Design Context Blog: The Simpsons

13 March 2012

The Simpsons

1989 - Present

Homer Simpson - Dan Castellaneta
Marge Simpson - Julie Kavner
Lisa Simpson - Yeardley Smith
Bart Simpson - Nancy Cartwright
Maggie Simpson - (doesn't speak and therefore doesn't have a voice actor)
Ned Flanders - Harry Shearer
Chief Wiggum/ Moe Szyslak/ Apu - Hank Azaria

(couldn't find the older, better opening credits to the Simpsons, so I just chose some highlights)

Trivia via IMDB.com

This is the longest running prime-time comedy series as well as the longest-running prime-time animated series in US TV history.

The Simpsons is the longest-running spin-off series of all time, and the most successful spin-off compared to its "parent" series, beating out The Tracey Ullman Show by 17 years.

In 1997, The Simpsons broke The Flintstones record for longest-running prime time animated TV show. The show also holds the record for most guest stars in a television series.

The show grew from 30-second segments that aired between comedy sketches on The Tracey Ullman Show. Julie Kavner and Dan Castellaneta were regulars on the show while 'Nancy Cartwright' and Yeardley Smith were drafted in specially for the animation. In 1992, Tracey Ullman sued unsuccessfully to earn a share of the show's merchandise related profit.

Nancy Cartwright, voice of Bart, first tried out for Lisa's voice.

Kang and Kodos (the aliens) are named for two Star Trek characters - Kang was a Klingon warrior, and Kodos was an Adolf Hitler-like mass murderer.

In one episode, Principal Skinner reveals that his prisoner number in Vietnam was 24601. That same prisoner number was Hank Jennings' in Twin Peaks and Jean Valjean's in Les Misérables, Part 1: Jean Valjean.

Sideshow Bob also has the same prison number, as seen when he is corresponding with Selma while still in prison. "Dear inmate #24601..."

The character "Krusty the Clown" was inspired by a real-life TV kiddie show host named 'Rusty Nails' and Dan Castellaneta's voice characterization was based on Chicago television legend Bob Bell who portrayed WGN-TV's Bozo from 1960-1984.

The French version of the TV show translated "D'oh" into "T'oh."

Bart Simpson was ranked #1 in TV Guide's list of "TV's 10 Biggest Brats" (27 March 2005 issue).

Homer works in sector 7-G in the power plant

Bart's retort "Eat my shorts!" was ranked #3 in TV Guide's list of "TV's 20 Top Catchphrases" (21-27 August 2005 issue).

The motto for The Springfield Penitentiary is "If you committed murder, you'd be home by now!"

Milhouse says he is 3 months younger than Bart.

Hank Azaria has told that he adopted his characters' voices from celebrities and people he has met. Among others, Chief Wiggum's voice is based on Edward G. Robinson, Lou's on Sylvester Stallone and Comic Book Guy's on Hank Azaria's roommate in college.

"Comic Book Guy's" real name is "Jeff Albertson". After being anonymous for many seasons, the creators thought it would be funny to give him the most conventional name they could think of.

Fat Tony's name was variously given as William "Fat Tony" Williams in "Bart the Murderer", as Anthony "Fat Tony" Balducci in the episode where Homer is a boxer, and as Anthony "Fat Tony" d'Amico in others. In the Episode where Krusty meets his estranged daughter, Fat Tony's middle name is revealed to be Merian

Milhouse's middle name is Mussolini.

In the Bartman Begins segment of ?Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Three Times?, a rope can be seen attached to Bartman as he begins his descent into the museum to battle the serpent. This is a direct reference to the original 1989 ?Batman? film, in which a cable can be seen attached to Batman as he performs a similar window-breaking descent into a museum.

The map of Springfield located in the Police Station shows the city is shaped almost exactly like medieval Constantinople, complete with a large road in almost the same position as the Mese, the main road of Constantinople.

In the episode "Behind the Scenes", the narrator announces "this Kentuckian family...", so with this information, Springfield is generally thought to be in Kentucky. However, the narrator was indicating that the family originally came from Kentucky, but that is not where they live currently.

Apu is 42 years old.

One of Cletus' kids name is Crystal Meth

The bank teller in The PTA Disbands is based on George Bailey, James Stewart's character in It's a Wonderful Life.

Mayor Quimby is based on John F. Kennedy.

Homer (Dan Castellaneta) is the only character to have dialogue in every episode. Marge (Julie Kavner) and Lisa (Yeardley Smith) have also appeared in every episode, but Marge did not deliver any dialogue in the episode 'Krusty Gets Kancelled', while Lisa did not deliver any dialogue in the episode 'Chief of Hearts'. Bart ('Nancy Cartwright') did not appear in the episode 'Four Great Women and a Manicure'.

The creators jokingly insist that they have parodied Citizen Kane so much that one could re-create the entire film solely from Simpsons clips. They also have made the same claim about the first two Godfather films.

In the episode when Lisa is elected president of Springfield Elementary she gives her email address as smartgirl63_\@yahoo.com (she says it as: smart girl six three underscore backslash at Yahoo dot com)

Homer's e-mail address is ChunkyLover53@aol.com

Sideshow Bob's real/full name is Robert Underdunk Terwilliger.

Krusty the Klown's real name is revealed as Herschel Schmoikel Krustofski and Herschel Pinkus Yerucham Krustofski in different episodes.

