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The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Developed by Groening, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon, the series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Set in the fictional town of Springfield, it caricatures society, Western culture, television, and the human condition.

The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with producer Brooks. He created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after his own family members, substituting Bart for his own name; he thought Simpson was a funny name in that it sounded similar to "simpleton". The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After three seasons, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and became Fox's first series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–1990).

Since its debut on December 17, 1989, 765 episodes of the show have been broadcast. It is the longest-running American animated series, longest-running American sitcom, and the longest-running American scripted primetime television series, both in seasons and individual episodes. A feature-length film, The Simpsons Movie, was released in theaters worldwide on July 27, 2007, to critical and commercial success, with a sequel in development as of 2018. The series has also spawned numerous comic book series, video games, books, and other related media, as well as a billion-dollar merchandising industry. The Simpsons is a joint production by Gracie Films and 20th Television. (Full article...)

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Waylon Smithers is voiced by actor Harry Shearer

Waylon Smithers, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer. Smithers first appeared briefly in the episode "Homer's Odyssey", although he could be heard in the The Simpsons series premiere "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the consummate executive and personal assistant (and self-proclaimed best friend) of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's CEO Mr. Burns. In many ways, Smithers represents the stereotype of the closeted gay man, and numerous overt allusions and double entendres to his homosexuality are made, though some of the show's producers instead refer to him as a "Burns-sexual".

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Credit: Joe Shlabotnik

The outside of The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios Florida.

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“

Who are you? What do you want? What year is it? Who are you?

”

— Abraham Simpson ("Million Dollar Abie")

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"The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" is the first episode of The Simpsons' ninth season, and premiered on September 21, 1997 on Fox. The episode sees the Simpson family traveling to Manhattan to recover the family car, which was taken by Barney and abandoned outside the World Trade Center complex with numerous parking tickets. Upon arrival, the family tour the city, while Homer attempts to find his car. He discovers it outside the World Trade Center, where a parking officer later arrives to remove the clamp, but leaves as Homer is urinating inside one of the towers. In frustration, Homer decides to drive the car with the clamp attached. He successfully removes it later and races to Central Park to find his family and leave the city. Writer Ian Maxtone-Graham was interested in making an episode where the Simpson family travels to New York to retrieve their lost car. Executive producers Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein suggested that the car be found in the World Trade Center plaza, as they wanted a location that would be widely known. Great lengths were taken to make a detailed replica of the city of Manhattan. The episode received generally positive reviews, and has since been on accolade lists of Simpsons episodes. The "You're Checkin' In" musical sequence won two awards. Because of the World Trade Center's central role, the episode was initially taken off syndication in many areas following the September 11, 2001 attacks, but has come back into syndication in recent years.

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Did you know...

... that from 1995 to 2003, an Arkansas radio station now called KZTD shared its "KBBL" call sign with the fictional radio station on The Simpsons?

...that Lisa Simpson's struggles to be a voice of reason in her family struck a chord with viewers in Japan and the broadcasters found they were able to turn the apparent dislike of the series around by focusing marketing attention on her?

...that before Hank Azaria joined the show, he had previously performed only one voice over, as an animated dog in the Fox pilot Hollywood Dog?

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The following are images from various The Simpsons-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The Simpsons Movie premiered in Springfield, Vermont. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 2Morgan Spurlock produced a documentary on The Simpsons in order to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 3Hank Azaria has won four Emmy awards for Outstanding Voice-over Performance (from List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons)
Image 4The show was criticized by several conservatives. Among those were President George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 5A Seattle 7-Eleven store transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart. (from Springfield (The Simpsons))
Image 6James L. Brooks has won twelve Emmys with The Simpsons.
Image 7"Lisa the Vegetarian", an episode produced by David Mirkin, won a Genesis Award in 1996
Image 8Matt Selman won a WGA Award in 2004. (from List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons)
Image 9In 2004, Matt Groening won a Lifetime achievement British Comedy Award.
Image 10The Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop, as seen in the Springfield section of Universal Studios Hollywood (from Springfield (The Simpsons))
Image 11Voice actor Phil Hartman was killed by his wife in a murder–suicide in 1998. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 12David Silverman, director of The Simpsons Movie.
Image 13Part of the writing staff of The Simpsons in 1992 (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 14In 2001, Yeardley Smith's character Lisa Simpson won an EMA Award. (from List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons)
Image 15In 1991, Nancy Cartwright accepted a Kids' Choice Awards while wearing a Bart Simpson costume. (from List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons)
Image 16The Simpsons' visit to Rio de Janeiro almost led to a lawsuit and a diplomatic incident. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 17Moe's Bar in Concepción, Chile, based on images from The Simpsons. (from Springfield (The Simpsons))
Image 18
David Mirkin
Image 19Michael Jackson co-wrote the single "Do the Bartman" (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 20Voice actress Maggie Roswell left The Simpsons over a pay dispute, but returned three years later. (from History of The Simpsons)
Image 21
Mike Scully
(from History of The Simpsons)

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Every week is different on The Simpsons as you know. It really is dependent on whether it's straight underscore type of recording that I have to do or if I have to record vocals—if I have to do orchestral sweeteners of songs that I've written in the past. So, it's never a dull moment.

— Alf Clausen

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