History of the Simpsons

The logo of the series

The American cartoon series The Simpsons was created in 1985. It was created by Matt Groening . The Simpson family was shown for the first time on the television show The Tracey Ullman Show in April 1987. After she had been seen there for three seasons in one to two-minute short films, a half-hour primetime series called The Simpsons was developed around the protagonists . It was first broadcast on December 17, 1989. The Simpsons was the first broadcast of the American television network Fox 1989-1990 , which appeared in the top 30 of the Nielsen ratings of a television season.

The series is and has been controversial in many ways. During the broadcast of the first seasons, parents criticized that the character Bart Simpson was a bad role model for children. Several schools in the United States decided to ban series-related merchandise , such as fan t-shirts. In January 1992, then US President George HW Bush said in a speech during his election campaign for his re-election that efforts would continue to be made to strengthen the American family in order to ensure that they were more like the Waltons than the Simpsons .

Producers Matt Groening, James L. Brooks , Al Jean , Mike Scully and Richard Sakai began developing a motion picture to go with the series in 2001. The production was hindered by a missing script of a suitable length. It was rewritten several times before animation work on the film began in 2006. The Simpsons - The film was released worldwide on July 26th and 27th, 2007 and received mostly positive reviews.

The Simpsons eventually became the longest-running American animated series, surpassing the Smoking Colts series as the longest-running American script-based primetime series in 2009 . So far, 508 episodes have been broadcast in 23 seasons.

Short Films (1987–1989)

The television producer James L. Brooks asked the illustrator Matt Groening in 1985 for an idea for a series of animated short films. Groening initially wanted to suggest his comic strip Life in Hell . However, when he found out that he would lose the rights to this, he changed his mind at short notice. In the vestibule of Brooks' office, he designed his version of a dysfunctional family. He drew the main characters within 15 minutes and gave them the first names of his own family members.

The Simpson family was shown for the first time in the short film Good Night (English title: Gute Nacht ) in the series The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987 on the US broadcaster Fox . She appeared there for three seasons in 48 one- to two-minute films. Groening only provided the animators at the time, Wes Archer , David Silverman and Bill Kopp , who produced the short films, with rough sketches of the characters because he assumed the animators would refine them. However, they only transcribed his drawings, which led to the clumsy appearance of the characters in the first few episodes. The colorist Gyorgyi Peluce decided to color the figures yellow.

Dan Castellaneta dubbed the clown in the short films Homer Simpson , Abraham Simpson and Krusty . Homer's voice at the time was an inaccurate imitation of the voice of Walter Matthau , while in the half-hour series it appears more robust and humorous, giving the character a wider range of emotions. Julie Kavner , Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith dubbed Marge Simpson , Bart Simpson and Lisa Simpson . In Germany , the short films were broadcast for the first time on the private broadcaster RTL in 1992 and featured Norbert Gastell as Homer, Elisabeth Volkmann as Marge, Sandra Schwittau as Bart, Sabine Bohlmann as Lisa, Walter Reichelt as Abraham and Hans-Rainer Müller as Krusty synchronized. Like the original speakers, they continued this later in the twenty-minute episodes.

Groening, Brooks and Simon (1989–1991)

Matt Groening

James L. Brooks

Sam Simon

In 1989 a group of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for Fox Broadcasting Company . This group consisted of the companies that make up what is now the Klasky Csupo animation studio . Because of the increasing workload, the production was also outsourced to the South Korean animation studio AKOM . While the character and background design were created by the home studio, tweening , coloring and recording were done in the overseas studios.

The Simpsons was developed by Groening, Brooks and Sam Simon , a writer and producer with whom Brooks had worked on previous projects. Groening said his goal was to provide audiences with an alternative to what he calls "mainstream junk". Simon assembled and directed the initial team of screenwriters. Brooks negotiated a provision in the Fox Network contract that prevented Fox from interfering with the content of the show. Fox was unsure whether the series could hold audience attention forever. The broadcaster suggested producing three seven-minute short films per episode and four “specials” until viewers got used to them. In the end, however, the producers asked for 13 half-hour episodes.

The half-hour series was broadcast for the first time on December 17, 1989 with the episode Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (English title: It's Christmas hard ). It was originally planned to start in the fall with the episode Some Enchanted Evening (Eng. Title: The babysitter is on the loose ). The producers found that their animation was so bad that 70 percent of the episode had to be renewed. At the time, there were only a few options for animation. Usually the style of Disney , Warner Bros. or Hanna-Barbera was followed . The producers wanted an environment that was as realistic as possible, in which the characters and objects cannot do anything that is not possible in the real world. They thought about breaking off the series after, if the next episode Bart the Genius (German title:. Bart the Genius ) would have proven to be bad; but this only suffered from easily repairable problems. The premiere was finally postponed to December and the first half-hour episode aired with Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire . In some episodes of the first season, the characters behave differently than in later seasons. For example, Lisa is undisciplined and Homer is often the voice of reason; these characteristics are reversed in later seasons.

The series entitled The Simpsons was broadcast on ZDF for the first time in German-speaking countries on September 13, 1991 with the episode A Completely Normal Family . The work there as a dubbing director was done by Siegfried Rabe . With the beginning of the broadcast of the fourth season in April 1994, ProSieben took over the first broadcast of the series in Germany ; Ivar Combrinck became the dubbing director . Since September 27, 1991 it can also be seen on the Austrian channel ORF eins and since 2001 on the Swiss channel SRF Zwei .

Beard mania and criticism from conservatives

George HW Bush and Barbara Bush

The series was controversial from the start. The main rebellious character at the time, Bart Simpson , often received no punishment for his misconduct in the series, which is why some American parents and conservatives viewed him as a bad role model for children. Several public schools in the United States banned products from the series, such as T-shirts with sayings of beards or characters. In the first episode of the second season, Bart Gets an F (dt Title:. Apt Pupil ), Bart fails four consecutive tests in school history, which is why he recommends that the school psychologist to repeat the fourth grade. Some critics said this episode was a response to the controversy. However, James L. Brooks denied this and stated, “We are aware of this. I think it is important to us that Bart is bad at school. There are also students who are like that. Also, I'm very careful with television, where everyone is supposed to be the role of a role model. It's not that there are many role models walking around in real life. Why should the television be full of them? "

In an October 1, 1990 issue of People magazine , then First Lady Barbara Bush called the series "the stupidest thing [she] has ever seen". This statement led to the screenwriters of The Simpsons writing her a letter from the point of view of Marge Simpson , in which she portrayed herself. Bush immediately sent a response in which she apologized. More than a year later, on January 27, 1992, then- US President George HW Bush gave a speech during the campaign for his re-election in which he said: “We will continue to try to strengthen the American family to make American families stronger to do a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons. ”The writers decided to reply to his speech on the next broadcast. This was a repeat of the episode Stark Raving Dad (Eng. Title: The Birthday Surprise ) on January 30th. That broadcast included an opening with the Simpsons watching Bush's speech. Bart responds to this: “Hey, we're just like the Waltons. We also pray for an end to the crisis. ”The criticism ultimately led to the idea for the episode The Bad Neighbors from season seven, in which George and Barbara move into the house across from the Simpsons.