In episode 3F03 "Lisa the Vegetarian" in the closing credits where Paul McCartney sings "Maybe I'm Amazed" there is a background voice. If you play it backwards it is a recipe of Lentel soup read by Paul McCartney.

Jasper's surname is Beardly.

The website that homer created with false 'dirt' on many of the citizens can be accessed as www.mrxswebpage.com

People banned for life in the comic book store are: Bart, Milhouse, Sideshow Bob, Nelson, and Matt Groening.

According to Bart, he is 2 years and 38 days older than Lisa.

The name of Bart's principal, Seymour Skinner, is taken from behavior specialist B.F. Skinner. Harry Shearer claims his idea for the voice of the principal was partially based on Charles Kuralt.

Sideshow Bob is voiced by Frasier star Kelsey Grammer. In "Brother from Another Series", Cecil, Sideshow Bob's brother, is featured, and is voiced by David Hyde Pierce, who plays Frasier's brother, Niles, in Frasier. Cecil also mentions Maris, Niles's never-seen wife, which is said ironically, since Bart is covering Cecil's eyes. They later completed the joke in "Funeral for a Fiend," in which Dr. Robert Terwilliger, Sr., father to Bob and Cecil, is voiced by John Mahoney, who also played their father on _"Frasier" (1993)_.

A TV critic titled his article "Worst Episode Ever!" after watching a late '90s episode, and criticized the show's writing. In the later seasons, there are many episodes in which the Comic Book Guy criticizes a character by saying "Worst episode ever!" and "Worst action ever!" in reference to the TV critic's article.

Some of the store and place names around town:

Gun Shop: BloodBath and Beyond
Pastry Shop: The French Confection
Investing service: IPO Friday's
Museum: Louvre: American Style
Family Restaurant: Texas Cheesecake Depository
Soup Kitchen: Helter Shelter
Seafood Restaurant: The Fryin' Dutchman
Middle eastern restaurant: Two Guys from Kabul
Discount Store: Try 'n' Save
Dog Obedience Schools: Eastside Ruff-Form School, Professor Von Bowser's Sanitarium For Dogs
Music shop: Suicide Notes and Tommy Toots
New Age Shop: Karmaceuticals
Girls school: Saint Sebastian's School for Wicked Girls
Repo man: Repo Depot
Outdoor Clothing Store: Malaria Zone
Gourmet Food store: Eatie Gourmet's
Toy Store: Valley of the Dolls
Roach Motel: The Ritz Carlton Hotel for Vagrants
Comic book store: Androids Dungeon
Air conditioner store: It Blows
Boys' Clothing Store: Wee Monsieur
Law Office: I Can't Believe It's A Law Firm!
Healthcare Facility- HMO (Hibbert Moneymaking Organization)
Joke/Novelty Shop: Yuckingham Palace
Jewelry store: The Family Jewels
Shop selling casserole dishes: Stoner's Pot Palace
The eye care center: Eye Carumba
Donut Shop: Lard Lad Donuts
Toy Store: J.R.R. Toykins
Toy store in Chinatown: Toys "L" Us
Junkyard: Uriah's Heap
Girls' Clothing Store: Saks Fifth Grade
Airport Bookstore: Just Crichton and King Books
Many of the characters are named after major streets in Portland, Oregon, where creator Matt Groening grew up. Examples: Flanders, Lovejoy, Terwilliger, Kearney.

Many of the characters are named after Matt Groening's family and relatives, including Homer, Marge, Lisa and Maggie, which are the real names of his parents and younger sisters.

Characters' full names: Lisa Marie Simpson, Bartholomew Jojo Simpson, and Homer Jay Simpson.

All of the references of having a middle name of "J" such as Homer J. Simpson, or Bartholomew J. Simpson, are a acknowledgment to Matt Groening's love of "Rocky and Bullwinkle." Bullwhinkle's full name was Bullwinkle J. Moose. This naming scheme continues through Matt Groening's "Futurama," in which the main characters are named Phillip J. Fry, and Professor J. Farnsworth.

Marge and Lisa have four eyelashes, and Maggie has three eyelashes

Three of The Beatles have appeared on the show - George Harrison (Homer's Barbershop Quartet), Ringo Starr (Brush With Greatness) and Paul McCartney (Lisa the Vegetarian). There is an episode dedicated to the memory of George Harrison. John Lennon died long before the show premiered, however his song 'Mother' was used in an episode, meaning all four Beatles' voices have appeared on the show in some shape or form.

This is the only non-variety television show that contains special guest appearances by three former The Beatles: the late George Harrison, Paul McCartney (who appeared with the late Linda McCartney), and Ringo Starr.

When The Who appeared on The Simpsons, Pete Townshend was portrayed by his brother Paul Townshend.

In the episode "The Itchy and Scratchy Movie", Dustin Hoffman and Michael Jackson are said to have made pseudonymous appearances in a movie. This was a inside jab at the fact that both 'Michael Jackson' (I) and Dustin Hoffman had provided voices during the first few seasons of The Simpsons, but neither was credited under his real name.

What Bart writes on the chalkboard in the opening credits is different in almost every episode.

In the opening credits, the cash register shows $847.63 when Maggie is "scanned" (figure was taken from a survey (found by Matt Groening) done at the time that said that this was the average monthly cost of caring for a newborn baby - food, clothes, health, etc.). But during The Simpsons anniversary show (hosted by Troy McClure) the credit sequence is paused and the machine is shown to read "NRA 4EVER".

