THE SIMPSONS 35mm color slide Alone Again Natura-Diddly episode.

Description

THE SIMPSONS 35mm color slide Alone Again Natura-Diddly episode.. The episode aired onFox on February 13, 2000. The episode's title is a parody of the song title "Alone Again (Naturally) " byGilbert O'Sullivan. It's from the episode ""Alone Again, Natura-Diddily ". This is an original 35mm color slide sent out by Fox TV to promote "The Simpsons." It's from the episode ""Alone Again, Natura-Diddily " BACKGROUND "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily " is the fourteenth episode of the eleventh season of the American television series The Simpsons , and marks the final regular appearance of the character Maude Flanders . The episode aired on Fox on February 13, 2000. In the episode, she is killed in an accident while watching an auto race , devastating Ned Flanders and prompting Homer to find a new woman for his grieving friend. After a series of unsuccessful dates, Ned begins to question his faith in God. However, his faith is restored after hearing the female lead singer of a Christian rock band, played by guest star Shawn Colvin , sing in church. The episode's title is a parody of the song title "Alone Again (Naturally) " by Gilbert O'Sullivan . The episode was written by Ian Maxtone-Graham and directed by Jim Reardon . Maude was voiced by Marcia Mitzman Gaven after regular voice actor Maggie Roswell had left the show over a pay dispute, and the producers decided to kill off the character and make Ned Flanders a single father to open up for new storylines. The episode was viewed in 10.8 million households during its original broadcast, and was the highest-rated show on Fox the week it aired. A commercial for "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" that aired before the episode was broadcast was criticized by many viewers because it showed that the episode was parodying a 1999 incident at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina that left three spectators dead. Then-Fox affiliate WCCB in Charlotte, North Carolina refused to show the commercial, but after viewing the episode they came to the conclusion that it was not making fun of the incident. Reviews of "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" from television critics have been mixed. Plot The Simpson family are hiking in the countryside, which Lisa says is "paradise"; but she is dismayed when they discover that a bird sanctuary is encircled by an oval racing track. However, given free tickets, they stay to watch the races . Their next-door neighbor, Ned Flanders and his family are there: he says he appreciates the drivers' excellent safety measures. Later, a squad of cheerleaders fires free T-shirts from air cannons into the crowd, and a shirtless Homer urges them to send him one. The cheerleaders send a full salvo of T-shirts to him, but he gets distracted and bends down to pick up a bobby pin and the shirts knock Maude over the back of the bleachers and she falls to her death, devastating Ned. Homer goes home with Ned after the funeral and tries to console him, but realizes his actions had a role in Maude's death - admitting that he had parked in the ambulance zone, thus preventing any possible resuscitation. Guilt-ridden, Homer secretly makes a videotape of Ned to show to single women in the hopes of helping Ned move on. Despite the amateur editing, which even includes footage of Maggie 's birth that Homer could not tape over, Ned meets several women, including Lindsey Naegle and Edna Krabappel , but the meetings are unsuccessful. On a Saturday night, Ned prays, and is angry not to receive any response. The next morning, his sons are horrified when Ned indignantly refuses to attend church. He soon regrets this, and heads to the church to find a Christian rock band, Kovenant, performing a song about God's support through trying times; his belief in God revitalized, Ned bonds with the singer, Rachel Jordan , and she promises to meet up with him when she returns from her band's tour . Production Maggie Roswell , the original voice of Maude. "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" was written by Ian Maxtone-Graham and directed by Jim Reardon as part of the eleventh season of the show (1999–2000).[ 1] When the writing staff conceived the idea for the speedway parts, they were thinking that it would be a great opportunity for them to get several NASCAR drivers to make guest appearances in the episode. However, according to Scully, they could not get a single one because "they were all concerned about the way we were portraying NASCAR".[ 2] Speedway racing is depicted in a negative light in the episode, with an emphasis on car crashes.[ 2] The episode features the death of the character Maude Flanders,[ 3] who had previously been voiced by cast member Maggie Roswell . This kill-off was the result of Roswell leaving The Simpsons in spring 1999 after a pay dispute with the Fox Broadcasting Company , which airs the show.[ 4] [ 5] Since 1994, she had been flying between her Denver home and Los Angeles twice a week to record episodes of The Simpsons .