retrieved November 3, 2020.
- ↑ Porter, Rick. 2021–22 TV Ratings: Final Seven-Day Numbers for Every Network Series (in en). The Hollywood Reporter (June 9, 2022). Retrieved June 13, 2022.
- ↑ Metcalf, Mitch. ShowBuzzDaily's Sunday 11.21.2021 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated. Showbuzz Daily (November 23, 2021). Retrieved November 23, 2021.
- ↑ The Simpsons: Season 34 Ratings (May 24, 2023)TV Series Finale Critic. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
- ↑ Salem, Mitch. ShowBuzzDaily's Sunday 11.13.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated. Showbuzz Daily (November 15, 2022). Retrieved November 15, 2022.
- ↑ "TV Ratings 2023-24: Final Numbers for (Almost) Every Network Series". Press release. June 11, 2024. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tv-ratings-2023-24-primetime-network-show-rankings-1235919819/. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
- ↑ Pucci, Douglas. Sunday Ratings: Cowboys-Dolphins on Fox Draws Monster Christmas Eve Numbers, NFL Network Tops Prime Time with Patriots-Broncos. Programming Insider (December 25, 2023). Retrieved January 5, 2024.
- ↑ Known as 20th Century Fox Television until season 31.
Other websites
- TheSimpsons.com Official website
- The Simpsons on IMDb
- The Simpsons at TV.com
- The Simpsons Archive
- The Simpsons Archived 2008-01-12 at the Wayback Machine at the Encyclopedia of Television
- The Simpsons Wiki
- The Simpsons Wiki at Wikia