Elizabeth Taylor, Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin, Mark Hamill, Steve Buscemi and Joe Mantegna are the only actors to play both themselves and a fictional character on the series.

The primary cast all have agreements in their contracts that hold them to doing three movies based on the show in the future.

The Simpsons live on Evergreen Terrace. Early in the show's life the house number was given differently a few times (including 1094), but in later episodes the address settled down to 742 Evergreen Terrace.

Professer Frink is named after John Frink who writes for the show.

As part of the many running jokes in the series, the location of the fictitious town of Springfield is never revealed. Whenever they locate the town on a map, for instance, we never see the map. Whenever someone says it out loud, the sound is muffled or masked by noise. The capitol of the state Springfield is located in is simply called 'Capitol City'. In the "Behind The Music" episode the state is mentioned but there are several versions of the show, each with a different state name (including Kentucky and Missouri), to keep the not-revealing-the-location-of-Springfield joke going.

Homer's trademark was the expressive "D'oh!". After a few seasons, that particular word was finally considered valid, accepted and finally appeared in the online version of The Oxford Dictionary. According to actor Dan Castellaneta, the word means "annoyed grunt" as it was written in the script. He came out with the word "Dooooh..." from Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and made it quicker for animation.

Chief Wiggum and Apu were created by Hank Azaria. According to Hank Azaria, Apu was created during his times when Hank Azaria did not have a car while in Los Angeles and the only place in walking distance was the 7-Eleven shop. Apu was also based onPeter Sellers in The Party and is named after the title character in Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy.

In a episode where Maggie is in her crib, Maggie is seen holding a bunny which is the main character in Matt Groening's comic strip, "Life in hell".

Series creator Matt Groening sketched out the original drawings for the Simpson Family in a matter of minutes while sitting outside producer James L. Brooks' office. The idea was that each family member had to be instantly recognizable by his or her silhouette.

The main characters were given a yellow coloring to attract the attention of channel hoppers.

Celebrities have been known to be so eager to make a guest appearance on The Simpsons that they'll even play themselves in an unflattering light. For instance, Jasper Johns played himself as a kleptomaniac, 'Gary Coleman' played himself as a pathetic has-been, and Tom Arnold played himself as an obnoxious non-talent who gets fired into the sun for being such a bad actor.

When appealing to Danny Elfman for the prefect theme song, Matt Groening gave him a cassette tape of songs similar to the one he wanted. The tape included The Jetsonstheme, selections from Nino Rota's Juliet Of The Spirits, a Remington electric shaver jingle by Frank Zappa, easy-listening music by Juan García Esquivel, and a teach-your-parrot-to-talk record.

For a short period of time the show was dubbed to Swedish in Sweden, but after receiving mountains of hate mail the network brought back the original show. The show started out dubbed in Dutch in the Netherlands, but when it was realized that adults did not like the dubbing, and children did not get the jokes mostly directed towards a mature audience, the original version was aired.

Ralph Wiggum was named after Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners because the character was intended to be a loudmouthed smaller version of Homer. He wasn't established as Chief Wiggum's son until "I Love Lisa", the fifteenth episode of the fourth season.

Bart's anonymous prank calls to Moe were inspired by "The Tube Bar Recordings", tapes of actual prank calls to Louis 'Red' Deutsch, a New Jersey bartender famous for his violent temper (the pranksters, John Elmo and Jim Davidson, got the idea to prank him one day when, while passing his bar, they saw him beating up one of his customers for not drinking fast enough). Louis 'Red' Deutsch would unfailingly respond to the prank calls with a stream of cursing, abuse and threats. Bart's prank calls became less frequent after the first seasons, simply because the writers had a hard time coming up with new ones.

In one episode a letter to Mr. Burns from the Simpsons does not show the state the Simpsons live in, but reads Mr. Burns as living in Springfield, New Jersey

The show repeatedly makes fun of the Fox network, which airs the show.

In the episode "Lisa the Greek" Lisa, angry at Homer for tricking her into helping him gamble on football, makes a bet that if she loves him the winner of the Super Bowl will be The Washington Redskins and if she doesn't The Buffalo Bills would come out on top (Washington won). Actually when the show premiered just before the Super Bowl those two teams were actually squaring off in Superbowl XXVI and Washington came out on top 37-24. Over the next three years Fox made it a tradition to air the episode just before the Super Bowl and change the dialogue so that the teams would include whatever teams were playing that year. According to the DVD commentary Lisa accurately picked the winning team every single year.

The original voice of Homer on The Tracey Ullman Show and the beginning of the first season was inspired by Walter Matthau, as the original sketch of Homer had a large overbite. However, Dan Castellaneta dumbed him down and said "my jaw would go out, my neck would go in, and then my I.Q. would drop about 70 points."

In the early episodes, Sherri and Terri were the biggest bullies in Bart's class. Currently they serve as background filler, their significance having decreased over time from tormentors to deliverers of small lines to faces in the crowd.

The barber shop in Springfield is called "Hairy Shearers" - named for voice talent Harry Shearer.

Matt Groening based the character Bart Simpson on the character of Dennis in Dennis the Menace, which he watched as a child but was disappointed that Dennis was not as mischievous as he was in the comic strip.

The name of the music store next to Moe's is King Toots.

Most of the main cast of Cheers has appeared on this show. Most notably, Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob. In an episode where Homer was kicked out of Moe's Tavern, he seeks a new bar, and walks into Cheers. This is where the other Cheers cast members voice their old characters. However, Kelsey Grammer's character of Frasier does not speak.

