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| Cast of "The Simpsons" - © FOX |
In 2007, "The Simpsons" celebrated an unprecedented 400 episodes, and the long-awaited "The Simpsons Movie" was released and went on to gross $525 million worldwide to date. Additionally, "The Simpsons Ride" opened in May 2008 at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, and Hollywood, California.
The critically praised series has been bestowed with numerous honors, including a Peabody Award, 23 Emmy Awards, 23 Annie Awards, four Genesis Awards, nine International Monitor Awards and seven Environmental Media Awards. "The Simpsons" holds the Guinness Book of World Records titles for Longest-Running Primetime Animated Television Series and Most Guest Stars Featured in a Television Series. Recognized as a pop culture icon, Homer Simpson's annoyed grunt – "D'oh!" – is an official word in the Oxford English Dictionary, and "The Simpsons" has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. With record-breaking retail sales, "The Simpsons" reigns as one the best-selling TV DVD properties of all time.
Guest stars paying Springfield a visit this season include Denis Leary, Brian Grazer, Robert Forster, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, crossword-puzzle creator Merl Reagle, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Mark Cuban and Marv Albert.
The Simpsons reside in the town of Springfield. Homer works as a safety inspector at the local nuclear power plant; Marge tries to keep the peace in her family; Bart is the mischievous 10-year-old hellion; 8-year-old Lisa is the intelligent, saxophone-playing, vegetarian member of the family; and baby Maggie conveys emotions via pacifier sucks. Viewers also have come to know and love the rich, and sometimes quirky, universe of Springfield's other inhabitants.
Giving voice to the Simpsons and other Springfield citizens are Dan Castellaneta as Homer, Krusty, Grampa, Barney, Mayor Quimby and Groundskeeper Willie; Julie Kavner as Marge, Patty and Selma; Nancy Cartwright as Bart, Nelson and Ralph Wiggum; Yeardley Smith as Lisa; Hank Azaria as Moe, Apu, Chief Wiggum, Professor Frink, Comic Book Guy and Dr. Nick Riviera; Harry Shearer as Mr. Burns, Smithers, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Lovejoy and Kent Brockman; Pamela Hayden as Milhouse Van Houten; and Tress MacNeille as Agnes Skinner.
"The Simpsons," created by cartoonist Matt Groening, first appeared in 1987 as a series of 30-second shorts produced by Groening for the FOX series "The Tracey Ullman Show." Groening didn't want to give up rights to his popular "Life in Hell" cartoons, so he created, on the spot, the Simpson family characters. The first of these shorts aired on April 19, 1987, during the third week of primetime broadcasts on FOX. Soon they had their own series, premiering on FOX as a half-hour Christmas special on December 17, 1989, and then as a regular series on January 14, 1990.
"The Simpsons" is a Gracie Films Production in association with 20th Century Fox Television. James L. Brooks, Matt Groening and Al Jean are the executive producers. Film Roman is the animation house. "The Simpsons" was created by Matt Groening. Al Jean is the current showrunner of "The Simpsons," as well as Mike Scully and Richard Sakai. Sakai has been with the series since its inception, while also producing or executive producing such motion picture hits as "Jerry Maguire" and "As Good as It Gets." David Silverman is the supervising animation director on "The Simpsons." Silverman has been with "The Simpsons" since its debut, and co-directed the hit animated feature "Monsters, Inc."
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