Competition with The Cosby Show

The first season of The Simpsons marked the first time a Fox series made it into the top 30 Nielsen ratings of any television season. Because of this success, the broadcaster changed the slot for the series from Sunday evening to Thursday evening at 8 p.m. in the hope that this would enable higher ratings to be achieved. Thus, it would compete with the series The Cosby Show (Eng. Title: The Bill Cosby Show ), the most watched series at the time. Many producers were against the change because they thought that this would destroy the high ratings.

Bart Gets on F was the first episode to take on The Cosby Show , with a rating of 18.4 and a market share of 29%. In the weekly Nielsen Ratings , she finished eighth behind Bill Cosby's show, which had a rating of 18.5. However, Bart Gets saw approximately 33.6 million viewers on F , making it the most watched program in terms of actual viewers that week. At the time, it was the most-watched episode in Fox history. The Cosby Show then beat The Simpsons every time during the second season. The 1990/1991 television season ended The Cosby Show in fifth place on the Nielsen Ratings, The Simpsons came in 38th place. The series stayed on the Thursday slot until season five and returned to its original slot on Sunday from the sixth season.

Michael Jackson

Music releases and Do the Bartman

David Geffen , the founder of Geffen Records , had the idea to record the album The Simpsons Sing the Blues based on the series and to release it in time for Christmas 1990. The album was heavily promoted even before its release. Something that got heavily publicized was Michael Jackson's involvement, but which was denied by the contributors. Reports published early on attributed Jackson's work as the composer of Do the Bartman , which Groening also denied. However, he revealed in 1998 that Do the Bartman had actually been co-written and co-produced by Jackson; but this could not be credited to him because he had been under contract with another record label. Jackson was a fan of The Simpsons , especially Bart Simpson , called the producers one night and made them an offer to write a single and make a guest appearance. Ultimately, he appeared in the episode The Birthday Surprise .

The Simpsons Sing the Blues album reached number three on the Billboard 200 . On February 13, 1991, the album went triple platinum for sales of over three million copies . The soundtrack albums Songs in the Key of Springfield (1997), Go Simpsonic with The Simpsons (1999), The Simpsons Movie: The Music (2007), and The Simpsons: Testify (2007) were also released.

Jean and Reiss (1991-1993)

Al Jean

Mike Reiss

Although Simon and Groening initially worked well together, their relationship became "very contentious", according to Groening. After John Ortved's book The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History , Simon resented the media attention Groening received, particularly the praise for writing the series. Simon felt that Groening's involvement was limited and that he should be the one to be commended for the series. In addition to Groening, Simon was often at odds with Brooks and the production company Gracie Films , which is why he left the series in 1993. Before he left, he negotiated a contract that would give him a share of the profit every year and continue to be listed as executive producer on each episode even though he was no longer working on the show. Al Jean and Mike Reiss , who had written scripts for the series since its inception, took over as show runners for the third season. Compared to the executive producer, the Show Runner is more involved in the show, contributing as the lead writer and managing the production throughout the season. In addition to a reduction in staff, the production of the animation after the third season was outsourced to Film Roman by Klasky Csupo .

Part of the writers of the series in 1992.

During the fourth season, the episode Stage Free for Marge was produced. A musical in this episode contains a controversial song about the city of New Orleans , which she describes, among other things, as "home of pirates, drunks and whores" (in German: "home of pirates, drunks and whores"). Jeff Martin , the author of this episode, had thought the song as a parody of the theme song of the musical Sweeney Todd , which speaks in unflattering terms about London . The producers of The Simpsons apologized for that song a week later at the first showing of the episode Homer the Heretic (dt Title:. A profane life ) with the local " panel gag " that "I will not defame New Orleans" (in the German version "I mustn't make New Orleans bad") was.

In 1992, Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit claiming that her show was the source of The Simpsons' success and that she should receive part of the profit. She believed she should have 2.5 million of the estimated $ 50 million the show made at the time. Fox had already paid her $ 58,000 in royalties and $ 3 million for the three and a half seasons that her show aired. Eventually the courts ruled in Fox's favor.

Mirkin (1993-1995)

David Mirkin

Several original writers who had worked on since the first season left the series after the fourth season. David Mirkin took on the series as the show runner and executive producer for the fifth and sixth seasons. In The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History , John Ortved describes Mirkin as an "outsider" of the series because, unlike most of the screenwriters, he was not a graduate of Harvard University . Mirkin conducted the writers' working sessions in one room, rather than dividing them into two groups as other show runners did, and often worked late into the night. Writer Richard Appel praised Mirkin's leadership and comedic style, saying the series was "great with him". Under his leadership, he shifted the focus of the series to Homer and developed several supporting characters, such as B. Apu . He also strongly opposed censorship and interference by the station. Mirkin's era and humorous style are popular with the majority of fans.

The writing team wanted to produce an episode in which the Simpsons travel to Australia . They had made fun of several American institutions before on the show and thought it would be interesting to have fun criticizing an entire nation. They made Australia and its people very imprecise for their fun. The episode Bart versus Australia received different reactions in Australia; some Australian fans saw this episode as a mockery of their country. Shortly after it aired, the series received more than 100 letters from Australians insulted by the episode. Reiss said that the episode was Australia's least popular, claiming, “Whenever the Simpsons visit another country, that country gets angry, including Australia. We were condemned after the episode in the Australian Parliament. "

Former show runners Jean and Reiss left the show to co-produce their own series, The Critic , with Brooks. The Critic was a short-lived animated series that revolved around the life of film critic Jay Sherman . For its second season, the series switched channels from ABC to Fox. The idea for the Springfield Film Festival came from Brooks, who wanted to produce a crossover that would help launch The Critic on Fox. In addition, Jean and Reiss returned briefly to produce two episodes with the staff of The Critic and to exonerate the screenwriters of The Simpsons . Groening felt, however, that the Springfield Film Festival was promoting Brooks' show. After trying in vain to prevent the episode from being broadcast, he decided shortly before the first broadcast to have his name removed from the credits. In response, Brooks said, “For years, Al [Jean] and Mike [Reiss] were two guys who worked wholeheartedly on this show, staying up until four in the morning to get everything right. The point is, Matt's name was on Mike and Al's scripts and he has received a lot of credit for their great work. In fact, he is the immediate beneficiary of their work. 'The Critic' is your chance and he should give you his support. "

Oakley and Weinstein (1995–1997)

Bill Oakley

Josh Weinstein

After the sixth season, Mirkin suggested Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein as show runners, but remained in an advisory capacity with the show and helped with technical aspects such as editing and sound mixing as well as attending reading rehearsals. The eighth season contains several episodes, the focus of which was placed on supporting characters and new topics, such as divorce . Her preferred choices of guest stars were those with unique and interesting voices; several of her guest stars were "old gray-haired men with distinctive voices".