Donald Sutherland guest starred in the episode Lisa the Iconoclast. He also appeared in the 1975 movie The Day of the Locust, where he played a character named Homer Simpson.

The character Professor John Frink is named after a producer of the show and based onJerry Lewis's character in The Nutty Professor.

In the episode "Homer3" (TreeHouse of Horror) where Homer enters the third dimension at the back of the bookcase, you can see the numbers and letters 46 72 69 6E 6B 20 72 75 6C 65 73 21 float by. This is actually hexidecimal code for "Frink rules!" (you can check by putting this code in your browser bar (only works in IE): 'about:%46%72%69%6E%6B%20%72%75%6C%65%73%21').

In the 'Who Shot Mr Burns?' episode, Mr Burns collapses on a sundial pointing his arms at S and W - which to his eyes look like M and S, identifying the initials of the shooter. This resulted in several characters having their names permanently expanded just for the sake of red herrings: Seymour Skinner's name was revealed as M. Seymour Skinner (it's written on a diploma behind his head in one scene); Moe the Bartender became Moe Szyslak; and Sideshow Mel's name was revealed as Melvin van Horn, presumably to eliminate him (although it could have still been interpreted as not MS but SM - Sideshow Mel).

Places where the "El Barto" graffiti shows up: police station; elementary school; by the lake, where the Indians once lived

The salesman character Gil who can't catch a break is based on the character 'Shelley Levene', played by 'Jack Lemmon' in Glengarry Glen Ross

The character of Hans Moleman appeared a few times in various background scenes, he made his first speaking appearance in the episode "Principal Charming" in the second season. At this point, his name, as shown on a driver's license, was "Ralph Melish" (a name previously used by Monty Python's Flying Circus). His appearance provoked quite a stir among the writers, because he was written as a generalized "old man" part, but he came back from the animators, in the words of creator Matt Groening, "looking like a shriveled potato". They then ended up jokingly referring to him as Moleman, and eventually giving him the permanent name of Hans Moleman.

Hans Moleman's real name (Ralph Melish according to his drivers license) is the name of a character from a Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch involving strange things that *don't* happen (it's spelled correctly in the Python scripts as "Ralph Melhuish"). It is featured on the Matching Tie and Handkerchief Album.

The Many Deaths of Hans Moleman:

Forced off the road by Homer; flies off a cliff.
Otto runs his AMC Gremlin off the road; his car stops narrowly missing a tree and then explodes anyway.
His thick eyeglasses act as a magnifying glass and set him on fire.
Is executed in Springfield after Homer eats his last meal.
Burns, on an ether-induced hallucination, drills into Moleman's head thinking he's the Lucky Charms leprechaun.
Engulfed by an anti-escape orb as Marge escapes from the Movementarians.
Blown up by an explosive éclair meant to poison Homer.
Knocked out by Homer in jail with a book. (possible death)
The French neutron bomb Springfield, presumably killing Hans along with most everyone else.
Hauled away by thugs at the retirement home when he makes a comment about the senior-edited Gone with the Wind they are watching. (he is possibly killed)
Seen trapped in the phone booth in the bird sanctuary (which becomes a parody ofAlfred Hitchcock's The Birds). We don't see his death, but if you've seen The Birds, you know his fate is sealed.
Drowned in quicksand in "Simpsons Tall Tales".
Accidentally run over by Homer at the end of "The Parent Rap".
In Treehouse of Horror
15 when Ned predicts Molemans death, Ned saves Moleman but then drops him into a manhole where there are lots of crocodiles.

The show's creator and animator Matt Groening has stated that his initials appear in any animation of Homer Simpson. When looking at Homer from the side, one can see that the zig-zag of his hair forms an "M", while his ear forms the "G".

"Treehouse of Horror I" is the only "Treehouse of Horror" to use the tree house motif and is so far one of two "Treehouse of Horrors" that don't use the spooky names. The second is "Treehouse of Horror XIII".

The animation in the series became noticeably more sophisticated and fluid after the first season. Also changed after the early episodes was Homer's voice (which was made higher pitched and less intelligent-sounding than it initially was), Chief Wiggum's hair color, and Smithers' skin color (he is black in his first appearance, but becomes yellow/caucasian in all future appearances). Early episodes have a slightly different opening credit sequence. After Homer tosses the radioactive rod into the street, Bart is seen skateboarding but we do not see any recognizable characters in the streetscape as we do later. The skateboard sequence ends by showing a group of generic townspeople running after a bus. We then see Lisa riding home on her bike, overloaded with schoolbooks, parking it in the garage just before Homer's car pulls into the driveway (after which the credits continue as usual).

Yeardley Smith (Lisa) and Marcia Wallace (Edna) are the only cast members who do only one voice on a regular basis.

Dr Nick is named after George "Dr Nick" Nichopoulos, who was charged after Elvis Presley's death for prescribing thousands of doses of narcotics to cater to Elvis Presley's massive appetite for prescription drugs.

In one episode the Simpsons' phone number is given as (939)-555-0113

The area code 939 is one of two area codes for Puerto Rico. The area code was assigned to the island in August 2001 after the island's only area code, 787, was about to run out of numbers due to the boom of mobile phones, beepers, and modems there.

Only six episodes of the show have their titles displayed on screen: The Telltale Head (season 1), Bart Gets Hit by a Car (season 2), The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular, 22 Short Films About Springfield (both season 7), The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase (season 8) and The Book Job (season 23).