[ 6] [ 7] She eventually grew tired of this, as the price of plane tickets was constantly increasing.[ 4] [ 8] [ 9] As a result, she asked Fox for a pay raise from $2,000 per episode to $6,000 per episode. However, Fox only offered her a $150 raise, which did not cover the travel costs, so she decided to quit.[ 10] [ 11] [ 12] Voice actress Marcia Mitzman Gaven was hired to fill in for Roswell's characters,[ 13] including Maude in this episode and the earlier episodes of the eleventh season,[ 14] although the producers decided to kill her off to open up new storylines for the show.[ 13] Executive producer Mike Scully said it "was a chance for one of our regular characters [Ned Flanders] to face a challenge and grow in a new direction. The idea came up quickly, we all latched on to it, and it just felt right. We didn't want to kill a character for the sake of killing. We wanted it to have consequences for surviving characters to deal with in future episodes."[ 15] Roswell returned to The Simpsons in 2002[ 16] after reaching a deal with Fox to record her lines from her home in Denver.[ 17] Since returning, she has voiced Maude in flashbacks and as a ghost.[ 16] [ 18] When asked by The Denver Post on how she thought Ned was doing without Maude, she replied: "OK. But Maude was such a vulnerable character. Maude and Lisa and Marge were the only vulnerable characters, really, everybody else has an edge. So they [the staff] discovered that arc was lost, and now there are a lot of flashbacks with Maude."[ 18] Scully has noted that "there was a lot of discussion about making sure we [the staff] did deal with some of the emotional ramifications of death [in the episode] and not just make it all joke, joke, joke. But at the same time, we're a comedy, they're animated, they're not real."[ 19] In one of the first scripts for the episode there was a scene in which Rod and Todd discuss their mother's death. However, according to Maxtone-Graham, the writing staff decided to cut it because "it just never played anything but sad." He added that the writers "really wanted to address how [the children] would feel" but they "could never pull it off without it just being sad."[ 20] Scully has commented that it was a "very sweet scene" but it was too difficult to "get out of it comedically to the next scene."[ 2] Shawn Colvin voices Rachel Jordan American musician Shawn Colvin guest starred in the episode as Rachel Jordan,[ 21] [ 22] a character that she would later return to voice in the episode "I'm Goin' to Praiseland " (2001) from season twelve.[ 23] In that episode, she stays at the Flanders' house with Ned, and leaves briefly after he attempted to mold her in the image of his deceased wife. At the end of the episode, however, she returns and has a date with him.[ 24] Colvin told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that being raised in Carbondale, Illinois meant she did not have to do much research for the guest appearance: "It's just very isolated [in Carbondale]. There was church music and that was about it. [...] I didn't have to dig too deep for the role. I suppose the whole 'Simpsons' thing is kind of like a hick town."[ 25] Colvin has shown a segment of her guest role on The Simpsons during some of her concerts, including one at Cape Cod Melody Tent in 2007.[ 26] She has also performed the song that she sings in "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" in concert.[ 27] [ 28] The Wisconsin State Journal reported that during her 2001 concert at Barrymore Theatre , the "loudest audience response came after she sang a ditty that she performed as a character on The Simpsons ."[ 28] The song, called "He's the Man", later appeared on the 2007 soundtrack album The Simpsons: Testify .[ 29] Reception According to executive producer Mike Scully , one of the reasons for killing off Maude was to increase ratings. The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 13, 2000.[ 30] It tied Dateline NBC for the 17th place (compared the season average of 37) in the ratings for the week of February 7–13, 2000, with a Nielsen rating of 10.7.[ 31] The episode was the highest-rated show on Fox that week, and was viewed in approximately 10.8 million households.[ 31] Scully has admitted that another reason for killing off Maude was to increase ratings for The Simpsons during the February sweeps .[ 15] To bring in even more viewers for the broadcast, the Simpsons producers chose not to reveal beforehand who the character that would be killed off was to create speculation.[ 30] Fox also decided not to send out screener tapes to television critics to keep it a secret.[ 32] However, according to an article in the Contra Costa Times that was published on the day the episode aired, "all the advance rumors suggest that Ned Flanders' wife, Maude, should watch her back."[ 30] The revelation of the episode's title, "Alone Again, Natura-Diddly", was one of the reasons that the media and many people suspected Maude.[ 32] As The Post-Standard ' s William LaRue writes, "diddly" is the "familiar greeting of Maude's husband, Ned Flanders."