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 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

SeasonNo. ofepisodesOriginally airedViewershipSeason premiereSeason finaleTime 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 "Life on the Fast Lane" 2 1990–91 22 October 11, 1990 July 11, 1991Thursday 8:00 pm 24.4 33.6 "Bart Gets an 'F' 3 1991–92 24 September 19, 1991  21.8 25.5 "Colonel Homer" 4 1992–93 22 September 24, 1992 May 13, 1993 22.4 28.6 "Lisa's First Word" 5 1993–94 22  May 19, 1994 18.9 24.0 "Treehouse of Horror IV" 6 1994–95 25 September 4, 1994 May 21, 1995 Sunday 8:00 pm 15.6 22.2 "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 "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)" 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) 14.5 20.41 "The Springfield Files" 9 1997–98 25 September 21, 1997 May 17, 1998Sunday 8:00 pm 15.3 19.80 "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" 10 1998–99 23 August 23, 1998 May 16, 1999 13.5 19.11 "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" 11 1999–2000 22 September 26, 1999 May 21, 2000 8.8 19.16 "Faith Off" 12 2000–01 21 November 1, 2000 May 20, 2001 15.5 18.52 "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 "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 "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 "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 "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass" 17 2005–06 22 September 11, 2005 May 21, 2006Sunday 8:00 pm 9.55 11.66 "Treehouse of Horror XVI" 18 2006–07 22 September 10, 2006 May 20, 2007 9.15 11.63 "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" 19 2007–08 20 September 23, 2007 May 18, 2008 8.37 11.74 Alt URL  "Treehouse of Horror XVIII" 20 2008–09 21  May 17, 2009 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–7, 9–21)Sunday 8:30 pm (Episode 8) 7.1 12.40 "Treehouse of Horror XIX" 21 2009–10 23 September 27, 2009 May 23, 2010Sunday 8:00 pm 7.1 14.62 "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" 22 2010–11 22 September 26, 2010 May 22, 2011 7.09 12.55 "Moms I'd Like to Forget" 23 2011–12 22 September 25, 2011 May 20, 2012 6.15 11.48 "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 8.97 "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 12.04 "Steal This Episode" 26 2014–15 22  May 17, 2015Sunday 8:00 pm 5.61 10.62 "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner" 27 2015–16 22 September 27, 2015  4.0 8.33 "Teenage Mutant Milk-Caused Hurdles" 28 2016–17 22 September 25, 2016  4.80 8.19 "Pork and Burns" 29 2017–18 21 October 1, 2017 May 20, 2018 4.07 8.04 "Frink Gets Testy"302018–1923September 30, 2018May 12, 2019 3.10 8.20"The Girl on the Bus"312019–20 22September 29, 2019May 17, 2020 2.58 5.63"Go Big or Go Homer"322020–21 22September 27, 2020May 23, 2021Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–10, 12–22)Sunday 9:00 pm (Episode 11) 2.324.93"Treehouse of Horror XXXI"332021–22 22September 26, 2021May 22, 2022 2.25 3.97 "Portrait of a Lackey on Fire"342022–23 22September 25, 2022May 21, 2023 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–8, 10–22)Sunday 8:30 pm (Episode 9) 1.83 4.77 "From Beer to Paternity"352023–2418October 1, 2023May 19, 2024 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–5, 7, 10–18)Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 6, 8, 9)1.995.41"Do the Wrong Thing"362024–2518September 29, 2024May 18, 2025Sunday 8:00PMTBATBATBA

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.

References

Other websites

 TheSimpsons.com Official website


 The Simpsons Archive 
 The Simpsons  at the Encyclopedia of Television
 The Simpsons Wiki
 The Simpsons Wiki at Wikia

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