In episode "Duffless", Lisa says she is laughing at a joke from Herman's Head. Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa, was one of the stars of Herman's Head

In "Uncle Homer's Day Care", if you pause the transition from the school lunch scene to the "Mitten" scene at just the right second, you can see a rough sketch of the shot of Bart drawn in pencil on normal paper.

Penn (Penn Jillette) & Teller's appearance in "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder" (Episode 11.6) has a rare moment for the duo: Teller, the almost-always silent one, seems to have a speaking part of five lines. But Teller did not provide his own voice for the character based on him in the episode. The voice attributed to Teller was that of a Simpsons cast-member. This has been confirmed by Teller, and several people who have spoken with him, or have watched the film Penn & Teller Get Killed, in which Teller speaks a few lines at the end.

As in most cartoons, the characters have only four digits on each hand - except God, who always has five. However, in what is probably a mistake, God has four digits during Homer's dream at the end of "Homer the Heretic".

The footage of Ren & Stimpy in the episode "Brother from the Same Planet" was not taken from The Ren & Stimpy Show - it was created for the episode.

In the episode "Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes?" Joe Frazier and Barney get into a fight. Originally Barney was going to win the fight but Joe Frazier objected so the script was changed so Barney lost.

In the episode where Homer hires a private detective to find out more about Lisa, Homer tells the private detective that his email address is chunkylover53@aol.com.

Although it was believed that Dr. Marvin Monroe was killed off in 1995 (as his tomb stone can be seen in the Springfield cemetery), he reappeared in "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife" (FABF05), in which he tells Marge that he has been "very sick". The real reason for Monroe's relative absence in the series was because he became too much of a strain on Harry Shearer's voice.

Before he opened The Leftorium in the third season, Ned Flanders described his occupation as "the pharmaceutical game".

The distinctive voice of "Lunchlady Doris", as well as various other characters, belonged to the show's script supervisor Doris Grau. She provided the voice until her death in December 1995.

According to the creators, their most frequently parodied film is Citizen Kane followed by the films of Stanley Kubrick, especially 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and A Clockwork Orange.

After popular voice actor 'Phil Hartman' was murdered, the various characters he played such as lawyer Lionel Hutz and actor Troy McClure were retired. However, the characters can still occasionally be seen in scenes involving large groups.

The "Yeeeeees!" character is based on a character played by Frank Nelson on The Jack Benny Program on radio and television who would make himself known by that distinctive "Yeeeeees!"

In one episode Bart cheats at a marathon by sneaking into the race at the end disguised as an Italian entrant; in his victory speech he cries out "I use up all of my English!". This is the opening line from Roberto Benigni's Oscar acceptance speech for Best Actor (it was a reference to the fact that he'd already won Best Foreign Language Film earlier in the evening).

Comic Book Guy is based on Matt Groening himself: "He's the way I think I look to other people."

Bender, the robot in Futurama, made an appearance in the episodes "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" (DABF20) and "Missionary: Impossible" (BABF11) with other Fox Network characters. He made a speaking appearance in "Future-Drama" (GABF12).

Lisa refers to Michael Jackson and Dustin Hoffman as being in the Itchy and Scratchy movies, but not using their names in homage to the fact that both actors appeared uncredited on the show itself.

In the episdode "The Regina Monologues", Homer says, "I would like to go back to Brazil but I hear the monkey problem has gotten even worse." This is a reference to complaints received from Brazilian tourist officials after the episode "Blame it on Lisa" was aired, citing that it made Brazil look crime-ridden and monkey-infested.

As of the '03-'04 season premiere (Season 15), there are over 1,000 culture references in The Simpsons. According to writer-producer Al Jean, the most referenced film isCitizen Kane.

The animation process takes anywhere from six to nine months for each episode.

Matt Groening is left-handed, and as a result many of the characters on the show are left-handed (though this is not always consistent).

"Barting Over" was billed by FOX as the series' 300th episode because it was considered to be the 300th episode produced. However, FOX does not count the Christmas Special pilot towards that total. So technically, it was actually the 301st. FOX was very adamant about airing the "300th" episode on the same day as the Daytona 500 auto race, which is one of the biggest ratings draws of the year for the network, so they pushed the air date back to February 16th. So when the episode finally did air, it was actually the 302nd to do so (Christmas special included), even though FOX was hyping it up as #300. To further add to the confusion, all previous milestone episodes (100th, 138th, 200th, 250th) were based on airing order rather than production order, and with the Christmas special included.

According to Matt Groening, Bart's middle name is Jo-Jo, and not Jebediah as stated previously in the Rainy Day Fun Book. One can only guess that some facts got lost when the RDFB was made. The name was given to him by 'Nancy Cartwright'.

On the show, Bart's shirt is almost always orange. Yet, on most Simpsons merchandise and memorabilia, Bart's shirt is light blue in color. There are also products featuring Bart in a red shirt, though these seem to be less common.

Bart's hair always consists of 9 points.

In the scripts, Homer's "D'oh" is written as "(ANNOYED GRUNT)", Marge's disapproving murmur is written as "(FRUSTRATED MURMUR)", and Professor Frink's mumblings are written as "(FRINK NOISE)".

The blue/red discrepancy of Bart's shirt is referenced in one episode. Homer holds out Lisa (who wears a red dress) to tease a bull, then, thinking that he can placate the bull with something blue, he reaches for Bart, only to find him wearing his red shirt. He asks, "Where's your blue shirt?" to which Bart replies that he doesn't have one.