[ 33] Roswell's announced departure strengthened this suspicion.[ 32] The episode has received mixed reviews from television critics. Gregory Hardy of the Orlando Sentinel placed it at number eleven on his list of the show's fifteen best episodes that target the world of sports.[ 34] Writing for IGN , Robert Canning gave the episode a 7 out of 10 rating, commenting that he thought the three acts felt disconnected. He wrote: "First Maude dies, then Ned dates and now Ned questions his faith. To me, these three storylines would have been better served had they been the focus of their own individual episodes."[ 35] Canning added that he felt "the episode made a poor choice by rushing through the mourning period and moving right into Ned dating," but that "the dating stuff, while, again, feeling hurried, was quite funny, especially Ned's date with Edna Krabappel ."[ 35] DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented on the episode in a negative way, writing that it was "a harsh and cynical move [to kill off Maude because of Roswell's departure], though I could forgive the decision if it produced a more satisfying episode. Perhaps the writers made this one super-sincere to counteract the inherent cynicism behind its origins, but the show just seems sappy and lame."[ 36] Winnipeg Free Press columnist Randall King wrote in his review of the eleventh season of The Simpsons that there is "something undeniably funny about having Maude Flanders die by a barrage of T-shirts fired by air cannons at a speedway. But the episode Alone Again Natura-Diddily was proof that the dependably brilliant series could – and did – go seriously wrong when it turned 11. Killing off Maude was a sin [...]".[ 37] Reception of the promo in Charlotte Before "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" was broadcast, a promotional commercial aired on television that featured, among other things, the announcement that "one of Springfield's most beloved will die"[ 38] and a snippet of a scene from the episode with the character Lenny , sitting in the speedway spectator stand, being hit by a car tire,[ 39] giving the impression that he would be the one who would die.[ 40] Many viewers of the commercial, including Speedway Motorsports, Inc. owned Lowe's Motor Speedway president and public address announcer Jerry Gappens, expressed their concern as it appeared the episode was parodying an actual incident that happened during a speedway race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May 1999, in Charlotte, North Carolina , when flying debris in a crash killed three spectators . Gappens said that doing a parody of that was "a real insensitive thing to do, pretty irresponsible. Obviously what might appear funny in L.A. or New York isn't funny here in Charlotte."[ 38] Lowe's Motor Speedway announced to WSOC-TV 's Channel 9 Eyewitness News on February 7, 2000 that they were thinking of placing a complaint to the Fox Broadcasting Company.[ 38] WCCB , the then-Fox affiliate in Charlotte, refused to continue showing the commercial for the episode.[ 38] As a result, Fox distributed a new commercial to the affiliate on February 9 that did not contain the scene with Lenny.[ 39] Antonia Coffman, a spokeswoman for The Simpsons , told The Charlotte Observer that "the Lowe's incident didn't inspire the scene" and that the episode was not meant to offend anyone.[ 40] After WCCB had gotten the opportunity to actually see the episode they decided that they would air it, realizing that the original commercial was misleading and that they did not think the episode was making fun of the incident.[ 39] In the episode, the viewers can see that Lenny tries to get the attention of the cheerleaders by raising his hand so that they aim a T-shirt with the cannon at him. However, he is hit by a car tire instead.[ 39] Unlike what the commercial implied, Lenny is not killed and is soon back in his seat.[ 40] WCCB told the Associated Press that their interpretation of the scene was that someone threw the tire to Lenny because he was raising his hand, and that the tire did not actually come from a car crash on the track. Despite this, the affiliate announced that they would start the broadcast of the episode with a message warning viewers of the scene anyway.[ 39] [ 41] The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company . It is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family , which consists of Homer , Marge , Bart , Lisa , and Maggie . Set in the fictional town of Springfield , in an unspecified location in the United States, it caricatures society, Western culture , television and the human condition . The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with producer Brooks. He created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after his own family members, substituting Bart for his own name; he thought Simpson was a funny name in that it sounded similar to "simpleton ".