Her goal was to produce realistic episodes that focus more on the five members of the Simpson family and explore their feelings and emotions for one another. Oakley considered the third season the best "comedy season" in television history and tried to build on the way that season felt by focusing on stories with real emotions and circumstances, but also on a range of unorthodox ones Follow was laid. The third season was also her starting point for Homer: “We liked Homer as he was in the second and third seasons. We consciously use this as our role model. A stupid, loving, euphoric, creatively stupid parody of the American father - drawn with real emotions, but admittedly also overdrawn. "

Doris Grau , who is the script supervisor of the series and who voiced the character kitchen helper Doris Peterson , died on December 30, 1995. The episode Homer's Bowling Team , which aired eight days later, is one of the last episodes with her voice and includes a dedication to them. From the ninth to the 18th season, kitchen help Doris only appears as a background figure. She returns as a speaking character in the episode The Cook, the Mafioso, the Woman and Her Homer and has been voiced by Tress MacNeille ever since .

As a result, Lisa becomes a vegetarian, and Lisa develops a permanent character and becomes a vegetarian. The plot for this episode was conceived by David S. Cohen , and producers saw it as a good way to guest-star Paul McCartney . McCartney agreed, but on the condition that Lisa remain a vegetarian and not return to her old diet. Lisas kept her new character trait, making it one of the few permanent character developments in the series. In the episode Alone She Lacks Faith (Season 13) Lisa changes her character one more time through her conversion to Buddhism .

On February 9, 1997, The Simpsons replaced the Flintstones series with the episode Homer is "Poochie the Wonder Dog" as the longest-running primetime animated series in the United States . The producers took up this milestone and then dealt with the question of the longevity of a series and the problems that arise when their producers try to renew it; this topic is generally known in the USA as " Jump the shark ".

Scully (1997-2001)

Mike Scully

Oakley and Weinstein quit show runners after season eight, which is why Mike Scully took her place in 1997. As a show runner and executive producer, Scully said his goal was "not to destroy the show." Scully was popular with the staff, many of whom praised his organization and management. Screenwriter Tom Martin said Scully was "very likely the best boss [he] has ever worked for" and "a great manager of people." Author Don Payne stated that it was important to Scully for his staff to have decent hours. Scully stated, “I've written a lot of Lisa's episodes. I have five daughters, so I like Lisa a lot. Homer too. Homer is just in my blood. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. A lot of my favorite episodes are the ones in which Homer and Lisa are at odds with each other ... They're very human, I think that's their attraction. "

Still, Scully's time as a show runner was and is often the subject of criticism from The Simpsons fans . John Ortved wrote in his book The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History : "Scully's episodes may shine compared to what The Simpsons are doing these days, but he was the man behind the wheel when the ship turned towards the iceberg." The BBC summed up the prevailing opinion in 2010: "The general consensus is that the golden era of The Simpsons ended with the ninth season." A guest comment in the online magazine Slate by Chris Suellentrop said the series was over Changed under Scully's responsibility from a realistic, satirical series about family life into a typical cartoon. Some fans complained about the transformation of Homer's character from eager and sincere to a "rude, self-glorifying fool", dubbed him "Jerkass Homer" . Ortved pointed out, however, that it was difficult to say how much of the degradation was Scully's fault; furthermore, accusing a single show runner for decreasing the quality of the program is unfair.

Phil Hartman

Brian Tallerico from UGO Entertainment defended the tenth season against criticism. He wrote in a 2007 review that comparing the tenth season with the best of the series was "unfair" and "really nonsensical". He wrote: “'Yes, I laughed, but not as hard as a few years ago. That's why it sucks. ' This is nonsense. The fact is that even the tenth season of The Simpsons was funnier than the best seasons of most other series […] ”Jesse Hassenger of PopMatters said in a report that these episodes were not without charm , many were actually“ funny to laugh at "And" typically smart ".

On May 28, 1998, Phil Hartman , original spokesperson for Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz , was shot and murdered by his wife while he was sleeping in their Encino , Los Angeles home . His wife, Brynn Omdahl, several hours later committed suicide . In the weeks after his death, Hartman received several honors. After Hartman's death in 1998, he was not replaced by a new voice actor, but instead the characters McClure and Hutz were removed from the series. McClure appeared for the last time in the episode Beard Is Brooding (season 10), which was dedicated to Hartman.

In the episode The Japanese Horror Game Show from Season 10, the Simpson family travels to Japan . The episode references several aspects of Japanese and American cultures and differences between them. In a sumo fight, Homer and Bart meet the Japanese Emperor Akihito , who is thrown into a box of Mawashis by Homer ; this scene was considered disrespectful in Japan. Although all the other episodes on Japanese synchronized and have been broadcast on television in Japan is Japanese horror game show has never been officially seen in Japan.

Maggie Roswell

Personal problems

By the time the tenth season was produced in 1998, the six main original speakers were paid $ 30,000 per episode. In 1998, however, there were wage disputes between them and Fox Broadcasting Company ; the speakers threatened a strike. Fox went so far as to prepare for an audition for new voices, but they agreed and their salaries were increased to $ 125,000 per episode.

Dubbing actress Maggie Roswell left the series in the spring of 1999 after a wage dispute with Fox. The broadcaster originally reported that she only left the show because she was too tired from flying between Denver and Los Angeles to record afterwards. Roswell later stated that she was asking for a raise not only because of the fatigue of traveling, but also because of the rising cost of airline tickets. Roswell was paid $ 1,500 to $ 2,000 per episode for the three seasons before she left, and she asked Fox to increase it to $ 6,000 per episode. But Fox only offered her a $ 150 raise, which is why she decided to leave the series. Due to Roswell's departure, the character Maude Flanders spoken by her was killed in the episode Ned Flanders: Alone Again (Season 11). Voice actress Marcia Mitzman Gaven was briefly committed it to Roswell to talk more, surviving characters. Roswell returned for the season 14 premiere in 2002. She negotiated a contract with Fox to record her lines from her Denver home, which ended the argument.

The Return of Jean (2001-2007)

Jean returned to the series during the tenth season of The Simpsons . He became a show runner again at the beginning of the 13th season in 2001, but this time without a tear. Jean said, “The hardest thing at this point is to come up with something fresh. People know so well about everything we've done so far that the challenge now is to come up with an idea that is good but represents something not yet seen. "

Rio de Janeiro

In the episode That's All Lisa's Fault (Season 13), the Simpsons visit Rio de Janeiro , Brazil . In the week after it was first broadcast, it was criticized in Brazil, especially by the Rio de Janeiro Tourism Association ("Riotur"). The association claimed the city was misrepresented with widespread street crime, kidnappings, slums and a plague of rats. They said the show went too far and undermined an 18 million dollar advertising campaign to attract visitors. Fernando Henrique Cardoso , the then Brazilian president, said that the episode gave a distorted view of Brazilian reality. On April 9, 2002, Riotur was preparing to sue the series' producers and Fox for damage to their international reputation and loss of revenue. This dispute threatened to become a diplomatic incident. After learning of the impending lawsuit, the producers contacted Fox's lawyers, who informed them that a city could not take formal legal action for defamation. In response, executive producer Brooks apologized and said, "We apologize to the beautiful city and people of Rio de Janeiro [...]"

