Questions about The Simpsons
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who created The Simpsons and how did the show begin?
The Simpsons was created by Matt Groening and developed with James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Groening conceived the family while waiting in the lobby of Brooks's office for a pitch meeting in the mid-1980s, naming the characters after his own relatives. The family first appeared as animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show on the 19th of April 1987, before becoming a half-hour series that premiered on the 17th of December 1989.
Why are the Simpsons characters yellow?
The characters are yellow because colorist Georgie Kovacs Peluce made that choice during early production. Because Bart, Lisa, and Maggie have no hairlines, she felt they would look strange rendered in flesh tones. Groening supported the decision.
What records does The Simpsons hold as a television series?
The Simpsons is the longest-running American animated series, the longest-running American sitcom, and the longest-running American scripted primetime television series, in both seasons and individual episodes. It surpassed Gunsmoke's 635-episode record on the 29th of April 2018, with the episode "Forgive and Regret", and holds the Guinness World Record as the world's longest-running sitcom by episode count.
What words and phrases from The Simpsons entered the dictionary?
Homer's exclamation "D'oh!" is listed in the Oxford English Dictionary. The word "Meh" entered the Collins English Dictionary in 2008. The words "cromulent" and "embiggen", coined in the episode "Lisa the Iconoclast", appear in Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon and scientific journals respectively. Linguist Mark Liberman remarked that The Simpsons had taken over from Shakespeare and the Bible as the culture's greatest source of catchphrases and idioms.
How much are the main voice cast members of The Simpsons paid per episode?
The six main cast members earned $30,000 per episode until 1998, rising to $125,000 after a pay dispute that year. By 2004, their salaries reached between $250,000 and $360,000 per episode. In 2011, facing a Fox threat to cancel the show, the cast accepted a 30 percent pay cut, reducing their per-episode pay to just over $300,000.
When was The Simpsons renewed and how long will it continue?
On the 2nd of April 2025, The Simpsons was renewed for four additional seasons in a deal that takes the show through the 2028-2029 television season, coinciding with the show's 40th anniversary. Each new season will consist of 15 episodes, plus two Disney+ specials per season.