[ 1] The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After three seasons, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and became Fox's first series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–1990). Since its debut on December 17, 1989, 792 episodes of the show have been broadcast. It is the longest-running American animated series , longest-running American sitcom , and the longest-running American scripted primetime television series , both in seasons and individual episodes. A feature-length film, The Simpsons Movie , was released in theaters worldwide on July 27, 2007, to critical and commercial success, with a sequel in development with a release date of July 2027. The series has also spawned numerous comic book series , video games , books and other related media, as well as a billion-dollar merchandising industry . The Simpsons was initially a joint production by Gracie Films and 20th Television ; 20th Television's involvement was later moved to 20th Television Animation , a separate unit of Disney Television Studios .[ 2] On April 2, 2025, the show was renewed for four additional seasons on Fox, with 15 episodes each. The Simpsons received widespread acclaim throughout its early seasons in the 1990s, which are generally considered its "golden age". Since then, it has been criticized for a perceived decline in quality . Time named it the 20th century's best television series,[ 3] and Erik Adams of The A.V. Club named it "television's crowning achievement regardless of format".[ 4] On January 14, 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 37 Primetime Emmy Awards , 34 Annie Awards , and 2 Peabody Awards . Homer's exclamatory catchphrase of "D'oh! " has been adopted into the English language , while The Simpsons has influenced many other later adult-oriented animated sitcom television series. Premise Characters Main article: List of The Simpsons characters The main characters are the Simpson family , who live in the fictional "Middle America " town of Springfield.[ 5] Homer , the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant , a position at odds with his careless, buffoonish personality. He is married to Marge (née Bouvier), a stereotypical American housewife and mother. They have three children: Bart , a ten-year-old troublemaker and prankster; Lisa , a precocious eight-year-old activist; and Maggie (named by Bart),[ 6] the baby of the family who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. Although the family is dysfunctional, many episodes examine their relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to care about one another.[ 7] The family also owns a greyhound , Santa's Little Helper , (who first appeared in the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire ") and a cat, Snowball II , who is replaced by a cat, also named Snowball II, in the fifteenth-season episode "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot ".[ 8] Extended members of the Simpson and Bouvier family in the main cast include Homer's father Abe and Marge's sisters Patty and Selma . Marge's mother Jacqueline and Homer's mother Mona appear less frequently. The Simpsons sports a vast array of secondary and tertiary characters. The show includes a vast array of quirky supporting characters, which include Homer's friends Barney Gumble , Lenny Leonard , and Carl Carlson ; the school principal Seymour Skinner and staff members such as Edna Krabappel and Groundskeeper Willie ; students such as Milhouse Van Houten , Nelson Muntz , and Ralph Wiggum ; shopkeepers such as Apu Nahasapeemapetilon , Comic Book Guy , and Moe Szyslak ; government figures Mayor "Diamond" Joe Quimby and Clancy Wiggum ; next-door neighbor Ned Flanders ; local celebrities such as Krusty the Clown and news reporter Kent Brockman ; nuclear tycoon Montgomery Burns and his devoted assistant Waylon Smithers ; and many more . The creators originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokes or for fulfilling needed functions in the town. A number of them have gained expanded roles and subsequently starred in their own episodes. According to Matt Groening, the show adopted the concept of a large supporting cast from the comedy show SCTV .[ 9] Continuity and the floating timeline Despite the depiction of yearly milestones such as holidays or birthdays passing, the characters never age. The series uses a floating timeline in which episodes generally take place in the year the episode is produced. Flashbacks and flashforwards do occasionally depict the characters at other points in their lives, with the timeline of these depictions also generally floating relative to the year the episode is produced. For example, the 1991 episodes "The Way We Was " and "I Married Marge " depict Homer and Marge as high schoolers in the 1970s who had Bart (who is always 10 years old) in the early '80s, while the 2008 episode "That '90s Show " depicts Homer and Marge as a childless couple in the '90s, and the 2021 episode "Do Pizza Bots Dream of Electric Guitars " portrays Homer as an adolescent in the same period. The 1995 episode "Lisa's Wedding " takes place during Lisa's college years in the then-future year of 2010, the same year the show began airing its 22nd season , in which Lisa was still 8. In 2015, the show reached the point where, had the characters been allowed to age in real time, Bart would have been older than Homer was in the first episode. Regarding the contradictory flashbacks, Selman stated that "they all kind of happened in their imaginary world".