Ranked #6 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Top Cult Shows Ever!" (30 May 2004 issue).

Ranked at #1 in multiple Channel 4 TV polls in the UK - The 100 Greatest TV Characters, The 100 Greatest Kids TV Shows and The 100 Greatest Cartoons.

The squeaky voiced teenager's name was finally unveiled in a deleted scene from the 5th season of the Simpsons. Jeremy.

Springfield is 678 miles from Mexico City and 2,653 miles away from Orlando, Florida. Entertainingly, both cannot be true.

The character 'Homer Simpson' was ranked #35 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (20 June 2004 issue).

Homer Simpson was listed as the second best cartoon character of all time in TV Guide's List of the top 50 cartoon characters of all time.

In the 12th season premiere and 250th episode, Lisa mentions whatbadgerseat.com. Typing this in to your web server takes you to a small novelty site on the diets of badgers.

The official city motto for Springfield is "Corruptus in Extremis".

The Simpsons have usually had a Betamax VCR, and an 8-Track player in Homer's car.

Van Halen made a brief appearance during the "Behind the Laughter" episode, in whichWillie Nelson states that his plan to get the Simpsons back together also included getting Sammy Hagar to make amends with Van Halen. On March 26, 2004, Van Halenofficially announced that Sammy Hagar was once again the lead singer for the band.

Although Bart's middle initial of 'J' has since been confirmed to stand for "Jo-Jo", early in the show's life some sources incorrectly suggested that it stood for "Jebediah", after the town's founder, Jebediah Springfield. This same error was also sometimes attributed to Homer's middle initial of "J", which has since been confirmed to stand for "Jay".

In the episode "Bart vs Australia", Lisa and Marge are buying souvenirs from an Australian shop, Lisa asks Marge if she can buy a Didgeridoo to play. In Australian Aboriginal tradition, women are not allowed to play a Didgeridoo.

End credits to "The Poke of Zorro", (in the episode "E-I-E-I-D'oh"):

Zorro - John Byner
Robot Zorro - Shawn Wayans
Mrs. Zorro - Rita Rudner
Scarlet Pimpernel - Curtis "Booger" Armstrong (Curtis Armstrong)
King Arthur - Cheech Marin
Man in the Iron Mask - Gina Gershon
Wise Nun - Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham)
Stupid Nun - Meryl Streep
Time Traveler #1 - Stone Cold Steve Austin ('Steve Austin' (IV))
Orangutan at Dance - "Puddles"
Gay-Seeming Prince - Spalding Gray
Man Beating Mule - 'Eric Roberts' (I)
Mule Beating Man - "Gus"
Hiccupping Narrator - 'Pele'
President Van Buren - 'Robert Evans' (I)
Corky - Anthony Hopkins
Voice of Magic Taco - James Earl Jones
The Producers would like to thank: Film Board of Canada, The Philadelphia Flyers, The Makers of Whip Balm, Mr. Robert Guccione (Bob Guccione, The Teamsters Pension Fund, AAA, Best Bail Bonds, Mr. and Mrs. Curtis "Booger" Armstrong (Curtis Armstrong)

In one episode, mobster Fat Tony mentions that he "hasn't cried this hard since I paid money to see The Godfather: Part III. Joe Mantegna, who plays Fat Tony, played Joey Zasa in The Godfather: Part III.

In the DVD commentary for Season 4, it is said that Bumblebee Man is based on a character in a Mexican sitcom that played a lot in southern California involving otherwise normal-looking people and someone dressed as a "red cricket". The speakers in the commentary do not provide more information, but this is almost certainly a reference to El Chapulin Colorado, a character played by Roberto Gómez Bolaños"Chespirito", and that appeared in his own show and in sketches from other shows.

This is one of those series that doesn't have a specific first episode. The first episode created was "Some Enchanted Evening" (pushed to the end of the first season because scenes were being re-animated). It was first aired on 13 May 1990. The first broadcast half hour was "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" (aired 17 December 1989). The pilot was "Bart the Genius" which aired 14 January 1990.

The Simpsons' home address has been mentioned several times and has not been the same: - In "Blood Feud": 94 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, USA - In "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington": 59 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, TA - In "Beyond Blunderdome": 743 Evergreen Terrace - In "Bart the Lover": 94 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, USA - In "Kamp Krusty": 430 Spalding Way, Springfield, USA - In "New Kid on the Block": 1094 Evergreen Terrace - In "Marge in Chains": 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield - In "Homer the Vigilante": 723 Evergreen Terrace - In "Bart vs. Australia": 742 Evergreen Terrace - In "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday": 742 Evergreen Terrace - In "Lisa's Date with Density": 742 Evergreen Terrace

In the German version, Uther is from Switzerland.

The telephone number at Moe's Tavern is 764-84377, or SMITHERS. This was revealed in the episode "Homer the Smithers" from season 7 when Mr. Burns tries to call Smithers but does not know his phone number. Naturally, SMITHERS was his only guess.

Homer Simpson was named #5 by Bravo TV's "100 Greatest TV Characters of All Time".

Although Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa appear in every episode (and each has a speaking part, except that Marge's was cut from "Krusty Gets Kancelled" (she was part of the traffic jam caused by the billboard)), there are at least two episodes where Maggie does not appear: "The Last Temptation of Homer" and "Lisa's Date with Density".

Matt Groening has stated that since the fifth season in 1994, the episodes' running time have been shortened by two minutes, which he claims could be just enough time for an entire subplot.