In season 14, production of the series switched from traditional " cel " animation to one using digital ink and color. The first episode to try this out was Film Star Reluctant (Season 7) from 1995. The animators also used such a technique in the episode Tennis with Venus (Season 12), but Gracie Films delayed the regular use of digital ink and color on two seasons later.

As the show's revenue continued to grow with spikes in global distribution and DVD sales, the original cast stopped rehearsing in April 2004. After weeks of unsuccessful negotiations with Fox, in which, after wages increased to $ 360,000 per episode or asked for $ 8 million for a 22 episode season, they eventually stopped working. The strike ended about a month later and her salary was increased to $ 250,000 to $ 360,000 per episode.

Season 16 showed another of the few major character developments since the series began. Several months before the first broadcast of the episode Drum Check Who Ties Forever, it was reported that an important character would come out as homosexual in it. At the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2004, Al Jean revealed, “We have an episode where Springfield legalizes gay marriages to raise money. Homer becomes a pastor by filling out a form on the Internet. A longtime character comes out, but I'm not saying who. ”This sparked much speculation about the episode in the media and press. Many fans correctly guessed that it would be one of Homer's sister-in-law Patty or Selma , while others believed it would be Waylon Smithers .

After Elisabeth Volkmann , voice actress for Marge Simpson and Patty and Selma Bouvier in the German language version, was found dead in her apartment in July 2006, the broadcaster ProSieben began looking for a successor. Up to this point only eleven of the 22 episodes of the seventeenth season had been dubbed by Volkmann, which is why ProSieben had to interrupt the first broadcast of the season. On September 15, 2006, Ivar Combrinck , dubbing director of the series in the German version, also died at the age of 63; Matthias von Stegmann took his place . In October 2006 it was announced that comedian Anke Engelke will be Marge Simpson's new German voice. Previously, several episodes were recorded with actress Angelika Bender as Marge, who now synchronizes Patty and Selma. Volkmann's last dubbed episode, The Street of the Damned , was broadcast for the first time on November 12, 2006 on ProSieben and ends in the German version with a dedication to them. The first episode dubbed by Engelke is A Perfect Gentleman and was first broadcast on January 21, 2007.

Movie (2007)

The Simpsons - The film premiered in Springfield , Vermont .

20th Century Fox , Gracie Films and Film Roman produced the full-length cartoon The Simpsons - The Film for the Series, which was released worldwide on July 26th and 27th. The employees had been thinking about a film since the beginning of the series, but these thoughts failed, among other things, due to the lack of a script of suitable length. The film was directed by David Silverman, while the screenplay was written by a team of Groening, Brooks, Jean, Reiss, Mirkin, Scully, George Meyer , John Swartzwelder , Jon Vitti , Matt Selman and Ian Maxtone-Graham . The idea for the plot of the film came to Groening when he was reading about a city that wanted to get rid of pigs' feces in their water supply. Production of the film coincided with the ongoing writing of the series, although multi-year agreements between the series' actors had agreed not to begin production of a potential film until after the series was completed.

After winning a competition held by Fox and USA Today , Springfield held the world premiere of the film in Vermont . He grossed about $ 74 million on his first weekend in the United States , which put him at the top of grossing. In Germany , the film had over 1.6 million viewers on the first weekend.

Seasons after the film (since 2007)

Jean continued his work as a show runner even after the film. Critics said the show's quality declined during its time. Jacob Burch, administrator of the NoHomers.com website , said in an interview that the show seemed “less closed” and was trying more to “get jokes in instead of making a story and let the jokes come out of it” and continued, “I think only, there is so much you can do [with the characters]. "Jean responded to this criticism by saying," Well, it is possible that we slack off. But honestly, I've been here the whole time and I remember two people who said, 'It's gone downhill.' If we'd heard that, we would have stopped after episode 13. I'm glad we didn't. "

The writers of The Simpsons went on strike along with the Writers Guild of America in late 2007 . The broadcast of the series was not affected. For several years it has taken a long time to produce an episode of an animated series because they are written up to a year in advance. So the strike should have lasted a long time to delay the broadcast. Season 20 production was also delayed due to contract negotiations with the six major voice actors. The strike ended, however, and her salary increased to $ 400,000 per episode. The delay in production caused the season to be shortened from the planned 22 to 20 episodes.

Morgan Spurlock

20th birthday and broadcast record

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons' premiere , Fox announced a year-long celebration titled “Best. 20 years. Ever. ”. This ran from January 14, 2009 to January 14, 2010. Morgan Spurlock, an Oscar- nominated documentary filmmaker ( Best Documentary Feature for Super Size Me ) and a fan of the series since college, was asked in February 2009 about the film The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special - In 3-D! On ice! To be able to direct. The film was aired on January 10, 2010 together with the episode Once Upon a Time in Springfield (season 21).

The episode Million Dollar Homie (season 21) featured a new character created by the winner of a fan contest during the year-long celebration where fans could submit their own ideas for new, possibly returning characters. More than 25,000 ideas were submitted. The winner of the competition was Peggy Black from Orange, Connecticut , who created the character Ricardo Bomba . He dies on his first appearance. Another big change was the broadcast and production of the series in a resolution of 720p high definition television as well as a new opening credits with the episode Quatsch mit Sauce (season 20). It was the first permanent change to the opening credits since the second season in 1990; previous changes shortened the opening credits only individually for one episode. After The Simpsons entered its 21st season in late 2009, it surpassed the Smoking Colts series as the longest-running American primetime scripted series.

With the end of the 22nd season it was left open in the last episode whether the characters Ned Flanders and Edna Krabappel would remain a couple. American viewers had the opportunity to vote for or against Nedna on the Internet until the beginning of the next season . With the beginning of season 23, it became known that viewers had decided that Ned Flanders and Edna Krabappel should continue to be a couple.

Considerations for a dismissal

On October 4, 2011, 20th Century Fox Television issued the following statement:

“23 seasons in, The Simpsons is as creatively vibrant as ever and beloved by millions around the world. We believe this brilliant series can and should continue, but we cannot produce future seasons under its current financial model. We are hopeful that we can reach an agreement with the voice cast that allows The Simpsons to go on entertaining audiences with original episodes for many years to come. "

“23 seasons are off, The Simpsons is as creative and dynamic as ever and loved by millions around the world. We believe that this brilliant series can and should continue, but we cannot produce future seasons under the current financial model. We hope we can reach an agreement with the voice actors that will allow The Simpsons to continue to entertain viewers with new episodes for many years to come. "

A 17-year contract with local television networks to market the series prohibited Fox from selling the show to cable networks. As long as The Simpsons is still producing new episodes, Fox cannot break this deal. In the meantime, however, cable channels have developed and are now as large as the market for local television stations. Fox's parent company News Corporation held meetings to discuss the possibility of a cable channel that would only broadcast The Simpsons . Advisors considered discontinuing and then reselling the series to cable broadcasters for $ 750 million.