[ 10] The show follows a loose and inconsistent continuity. For example, Krusty the Clown may be able to read in one episode, but not in another . However, it is consistently portrayed that he is Jewish , that his father was a rabbi , and that his career began in the 1960s. The latter point introduces another snag in the floating timeline: historical periods that are a core part of a character's backstory remain so even when their age makes it unlikely or impossible, such as Grampa Simpson and Principal Skinner 's respective service in World War II and Vietnam . The only episodes not part of the series' main canon are the Treehouse of Horror episodes, which often feature the deaths of main characters. Characters who die in "regular" episodes, such as Maude Flanders , Mona Simpson , Edna Krabappel , etc, however, stay dead. An exception to this is Hans Moleman , who is often killed in his appearances – as of 2019 he has been killed 26 times only to reappear later.[ 11] Most episodes end with the status quo being restored, though occasionally major changes will stick, such as Lisa's conversions to vegetarianism and Buddhism , the divorce of Milhouse van Houten 's parents, and the marriage and subsequent parenthood of Apu and Manjula . Setting Main article: Springfield ( The Simpsons ) The Simpsons takes place in a fictional American town called Springfield . Although there are many real settlements in America named Springfield,[ 12] the town the show is set in is fictional. The state it is in is not established. In fact, the show is intentionally evasive with regard to Springfield's location.[ 13] Springfield's geography and that of its surroundings is inconsistent: from one episode to another, it may have coastlines, deserts, vast farmland, mountains, or whatever the story or joke requires.[ 14] Groening has said that Springfield has much in common with Portland, Oregon , the city where he grew up.[ 15] Groening has said that he named it after Springfield, Oregon , and the fictitious Springfield which was the setting of the series Father Knows Best . He "figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do."[ 16] Many landmarks, including street names, have connections to Portland.[ 17] Production Development Main articles: History of The Simpsons and The Simpsons shorts The developers of The Simpsons : Matt Groening (creator), James L. Brooks , Sam Simon When producer James L. Brooks was working on the television variety show The Tracey Ullman Show , he decided to include small animated sketches before and after the commercial breaks. Having seen one of cartoonist Matt Groening 's Life in Hell comic strips, Brooks asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts. Groening initially intended to present an animated version of his Life in Hell series.[ 18] However, Groening later realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life's work. He therefore chose another approach while waiting in the lobby of Brooks's office for the pitch meeting, hurriedly formulating his version of a dysfunctional family that became the Simpsons.[ 18] [ 19] He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name, adopting an anagram of the word "brat ".[ 18] The Simpson family first appeared as shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987.[ 20] Groening submitted only basic sketches to the animators and assumed that the figures would be cleaned up in production. However, the animators merely re-traced his drawings, which led to the crude appearance of the characters in the initial shorts.[ 18] The animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo ,[ 21] [ 22] with Wes Archer , David Silverman , and Bill Kopp being animators for the first season.[ 23] The colorist, "Georgie" Gyorgyi Kovacs Peluce (Kovács Györgyike)[ 24] [ 25] [ 26] [ 27] [ 28] [ 29] made the characters yellow; as Bart, Lisa, and Maggie have no hairlines, she felt they would look strange if they were flesh-colored. Groening supported the decision, saying: "Marge is yellow with blue hair? That's hilarious — let's do it!"[ 23] In 1989, a team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company . The team included the Klasky Csupo animation house. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content.[ 30] Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching.[ 31] The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989, with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire ".[ 32] "Some Enchanted Evening " was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.[ 33] In 1992, Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit against Fox, claiming that her show was the source of the series' success. The suit said she should receive a share of the profits of The Simpsons [ 34] —a claim rejected by the courts.