Websites mentioned on the show link to actual websites. These sites are more or less show-related sites that offer fans wallpaper downloads for their computer. The sites include, but are not limited to, www.whatbadgerseat.com , www.dorks-gone-wild.com and www.sexyslumberparty.com .

Homer's PIN number is 7431.

The crazy cat lady's name is Eleanor Abernathy.

Moe's Tavern is based on a real bar called Fireside. It is located near Loyola Marymount University where David Mirkin went to college.

Many of the people and places in the Simpsons are named after cities, streets and landmarks in Oregon, specifically Portland. There is a Springfield near Eugene, and many character names (Flanders, Lovejoy, (Sideshow Bob) Terwilliger, etc) are streets in Portland. Matt Groening grew up in Portland.

Despite the huge number of guest stars, as of 2009 only two actors, Jackie Mason andKelsey Grammer have won an Emmy for a special appearance (although Marcia Wallaceonly has one character she is listed as a regular).

The sign outside the Springfield retirement castle says "Thank you for not discussing the outside world".

Bart's locker combination is 36 24 36

Even though Elizabeth Taylor appeared on the show twice as a guest star, and was well-publicized by the media, she has only said a total of eight words on the entire show.

The giant stone head in the Simpson basement (originally given as a thank-you gift for Bart donating blood to save Mr. Burns's life) is named Xtapolopacetl.

Cletus and Brandine's children are named Tiffany, Heather, Cody, Dylan, Dermot, Jordan, Taylor, Brittany, Wesley, Rumer, Scout, Cassidy, Zoe, Chloe, Max, Hunter, Kendall, Caitlin, Noah, Sasha, Morgan, Kyra, Ian, Lauren, Q-Bert, Phil, Rubella, and Condoleezza/Cory McDowell Marie, and Crystal Meth. In "Apocalypse Cow", two more were revealed as Mary and Stabbed In Jail, who were named for what Cletus and Brandine thought would happen to them.

Since the start of the second season, Bart is seen riding his skateboard in the intro around several characters. They are (from left to right) Mrs. Lovejoy, Apu, Moe, Barney, Jacques the Bowling Instructor, "Bleeding Gums" Murphy, and Chief Wiggum

Moe's favorite movie is The Godfather. Hank Azaria based Moe's voice on Al Pacino who starred in The Godfather.

Luanne Van Houten was born in Shelbyville.

Marge's birthday is October 1st.

Dan Castellaneta has stated that in the Tracey Ullman shorts and the first season, he based the then-undeveloped voice of Homer on Walter Matthau.

Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer were not in the The Tracey Ullman Show and joined the cast when it became its own series.

Albert Brooks has appeared as 6 different characters in the Simpsons' universe, more characters than any non-cast member, and is always credited as "A. Brooks".

Throughout the run of the series, a cawing crow is heard in nearly every establishing shot of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. (This tradition is parodied in the episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore", in which a cow is heard mooing during the establishing shot of an India-based nuclear power plant.)

It has widely been reported that Ralph Wiggum was not established as Police Chief Clancy Wiggum's son until episode 15 of season 4, "I Love Lisa." Although this is the first episode where Ralph and Clancy speak together as father and son, the relationship was established earlier. In the first episode of season 4, "Kamp Krusty," when Bart and Lisa liberate the other campers, Lisa gives out the mail that has been kept from them. She calls out each camper by last name, and Ralph answers to the surname Wiggum. His package was a change of underwear.

In the Angry Dad episode, none of the animators could get the cartoon drawings to look like they were drawn by a child, so one of the staff had his son do the animation for those sequences and his son's actual drawings were used in the show.

Mr. Burns is inspired by Olav Thon, a Norwegian businessman who, when Matt Groeningwas young, reportedly took over a couple of industries in his town and shut them down, leaving many people without work.

The character of Otto the bus driver is believed to be based on Guns N' Roses guitaristSlash. Both have long black curly hair and both are avid snake collectors

Ricky Gervais became the first guest star to get a writing credit. (Conan O'Brienalthough having previously written the first of his 4 credited Simpsons episodes "New Kid On The Block" in 1992, and having guest starred in the 1994 Simspsons episode 'Bart Gets Famous (1994)', unlike Gervais, has not yet simultaneously starred in and written a Simpsons episode.)

By April 2005, the show beat Scooby-Doo for the highest amount of episodes with 378, beating Scooby-Doo's 371 episodes.

Time magazine named The Simpsons the century's best television series. In that same issue, Time included Bart Simpson in the Time 100, the publication's list of the century's 100 most influential people. Bart was the only fictional character on the list.

Ranked #1 on Empire magazine's 50 Greatest TV Shows Of All Time (2008).

In 2004, The Simpsons replaced _"The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" (1952)_ as the longest-running sitcom (animated or live action) in the United States. To date (2008) The Simpsons has the record for the number of episodes by an American animated show.

Jimbo's real name is Corky.

With the show being renewed until 2011, it will become the longest running primetime show in television history, beating Gunsmoke by two years.

At the supermarket checkout, in the new HD intro, a box of "frosty Krusty O's" cost $6.66 bringing the total to $243.26. When Maggie gets scanned the price doubles to $486.52

Channel Ten, the Australian television network that airs The Simpsons in Australia, reportedly pays $25,000 per episode.

Bart is the only character that has been consistently drawn as being left handed since the beginning of the series.