For the negotiations, the studio asked that the voice actors would accept a 45 percent cut in their salaries so that more seasons could be produced after the then current 23rd season. By then, the speakers were making about $ 440,000 per episode. They were willing to accept a wage cut, but instead wanted a share of the revenue from merchandise products and international rights distribution, the " back-end " payments. At one point, several speakers offered a 70 percent wage cut in exchange for the “back-end” payments, but the studio was unwilling to come to an agreement on those types of payments. In the end, the studio and the speakers reached a contract with which the actors received a wage cut of 30 percent to around $ 300,000 per episode, which is why the series could be extended to a 25th season.

literature

John Alberti, Robert Sloane: Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture . Wayne State University Press, Detroit 2003, ISBN 0-8143-2849-0 ( online ).
James W. Bates, Scott M. Gimple, Jesse L. McCann, Ray Richmond, Christine Seghers: Simpsons World The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1-20 . Harper Collins Publishers , 2010, ISBN 978-0-00-738815-8 .
Paul A. Cantor: Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization . Rowman & Littlefield, 2001, ISBN 0-7425-0779-3 .
Nancy Cartwright : My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy . Hyperion, New York City 2000, ISBN 0-7868-8600-5 .
John Ortved: The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History . Greystone Books, 2009, ISBN 978-1-55365-503-9 .
Mark I Pinsky: The Gospel According to The Simpsons, Bigger and Possibly Even Better! Edition . Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky 2007, ISBN 978-0-664-23265-8 .
Ray Richmond, Antonia Coffman: The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family . Harper Collins Publishers, 1997, ISBN 0-00-638898-1 .
Chris Turner: Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation . Random House Canada , Toronto 2004, ISBN 0-679-31318-4 .

Individual evidence

↑ As of the end of the 23rd season on May 20, 2012.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Yellow rules the world. In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved June 5, 2012 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j The Simpsons - Background. In: ProSieben .de. Retrieved June 9, 2012 .

^ ^A ^b David Bianculli: Simpson's Creator Matt Groening. In: National Public Radio. February 14, 2003, accessed August 9, 2011 (English, audio interview with Matt Groening).

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Alyson Grala: A Salute to the Simpsons (PDF), License Mag, p. 14. Archived from the original on September 25, 2007 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved August 9, 2011. @1@ 2

^ Ray Richmond, Antonia Coffman: The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family . Harper Collins Publishers, 1997, ISBN 0-00-638898-1 , pp. 14 .

^ ^A ^b Cagle, Daryl: The David Silverman Interview . MSNBC. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved on August 9, 2011.

↑ ^a ^b ^c Harvey Deneroff: Matt Groening's Baby Turns 10 , Animation Magazine, Vol. 14, # 1. January 2000, pp. 10, 12.

↑ Marco Croner: Yellow Mania: Matt Groening's Cradle Festival. In : quotemeter.de . January 26, 2010, accessed July 3, 2012 (interview with Matt Groening).

^ ^A ^b Ray Richmond, Antonia Coffman: The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family . Harper Collins Publishers, 1997, ISBN 0-00-638898-1 , pp. 18 .

↑ Brownfield, Paul: He's Homer, but This Odyssey Is His Own , Los Angeles Times. July 6, 1999.

↑ The Tracey Ullman Show: About the TV series. In: fernsehserien.de. Retrieved June 5, 2012 .

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↑ Owen, David: Taking Humor Seriously . In: The New Yorker , March 13, 2000.

↑ Kuipers, Dean: '3rd Degree: Harry Shearer' . Los Angeles: City Beat. April 15, 2004. Archived from the original on July 17, 2006. Retrieved on August 9, 2011.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Matt Groening . (2001). DVD commentary for the episode " It's hard for Christmas ". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season One [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ James L. Brooks . (2001). DVD commentary for the episode " It's hard for Christmas ". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season One [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

^ Martyn, Warren & Adrian Wood: Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire . BBC. 2000. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

^ David Silverman . (2001). DVD commentary for the episode " The babysitter is on the loose ". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season One [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ Mike Reiss . (2001). DVD commentary for the episode “A normal family”. In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season One [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ ^a ^b ^c The Simpsons TV Dates. In: wunschliste.de. Retrieved April 15, 2012 .

↑ ^a ^b The Simpsons. In: TV Lexicon. Retrieved January 24, 2007 .

↑ Chris Melzer: This yellow is simply cult. In: Small newspaper . Archived from the original on September 15, 2014 .

↑ Chris Turner: Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation . Random House Canada , Toronto 2004, ISBN 0-679-31318-4 , pp. 131 .

↑ Rosenbaum, Martin: Is The Simpsons still subversive? , BBC News . June 29, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ Nick Griffiths: America's First Family , The Times Magazine . April 15, 2000, pp. 25, 27-28. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2

^ Ray Richmond, Antonia Coffman: The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family . Harper Collins Publishers, 1997, ISBN 0-00-638898-1 , pp. 34 .

↑ husband, Virginia: Rueful Bart RETAIN old 'Simpsons Bite' . In: The Record , October 11, 1990.

^ Tucker, Ernest: New 'Simpsons' episodes return - as smart as ever . In: Chicago Sun-Times , October 10, 1990.

↑ Shales, Tom: The Simpsons; They're Scrapping Again-But This Time It's a Ratings Fight . In: The Washington Post , October 11, 1990. “We're mindful of it. I do think it's important for us that Bart does badly in school. There are students like that. Besides, I'm very wary of television where everybody is supposed to be a role model. You don't run across that many role models in real life. Why should television be full of them? "

^ Paula Chin: In the Eye of the Storm. October 1, 1990, accessed on June 29, 2012 : "It was the dumbest thing I had ever seen [...]"

↑ ^a ^b ^c DVD extra "Bush versus the Simpsons". (2004). The Simpsons: The Complete Season Four (DVD). 20th Century Fox . "We are going to keep on trying to strengthen the American family, to make American families a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons."

^ Ortved, John: Simpson Family Values . In: Vanity Fair , August 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2011. “Hey! We're just like the Waltons. We're praying for an end to the Depression, too. "

↑ Chris Turner: Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation . Random House Canada , Toronto 2004, ISBN 0-679-31318-4 , pp. 230-231 .

↑ Bill Oakley . (2005). DVD commentary for the episode "The Bad Neighbors". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Seven [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ Nielsen's top 50 shows . In: USA Today , April 18, 1990, p. 3D.

^ Daniel Cerone: ' Simpsons' steals away from Cosby viewers , Los Angeles Times . September 5, 1991, p. 4. Retrieved February 9, 2008.