[ 35] Executive producers and showrunners List of showrunners throughout the series' run: Season 1–2: Matt Groening , James L. Brooks , & Sam Simon Season 3–4: Al Jean & Mike Reiss Season 5–6: David Mirkin Season 7–8: Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein Season 9–12: Mike Scully Season 13–31: Al Jean Season 32–35: Al Jean & Matt Selman Season 36–present: Matt Selman Matt Groening and James L. Brooks have served as executive producers during the show's entire history, and also function as creative consultants. Sam Simon , described by former Simpsons director Brad Bird as "the unsung hero" of the show,[ 36] served as creative supervisor for the first four seasons. He was constantly at odds with Groening, Brooks and the show's production company Gracie Films and left in 1993.[ 37] Before leaving, he negotiated a deal that sees him receive a share of the profits every year, and an executive producer credit despite not having worked on the show since 1993,[ 37] [ 38] at least until his death in 2015.[ 39] A more involved position on the show is the showrunner , who acts as head writer and manages the show's production for an entire season.[ 23] Writing Main article: List of The Simpsons writers Part of the writing staff of The Simpsons in 1992. Back row, left to right: Mike Mendel, Colin A. B. V. Lewis (partial), Jeff Goldstein, Al Jean (partial), Conan O'Brien , Bill Oakley , Josh Weinstein , Mike Reiss , Ken Tsumura, George Meyer , John Swartzwelder , Jon Vitti (partial), CJ Gibson, and David M. Stern . Front row, left to right: Dee Capelli, Lona Williams , and unknown. The first team of writers, assembled by Sam Simon, consisted of John Swartzwelder , Jon Vitti , George Meyer , Jeff Martin , Al Jean , Mike Reiss , Jay Kogen , and Wallace Wolodarsky .[ 40] Newer Simpsons ' writing teams typically consist of sixteen writers who propose episode ideas at the beginning of each December.[ 41] The main writer of each episode writes the first draft. Group rewriting sessions develop final scripts by adding or removing jokes, inserting scenes, and calling for re-readings of lines by the show's vocal performers.[ 42] Until 2004,[ 43] George Meyer, who had developed the show since the first season, was active in these sessions. According to long-time writer Jon Vitti, Meyer usually invented the best lines in a given episode, even though other writers may receive script credits.[ 42] Each episode takes approximately six months to produce, so the show rarely comments on current events.[ 44] Credited with sixty episodes, John Swartzwelder is the most prolific writer on The Simpsons .[ 45] One of the best-known former writers is Conan O'Brien , who contributed to several episodes in the early 1990s before replacing David Letterman as host of the talk show Late Night .[ 46] English comedian Ricky Gervais wrote the episode "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife ", becoming the first celebrity both to write and guest star in the same episode.[ 47] Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg , writers of the film Superbad , wrote the episode "Homer the Whopper ", with Rogen voicing a character in it.[ 48] At the end of 2007, the writers of The Simpsons went on strike together with the other members of the Writers Guild of America, East . The show's writers had joined the guild in 1998.[ 49] In May 2023, the writers of The Simpsons went on strike together with the other members of the Writers Guild of America, East.[ 50] [ 51] Voice actors Main articles: List of The Simpsons cast members , List of The Simpsons guest stars , and Non-English versions of The Simpsons Cast members Dan Castellaneta Julie Kavner Nancy Cartwright Yeardley Smith Hank Azaria Harry Shearer Homer Simpson , Abe Simpson , Krusty the Clown , various characters Marge Simpson , Patty and Selma Bouvier , additional voices Bart Simpson , Maggie Simpson , Nelson Muntz , various characters Lisa Simpson Moe Szyslak , Chief Wiggum , Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (1990–2020), Lou (1990–2020), various characters Ned Flanders , Mr. Burns , Dr. Hibbert (1990–2021), Waylon Smithers , Principal Skinner , Reverend Lovejoy , various characters The Simpsons has six main cast members: Dan Castellaneta , Julie Kavner , Nancy Cartwright , Yeardley Smith , Hank Azaria , and Harry Shearer . Castellaneta voices Homer Simpson , Grampa Simpson , Krusty the Clown , Groundskeeper Willie , Mayor Quimby , Barney Gumble , and other adult male characters.[ 52] Julie Kavner voices Marge Simpson , Patty, Selma , as well as several minor characters.[ 52] Castellaneta and Kavner had been a part of The Tracey Ullman Show cast and were given the parts so that new actors would not be needed.[ 53] Cartwright voices Bart Simpson , Maggie Simpson , Nelson Muntz , Ralph Wiggum , and other children.[ 52] Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson , is the only cast member who regularly voices only one character, although she occasionally plays other episodic characters.