Come 17 December, 2014 and its celebration time for the wackiest family on television. The ‘yellow family’ that has been painting our lives with different hues of joy and laughter is turning 25… Yes! The Simpsons is celebrating its silver jubilee this year.
The Simpsons is an American adult animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield and parodies American culture, society, television, and many aspects of the human condition.
The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with the producer James L. Brooks. Groening created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family, substituting Bart for his own name. The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on 19 April, 1987. After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and was an early hit for Fox, becoming the network’s first series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–1990).
Since its debut on 17 December, 1989, the show has broadcast 561 episodes, and the 26th season began on 28 September, 2014.The Simpsons is the longest-running American sitcom, the longest-running American animated program, and in 2009 it surpassed Gunsmoke as the longest-running American scripted primetime television series.
The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on 26 July and 27 July, 2007, and grossed over $527 million. On 28 October, 2014, executive producer Al Jean announced that Season 27 had started production,renewing the series through the 2015–16 season.
The Simpsons is widely considered to be one of the greatest television series of all time. Time magazine’s 31 December, 1999, issue named it the 20th century’s best television series, and on 14 January, 2000, the Simpson family was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 31 Primetime Emmy Awards, 30 Annie Awards, and a Peabody Award. Homer’s exclamatory catchphrase “D’oh!” has been adopted into the English language, while The Simpsons has influenced many adult-oriented animated sitcoms.