↑ ^a ^b Mike Reiss . (2002). DVD commentary for the episode “ Der Musterschüler ”. In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Two [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ Matt Groening . (2002). DVD commentary for the episode “ Der Musterschüler ”. In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Two [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ Pierce, Scott D .: Don't have a cow, man! More viewers watch 'The Simpsons' than 'Cosby'! , The Deseret News . October 18, 1990, p. C5. Retrieved February 9, 2008.

↑ Al Jean . (2003). DVD commentary for the episode "Der Wunderschläger". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Three [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ See season five and sixth first broadcast dates ; see. last episode of the fifth season ("Ehegeheimnisse"), first broadcast on Thursday, May 19, 1994, and first episode of the sixth season ("Ein Gruberiger Verdacht"), first broadcast on Sunday, 4th September 1994.

Jump up ↑ John Ortved: The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History . Greystone Books, 2009, ISBN 978-1-55365-503-9 , pp. 125-126 .

↑ ^a ^b Hastings, Deborah:The Simpsons sing the blues , Deseret News . September 28, 1990. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

^ Michael Jackson Update: News From Korea, Poland And Groening . In: MTV .com . Viacom . February 23, 1998. Retrieved October 28, 2008.

↑ Bart Simpson's secrets revealed . Enquirer.com. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

^ Nancy Cartwright : My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy . Hyperion, New York City 2000, ISBN 0-7868-8600-5 , pp. 115-117 .

↑ DVD commentary for the episode "The Birthday Surprise". 2003. In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Three [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ Martyn, Warren & Adrian Wood: Stark Raving Dad . In: BBC News . BBC Online. 2000. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

^ Artist Chart History - The Simpsons . Billboard . Archived from the original on March 1, 2009. Retrieved on August 9, 2011.

^ RIAA Searchable database - Gold and Platinum . Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved August 9, 2011.

^ Jason Ankeny: Songs in the Key of Springfield - The Simpsons . In: allmusic . Retrieved September 19, 2011.

^ Dan Goldwasser: Interview - Alf Clausen . Soundtrack.net. October 31, 1999. Retrieved September 19, 2011.

↑ Hans Zimmer Bakes Up a Tasty Soundtrack for The Simpsons Movie . In: Soundtrack.net , June 26, 2007. Retrieved September 17, 2011.

↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine: The Simpsons: Testify - The Simpsons . In: allmusic . Retrieved September 19, 2011.

↑ Scott, AO : How 'The Simpsons' Survives . In: New York Times , April 11, 2001. Retrieved August 9, 2010. "It was a pleasant experience for a few months, but then became very contentious."

Jump up ↑ John Ortved: The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History . Greystone Books, 2009, ISBN 978-1-55365-503-9 , pp. 57-67 .

^ ^A ^b John Ortved: The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History . Greystone Books, 2009, ISBN 978-1-55365-503-9 , pp. 146-149 .

↑ Dan Snierson: D'Oh! , Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved August 9, 2011.

^ Rapoport, Ron: Sam Simon's Next Trick . In: Stanford Magazine . Archived from the original on December 29, 2011 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved August 9, 2011. @1@ 2

↑ Al Jean , Mike Reiss . (2003). DVD commentary for the episode "To Washington and Back". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Three [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ Al Jean , Jim Reardon . (2003). DVD commentary for the episode "A Blasphemous Life". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Four [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ ^a ^b Jeff Martin . (2004). DVD extra "The Cajun Controversy". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Four [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ A blasphemous life. In: simpsonspedia.net. Retrieved April 11, 2012 .

↑ Frank Spotnitz : Ullman to Fox: Eat My Shorts! . In: Entertainment Weekly , October 23, 1992, p. 8 (1). Retrieved August 24, 2011.

↑ Associated Press: Ullman loses 'Simpsons' suit . In: Variety , October 21, 1992. Retrieved August 24, 2011.

↑ DVD commentary for the episode “At the Cape of Fear”. 2005. In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Five [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ ^a ^b Al Jean . (2004). DVD commentary for the episode “At the Cape of Fear”. In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Five [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

Jump up ↑ John Ortved: The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History . Greystone Books, 2009, ISBN 978-1-55365-503-9 , pp. 201-203 .

↑ Awesome yellow. In: Zeit Online . Retrieved June 10, 2012 .

^ ^A ^b John Ortved: The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History . Greystone Books, 2009, ISBN 978-1-55365-503-9 , pp. 205 .

^ Brandenberg, Eric J .: Multiple Emmy Award-winning producer / writer / director David Mirkin . In: Animation Magazine , December 17, 2004. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

^ ^A ^b John Ortved: The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History . Greystone Books, 2009, ISBN 978-1-55365-503-9 , pp. 201 .

↑ Josh Weinstein . (2005). DVD commentary for the episode "Beard Against Australia". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Six [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ ^a ^b Bill Oakley . (2005). DVD commentary for the episode "Beard Against Australia". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Six [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ David Mirkin . (2005). DVD commentary for the episode "Beard Against Australia". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Six [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

^ Penelope Debelle: Simpsons' secret is eternal youth , The Age . February 27, 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2011. “Whenever we have the Simpsons visit another country, that country gets furious, including Australia. We were condemned in the Australian Parliament after the episode. "

↑ ^a ^b Svetkey, Benjamin: Gotta Lovitz . In: Entertainment Weekly , February 11, 1994. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ Shister, Gail: The Critic finds new life, love on Fox . In: Toronto Star , May 2, 1994. Retrieved November 24, 2008.

↑ Al Jean . (2005). DVD commentary for the episode "Springfield Film Festival". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Six [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ ^a ^b Ask Bill and Josh 2 Q&A Thread . NoHomers.net. August 1, 2006. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

Jump up ↑ John Ortved: The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History . Greystone Books, 2009, ISBN 978-1-55365-503-9 , pp. 204 .

↑ ^a ^b Brennan, Judy: Groening Has a Cow Over 'Critic': Television: The creator of 'The Simpsons' has removed his name from Sunday's episode, which promotes Fox's latest cartoon series. . In: Los Angeles Times , The Times Mirror Company, March 3, 1995. Retrieved November 24, 2008. "For years, Al and Mike were two guys who worked their hearts out on this show, staying up until 4 in the morning to get it right. The point is, Matt's name has been on Mike's and Al's scripts and he has taken plenty of credit for a lot of their great work. In fact, he is the direct beneficiary of their work. 'The Critic' is their shot and he should be giving them his support. "

↑ Bill Oakley , Josh Weinstein . (2006). " Easter Egg " commentary for the episode "Fooled Lisa?". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Nine [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ ^a ^b Ask Bill & Josh . NoHomers.net. November 2, 2005. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ Bill Oakley . (2005). DVD commentary for the episode "The Black Sheep". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Seven [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ Bill Oakley . (2005). DVD commentary for the episode "Something's Wrong with the Simpsons!" In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Seven [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

^ Bill Oakley (February 14, 2010). Interview with Rick Emerson in Outlook Portland .