On 7 May 2009, the US Postal Service issued a set of five 44¢ commemorative postage stamps honoring the TV series, with each member of the Simpson family (Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie) appearing on a different stamp. A set of five picture postal cards, one for each stamp design, was also released.

Millhouse has been cursed with a nefarious name. "Millhouse" was Richard Nixon's middle name and Miss Leslie Van Houten was a member of the Manson family. She was one of those who were convicted in the LaBianca murders. His middle name, "Mussolini", references Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

The future occupations of the Simpson's children has already been planned out. Bart will become a Supreme Court Justice; Lisa will be elected President of the United States; Maggie will become an astronaut.

The Simpsons have visited every continent except for Antarctica.

Groundskeeper Willie's father was hanged for stealing pigs.

Snake once attended Princeton University. While taking a year off he began stealing for kicks, and became a career criminal.

According to the Simpson Family tree (designed by Matt Groening), Homer and Mr. Burns are actually related.

Time Magazine called Bart "the Devil's cabana boy".

With the exception of special episodes (such as holidays), the variant ending couch gag, and edited versions, the show kept the same opening sequence for 20 years. It wasn't until February 2009 did it receive a brand new introduction in conjunction with its switch to high-definition. Even then, the new sequence is modeled after the original.

Though seldom mentioned on the show, the mascot of Springfield Elementary School is the Puma.

In the episode Fear of Flying, Homer visits the bar from Cheers, and most of the original cast from that show all lend their voices to reprise their characters. Although Frasier does appear in the scene, he speaks no lines, and oddly enough, Kelsey Grammer (who played Frasier in "Cheers" as well as his own TV series Frasier) does NOT have a voice credit for this episode, even though he's appeared in various episodes as Sideshow Bob.

The new HD opening sequence includes a gag at the format's expense. Their new HDTV is shown hooked up with white, yellow, and red "composite A/V" cables, which can't actually carry an HD signal.

Marge Simpson "posed" naked for Playboy in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the show. The issue was released October 16th, 2009.

Bleeding Gums Murphy's alto saxophone solos are performed by Dan Higgins.

Homer's annoyed grunt, "D'oh!," has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary, considered to be the ultimate authority on the English language.

The family name Wiggum comes from Matt Groening's mother's maiden name.

The Simpson family is a tri-denominational religious family. Homer and Bart are Catholic (they converted in The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star), Lisa is a Buddhist (converted in She of Little Faith) and Marge and Maggie belong to Reverend Lovejoy's church, whose denomination would later be identified as "The Western Branch of American Reformed Presbo-Lutheranism" (also from the episode "The Father, The Son, and The Holy Guest Star").

In Spain, two actresses did the voices of Marge, Patty, Selma and their mother from season 1 to 6. They were Amparo Soto and Begoña Hernando who eventually abandoned their role due to voice problems that came from struggling to imitate Julie Kavner. Margarita de Francia became the final voice for the Bouvier family.

As of season 21, The Simpsons franchise has utilized all three major aspect ratios: 4:3 for seasons 1 through 21, 16:9 for seasons 21 onward, and 2.35:1 for The Simpsons Movie.

Homer Simpson was ranked Entertainment Weekly's #1 character in its 2010 issue listing the best characters of the previous 20 years.

Homer's mother, Mona, is named after the novelist Mona Simpson (whose books include 'Anywhere but Here' and 'A Regular Guy'), who was married to "Simpsons" writer Richard Appel at the time that he wrote the episode "Mother Simpson," which first introduced the character.

Bart Simpson's locker combination is 36 24 36. This is also the number the listener is told to call in AC/DC's song "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap".

According to the Season Four DVD commentary, the character of the Sea Captain was created by Conan O'Brien. When he first appears, his name is given as Captain McAllister.

Springfield's Zip code is 80085. In the episode Moe Letter Blues, Moe states that he moved to Springfield because the Zip Code spells the word "BOOBS". The US Postal Service website reports that there is no Zip Code 80085. However, the reverse (58008) which would spell "BOOBS" if turned upside down, happens to be the Zip Code of the tiny town of Barney, North Dakota. If the Zip code 80085 did exist, it would be located somewhere in the state of Colorado. All the actual Zip codes from 80001 through 80049 are in Colorado with Zips 80050-80099 are not in use.

There have been several events involving regular Simpson characters that remained permanently part of the series after their respected episodes, such as Apu and Manjula's marriage and their having octuplets, and the death of Maude Flanders to name a few such events.

Nelson is of German ancestry.

The Spanish version of the TV show translated "D'oh" into "Ouch!".

For the new HD opening credits, there are now three specific items on the checkout line from various episodes: A box of Krusty O's (from 'Round Springfield), a box of Mr. Sparkle Japanese dish detergent (from In Marge We Trust), and a bottle of Tomacco juice (from E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)).

The Itchy & Scratchy cartoons are animated shorts which are part of the Krusty the Klown Show. In a way these cartoons are analogous to The Simpsons series itself, as The Simpsons originally started as 30-second animated shorts which were part of The Tracey Ullman Show.

Voted #8 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

Milhouse is of Danish descent (on his mother's side) and of Dutch and Italian descent (on his father's side).

Before immigrating to America, Groundskeeper Willie's name was Dr. William McDougle. At Ellis Island he was told "From now on you'll be known as Groundskeeper Willie."

Like creator Matt Groening, Bart is left-handed throughout the series. The only exception is when Skinner and Bart find the comet. Bart uses his right hand in one scene when star watching.

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