The Simpsons

*The Simpsons* is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a satirical depiction of a dysfunctional middle-class American lifestyle starring the eponymous family: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Set in the town of Springfield, the show lampoons both American culture and the human condition. The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a pitch for a series of animated shorts with producer James L. Brooks. Groening named each character (other than Bart) after members of his own family. The shorts became part of the Fox series *The Tracey Ullman Show* on April 19, 1987. After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime-time hit show.

From the series debut on December 17, 1989, to May 17, 2009, *The Simpsons* had broadcast its first 441 episodes, to the end of the twentieth season. The show holds several American television longevity records. It is the longest-running prime-time animated series and longest-running sitcom in the United States. On April 28, 1994, *The Simpsons* reached its 100th episode in the fifth season. With its twentieth season (2008–09), the series tied *Gunsmoke* in seasons as the longest-running American prime-time scripted television series, and surpassed *Gunsmoke* in this record with the twenty-first season premiere on September 27, 2009.

Episodes of *The Simpsons* have won dozens of awards, including 31 Emmys (ten for Outstanding Animated Program), 30 Annies, and a Peabody. *The Simpsons Movie*, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on July 26 and 27, 2007 and grossed US$526.2 million worldwide. The first twenty seasons are available on DVD in regions 1, 2, and 4, with the twentieth season released on both DVD and Blu-ray in 2010 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series. On April 8, 2015, showrunner Al Jean announced that there would be no more DVD or Blu-ray releases, shifting focus to digital distribution, although this was later reversed on July 22, 2017. Almost two years later, on July 20, 2019, it was announced that Season 19 would be released on December 3, 2019, on DVD.

On April 26, 1998, *The Simpsons* reached its 200th episode in its ninth season, its 300th episode on February 2, 2003, in the fourteenth season, and its 400th episode in the eighteenth season on May 20, 2007, which is also the last episode of the series to air before the release of *The Simpsons Movie*.

## Season 1 (1989-90)

The **first season** of the American animated television series *The Simpsons* originally aired on the Fox network between December 17, 1989, and May 13, 1990, beginning with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire." The executive producers for the first production season were Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon.

The series was originally set to debut in autumn 1989 with the episode "Some Enchanted Evening", (which was meant to introduce the main characters), but during the first screening of the episode, the producers discovered that the animation was so poor that 70% of the episode needed to be redone.

The producers considered aborting the series if the next episode turned out as bad, but it suffered from only easily fixable problems. The producers convinced Fox to move the debut to December 17, and aired "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" as the first episode of the series. The first season won one Emmy Award, and received four additional nominations. The DVD boxset was released on September 25, 2001, in Region 1 and September 24, 2001, in both Region 2 and Region 4.

With a total of 13 episodes, this is the shortest season of the show to date.

## Season 2 (1990-91)

The **second season** of the animated television series *The Simpsons* originally aired on the Fox network between October 11, 1990, and July 11, 1991, and contained 22 episodes, beginning with "Bart Gets an "F". Another episode, "Blood Feud", aired during the summer after the official season finale. The executive producers for the second production season were Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon, who had also been EPs for the previous season. It was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. The DVD box set was released on August 6, 2002 in Region 1, July 8, 2002 in Region 2 and in September 2002 in Region 4. The episode "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour), and was also nominated in the "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special" category.