↑ Oakley / Weinstein interview . In: Springfield Weekly . Archived from the original on November 30, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2011: “We liked Homer the way he was in the second and third seasons. That was what we consciously used as our model. Dimwitted, loving, hyper-enthusiastic, creatively goofy, parody of the American father - drawn with real emotions, though admittedly amplified. "

↑ Doris Grau. In: Internet Movie Database . Retrieved June 6, 2012 .

^ Doris Grau - Full Biography , New York Times . Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ James W. Bates, Scott M. Gimple, Jesse L. McCann, Ray Richmond, Christine Seghers: Simpsons World The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1-20 . Harper Collins Publishers , 2010, ISBN 978-0-00-738815-8 , pp. 1110 .

↑ David Mirkin . (2005). DVD commentary for the episode " Lisa as a vegetarian ". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Seven [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ Michael d'Estries: Paul McCartney Insisted Lisa Simpson Stay VEG . ecorazzi. August 26, 2009. Retrieved September 19, 2009.

↑ Sideswipe: McCartney keeps Lisa vegetarian . In: The New Zealand Herald , August 28, 2009. Retrieved September 19, 2011.

↑ Mark I Pinsky: The Gospel According to The Simpsons, Bigger and Possibly Even Better! Edition . Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky 2007, ISBN 978-0-664-23265-8 , pp. 171 .

^ Marlene McCampbell: 1997 Timeline , Entertainment Weekly . December 26, 1997. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

^ John Alberti, Robert Sloane: Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture . Wayne State University Press, Detroit 2003, ISBN 0-8143-2849-0 , chapter Who Wants Candy? Disenchantment in The Simpsons , p. 143 ( online ).

^ John Alberti, Robert Sloane: Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture . Wayne State University Press, Detroit 2003, ISBN 0-8143-2849-0 , chapter Who Wants Candy? Disenchantment in The Simpsons , p. 144 ( online ).

↑ Waxman, Sharon: That's Show Buzz - For the Guys Behind 'Mission Hill,' a Long, Hard Climb . In: The Washington Post , October 7, 1999, pp. Style C1. Retrieved July 5, 2010.

↑ Cries & whispers too interesting to ignore - Life can be cartoon material . In: Union-News , December 6, 1999, p. A02.

↑ ^a ^b Mike Scully . BBC Worldwide. April 25, 2001. Retrieved August 9, 2011: “As the Executive Producer of The Simpsons, an animated television series about a dysfunctional family, Mike Scully has openly stated that his goal when taking over this role was to 'not wreck the show . ' […] 'I wrote a lot of Lisa's shows. I have five daughters, so I like Lisa a lot. I like Homer, too. Homer comes very naturally to me: I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. A lot of my favorite episodes are the ones when Homer and Lisa are in conflict with each other ... They're very human, I think that's their appeal. '"

^ ^A ^b John Ortved: The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History . Greystone Books, 2009, ISBN 978-1-55365-503-9 , pp. 221-225 (Quote: "Scully's episodes excel when compared to what The Simpsons airs nowadays, but he was the man at the helm when the ship turned towards the iceberg.").

↑ Chris Turner: Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation . Random House Canada , Toronto 2004, ISBN 0-679-31318-4 , pp. 42 .

↑ The Simpsons: 10 classic episodes , BBC News . January 14, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2011. "The common consensus is that The Simpsons' golden era ended after season nine."

↑ Suellentrop, Chris: The Simpsons: Who turned America's best TV show into a cartoon? . In: Slate . February 12, 2003. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ Bonné, Jon: 'The Simpsons' has lost its cool . MSNBC. October 2, 2000. Retrieved August 9, 2011: “Somewhere along the way - and try as I might, I've been unable to nail down exactly when it happened - Homer morphed from a relatively sweet, caring and ultimately good-hearted (if infinitely goofy and blundering) father into a boorish, self-aggrandizing oaf, a bizarre creature I prefer to call the MetaHomer. "

^ Bonné, Jon: The Simpsons, 'back from the pit . MSNBC. November 7, 2003. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ Ritchey, Alicia: Matt Groening, did you brain your damage? . The Lantern. March 28, 2006. Archived from the original on April 19, 2008. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 9, 2011. @1@ 2

↑ Selley, Chris; Marco Ursi, Jaime J. Weinman: The life and times of Homer J. (Vol. IV) . Maclean's. July 26, 2007. Archived from the original on January 9, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 9, 2011. @1@ 2

Jump up ↑ John Ortved: The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History . Greystone Books, 2009, ISBN 978-1-55365-503-9 , pp. 263 .

^ Brian Tallerico: The Simpsons Season Ten DVD Review . UGO Networks. 2007. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2011: “Comparing tenth season Simpsons episodes to the prime of the series (3-7) is just unfair and really kind of self-defeating. 'Yeah, I laughed, but not as hard as a couple of years ago. So it sucks. ' That's nonsense. The fact is that even the tenth season of The Simpsons was funnier than most show's best years [...] "

↑ hatred Enger, Jesse: The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season . PopMatters. August 7, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2011: “This is not to say that these episodes are without their charm; many, in fact, are laugh-out-loud funny and characteristically smart. "

^ Snierson, Dan: Man Of A Thousand Voices . In: Entertainment Weekly , June 12, 1998. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ Virginia Rohan: Tributes To A Star And His Voices . In: The Record , July 23, 1998, p. Y8. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ Martyn, Warren; Adrian Wood: Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo . In: BBC . Retrieved September 18, 2011.

^ Paul A. Cantor: Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization . Rowman & Littlefield, 2001, ISBN 0-7425-0779-3 , pp. 103 .

↑ ^a ^b George Meyer . (2007). DVD commentary for the episode "The Japanese Horror Game Show". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Ten [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ ^a ^b ^c Glaister, Dan: Simpsons actors demand bigger share . In: The Age , April 3, 2004. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ ^a ^b Spokesmen for the Simpsons want more money. In: press text. April 14, 2004, accessed June 8, 2012 .

↑ Voice Of 'Maude' Disputes Report . In: The Columbian , February 5, 2000, p. E6.

^ Nancy Cartwright : My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy . Hyperion, New York City 2000, ISBN 0-7868-8600-5 , pp. 96 .

↑ People . In: Contra Costa Times , February 1, 2000, p. A02.

↑ Character killed off . In: The Cincinnati Post , Feb. 1, 2000, p. 12A.

↑ Mike McDaniel: Not true, 'Maude' says . In: Houston Chronicle , February 11, 2000.

^ Paul Brownfield: Actress: Greed Killed Simpsons Character . In: Lexington Herald-Leader , Feb. 5, 2000, p. 17.

↑ Bill Husted: D'oh! Denver voice gets killed on "The Simpsons" . In: The Denver Post , Jan. 27, 2000, pp. A-02.

^ Nui Te Koha: Ned faces life alone . In: Sunday Herald Sun , February 6, 2000, p. 025.

↑ Maude Flanders will likely leave the Simpsons . In: Waterloo Region Record , February 5, 2000, p. F04.

^ ^A ^b Nancy Basile: There's a New Maude in Town . About.com. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ Wendy Fox Weber: TV Tip: The Simpsons . In: The Naperville Sun , November 1, 2002, p. 12.

