The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groeningfor the Fox Network. The television series is a spin-off of a series ofanimated shorts originally aired on The Tracey Ullman Show. The seriesis a satirical parody of the "Middle American" lifestyle epitomized byits title family. It lampoons many aspects of the human condition, aswell as American culture, society as a whole and even televisionitself, being famous for its frequent use of self-referential humor.Many of its catchphrases have become famous, and the show has also beencited as an influence on many adult-oriented animated series in thelate 1990s, such as South Park and Family Guy.
Groeningoriginally created the main characters as part of a series of originalanimated segments for the Tracey Ullman Show. Lisa, Maggie, Marge andHomer share names with Matt Groening’s sisters, mother and fatherrespectively. Bart, however, is an anagram for brat.
HomerSimpson is a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plantand a generally well meaning buffoon whose short attention span oftendraws him into outrageous schemes and adventures. Marge Simpson is forthe most part a stereotypical housewife and mother. Bart Simpson is aten-year-old troublemaker who thinks of himself as a rebel. LisaSimpson is an extremely intelligent, often-activistic middle child whois eight years old. Maggie Simpson is a baby who, for the most part, simply sucks on a pacifier and doesn’t speak except in the episodeLisa’s First Word.
The show routinely mocks and satirizes showbusiness conventions and personalities. Krusty the Klown has anenthusiastic following among Springfield’s kids, but offstage he is ajaded, cynical hack, in poor health from a long history ofoverindulgence, gambling and substance abuse. He will endorse anyproduct for a price. Kent Brockman is a self-important, spoiled TV newsanchorman with little regard for journalistic ethics. Even RupertMurdoch, whose corporate empire includes The Simpsons’ broadcastingnetwork, has been spoofed in a couple of episodes. In fact, ridiculingthe Fox network has become a running joke.
There are manyrunning gags on The Simpsons, many of which have been retired duringthe series. The Simpsons has perhaps most entered the publicconsciousness in the form of the numerous catch phrases of itscharacters.
Such catch phrases include Homer’s famous annoyedgrunt "D’oh!”, Mr. Burns’ "Excellent..." and Nelson Muntz’s "Ha-ha!".An interesting phenomenon occurred with Bart’s catchphrases. His nowtrademark "¡Ay, caramba!", "Don’t have a cow, man!" and "Eat myshorts!" were featured on t-shirts in the early days of the show’s run;however, the latter two phrases were rarely actually spoken on the showitself until after they became popular through merchandise. Recurringjokes were more prominent in the early seasons of the show. In oneinfamous example, Bart often made prank calls to Moe’s Tavern askingfor someone with a suggestive name such as "Amanda Huggankiss", "AlCoholic", or "Mike Rotch".