↑ Bill Husted: Maggie's back . In: The Denver Post , June 1, 2003, p. F-02.

↑ ^a ^b 'Fresh Air' Reflects: 'Simpsons' Writer Al Jean. In: National Public Radio. July 26, 2007, accessed August 9, 2011 (English, audio interview with Al Jean).

↑ Al Jean . (2003). DVD commentary for the episode "To Washington and Back". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Three [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

^ ^A ^b Greg Suarez: Greg Suarez talks Simpsons with Al Jean . The digital bits. February 10, 2001. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved on August 9, 2011: “The hardest thing at this point is just thinking of fresh ideas. People are so on top of things that we've done before, so the challenge now is to think of an idea that's good, but hasn't been seen. " @1@ 2

↑ ^a ^b Simpsons challenged over Rio 'jokes' , BBC News. April 9, 2002. Retrieved April 21, 2011.

↑ Chris Turner: Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation . Random House Canada , Toronto 2004, ISBN 0-679-31318-4 , pp. 326 .

↑ ^a ^b Bellos, Alex: Doh! Rio blames it on The Simpsons , The Guardian. April 9, 2002. Retrieved April 21, 2011.

↑ Chris Turner: Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation . Random House Canada , Toronto 2004, ISBN 0-679-31318-4 , pp. 325 .

↑ Al Jean . (2010). DVD extra "The monkeys are to blame for everything". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Thirteen [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ Orecklin, Michele :! Ay, Caramba! . In: Time , April 22, 2002. Retrieved September 18, 2011. "We apologize to the lovely city and people of Rio de Janeiro [...]"

↑ Fox apologizes for Brazil episode. In: Spiegel Online . April 13, 2002, accessed June 5, 2012 .

^ Matt Groening , Al Jean , Jeffrey Lynch , Mike Reiss , David Silverman . (2004). DVD commentary for the episode " The Snake's Nest ". In: The Simpsons: The Complete Season Five [DVD]. 20th Century Fox .

↑ Homer wants 190 percent more salary. In: Spiegel Online . April 2, 2004, accessed June 5, 2012 .

↑ 'Simpsons' Cast Goes Back To Work , CBS News. May 1, 2004. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ Simpsons spokesman and Fox TV settle the dispute. In: press text. May 3, 2004, accessed June 8, 2012 .

^ Peter Sheridan: Meet the Simpsons , The Daily Telegraph (Australia). May 6, 2004. Retrieved February 9, 2008.

↑ ^a ^b Michael Schneider: Still no deal for 'Simpsons' cast , Variety. May 19, 2008. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ Homosexual marriage at Simpsons now legal. In: press text. July 28, 2004, accessed June 8, 2012 .

↑ ^a ^b Simpsons to reveal gay character , BBC News . July 28, 2004. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ Inventory: 15 Simpsons Moments That Perfectly Captured Their Eras . In: The AV Club . 2007-07-23. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ David Kennerley: Simpsons Episode Offers Fresh, Funny Take on Gay Marriage . AfterEllen.com . February 22, 2005. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved on August 9, 2011.

↑ Simpsons' gay character is Patty , BBC News. February 21, 2005. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ Actress Elisabeth Volkmann is dead. In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved July 28, 2006 .

↑ Elisabeth Volkmann died lonely. In: Welt Online . Retrieved June 6, 2012 .

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↑ Markus Ruoff: Nina Hagen will not speak to Marge Simpson. In : quotemeter.de . August 11, 2006, accessed June 6, 2012 .

↑ TV news. In: BZ September 27, 2006, accessed on August 7, 2012 .

↑ ^a ^b Markus Ruoff: The 17th "Simpsons" season must be interrupted. In : quotemeter.de . September 18, 2006, accessed June 6, 2012 .

↑ Jochen Voss: The search for Marge's voice continues - "Simpsons" pause. In: DWDL.de . September 25, 2006, accessed June 6, 2012 .

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↑ ^a ^b ^c Markus Ruoff: Anke Engelke becomes Marge Simpson's new dubbing voice. In : quotemeter.de . October 11, 2006, accessed June 6, 2012 .

↑ ^a ^b The Simpsons: Episode Guide of the TV Series (17th season). In: fernsehserien.de. Retrieved June 6, 2012 .

↑ The Road of the Damned. In: Springfield Shopper. Archived from the original on December 18, 2007 ; Retrieved June 6, 2012 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c Fleming, Michael: Homer going to bat in '07 , Variety.com. April 2, 2006. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

↑ Always after the donut ... In: Spiegel Online . July 22, 2007. Retrieved June 8, 2012 .

↑ Edward Douglas: The Creators of The Simpsons Movie! , Comingsoon.net. July 24, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

^ Dan Snierson: 'Simpsons Movie': Homer's Odyssey , Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved August 9, 2011.

^ Simpsons launch hits Springfield , BBC News. July 21, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

^ Gregor Wildermann: The real Springfield is in Vermont. In: Spiegel Online . July 24, 2007, accessed June 5, 2012 .

↑ Weekend Box Office July 27-29, 2007 . Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 9, 2011.

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↑ Leopold, Todd: Is it time for 'The Simpsons' to 'g'oh'? , CNN. December 14, 2009. Archived from the original on December 5, 2010 Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved August 11, 2011. "'It seems less cohesive, more about trying to get the jokes in there, instead of make a story and let the jokes come off of that,' he says, adding, 'I just think there's only so much you can do [with the characters]. '" @1@ 2

^ Wilson, Benji: The writer . In: Radio Times , January 9, 2010, p. 16. “Well, it's possible that we've declined. But honestly, I've been here the whole time and I do remember in season two people saying, 'It's gone downhill.' If we'd listened to that then we would have stopped after episode 13. I'm glad we didn't. "

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^ How Will TV Strike Affect Viewers , The Showbuzz . November 2, 2007. Archived from the original on October 13, 2008 Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved August 9, 2011. @1@ 2

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[1] As of the end of the 23rd season on May 20, 2012.

[spiegel_online-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Yellow rules the world. In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved June 5, 2012 .

[ProSieben-3] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j The Simpsons - Background. In: ProSieben .de. Retrieved June 9, 2012 .

[inter-4] A ^b David Bianculli: Simpson's Creator Matt Groening. In: National Public Radio. February 14, 2003, accessed August 9, 2011 (English, audio interview with Matt Groening).


Episode overview	Shorts • Season 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • Treehouse of Horror
Movies	The Simpsons - The Movie (2007) • The Longest Day Care Day (2012) • Playing With Fate (2020)
Crossover	Simpsons Guy (2014)
Music videos	Do the Bartman (1990) • Deep, Deep Trouble (1991)
literature	The Simpsons and Philosophy: Getting Smarter with the World's Most Famous TV Family (2001)
Video games	The Simpsons Hit & Run (2003) • The Simpsons - The Game (2007) • The Simpsons Springfield (2012)
Others	Awards • Comics • Discography • Family • Characters • History • Springfield