[ 52] The producers decided to hold casting for the roles of Bart and Lisa. Smith had initially been asked to audition for the role of Bart, but casting director Bonita Pietila believed her voice was too high,[ 54] so she was given the role of Lisa instead.[ 55] Cartwright was originally brought in to voice Lisa, but upon arriving at the audition, she found that Lisa was simply described as the "middle child" and at the time did not have much personality. Cartwright became more interested in the role of Bart, who was described as "devious, underachieving, school-hating, irreverent, [and] clever".[ 56] Groening let her try out for the part instead, and upon hearing her read, gave her the job on the spot.[ 57] Cartwright is the only one of the six main Simpsons cast members who had been professionally trained in voice acting prior to working on the show.[ 45] Azaria and Shearer do not voice members of the title family, but play a majority of the male townspeople. Azaria, who has been a part of the main voice cast since the second season in one episode "Old Money " and then perpetually part of the regular main voice cast since the third season, voices recurring characters such as Moe Szyslak , Chief Wiggum , Apu Nahasapeemapetilon , and Professor Frink . Shearer provides voices for Mr. Burns , Mr. Smithers , Principal Skinner , Ned Flanders , Reverend Lovejoy , and formerly Dr. Hibbert .[ 52] Every main cast member has won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance .[ 58] [ 59] With one exception, episode credits list only the voice actors, and not the characters they voice. Both Fox and the production crew wanted to keep their identities secret during the early seasons and, therefore, closed most of the recording sessions while refusing to publish photos of the recording artists.[ 60] However, the network eventually revealed which roles each actor performed in the episode "Old Money ", because the producers said the voice actors should receive credit for their work.[ 61] In 2003, the cast appeared in an episode of Inside the Actors Studio , doing live performances of their characters' voices. The six main actors were paid $30,000 per episode, until 1998, when they were involved in a pay dispute with Fox. The company threatened to replace them with new actors, even going as far as preparing for casting of new voices, but series creator Groening supported the actors in their action.[ 62] The issue was soon resolved and, from 1998 to 2004, they were paid $125,000 per episode. The show's revenue continued to rise through syndication and DVD sales, and in April 2004 the main cast stopped appearing for script readings, demanding they be paid $360,000 per episode.[ 63] [ 64] The strike was resolved a month later[ 65] and their salaries were increased to between $250,000[ 66] and $360,000 per episode.[ 67] In 2008, production for the twentieth season was put on hold due to new contract negotiations with the voice actors, who wanted a "healthy bump" in salary to an amount close to $500,000 per episode.[ 67] The negotiations were soon completed, and the actors' salary was raised to $400,000 per episode.[ 68] Three years later, with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut, the cast members accepted a 30 percent pay cut, down to just over $300,000 per episode.[ 69] In addition to the main cast, Pamela Hayden , Tress MacNeille , Marcia Wallace , Maggie Roswell , and Russi Taylor voice supporting characters.[ 52] From 1999 to 2002, Roswell's characters were voiced by Marcia Mitzman Gaven . Karl Wiedergott has also appeared in minor roles, but does not voice any recurring characters.[ 70] Wiedergott left the show in 2010, and since then Chris Edgerly has appeared regularly to voice minor characters. Repeat "special guest" cast members include Albert Brooks , Phil Hartman , Jon Lovitz , Joe Mantegna , Maurice LaMarche , and Kelsey Grammer .[ 71] Following Hartman's death in 1998, the characters he voiced (Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz ) were retired;[ 72] Wallace's character of Edna Krabappel was retired as well after her death in 2013. Following Taylor's death in 2019, her characters (including Sherri, Terri , and Martin Prince ) are now voiced by Grey Griffin .[ 73] Episodes will quite often feature guest voices from a wide range of professions, including actors, athletes, authors, bands, musicians and scientists. In the earlier seasons, most of the guest stars voiced characters, but eventually more started appearing as themselves. Tony Bennett was the first guest star to appear as himself, appearing briefly in the season two episode "Dancin' Homer ".[ 74] The Simpsons holds the world record for "Most Guest Stars Featured in a Television Series".[ 75] The Simpsons has been dubbed into several other languages , including Japanese, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. It is also one of the few programs dubbed in both standard French and Quebec French .[ 76] The show has been broadcast in Arabic, but due to Islamic customs, numerous aspects of the show have been changed. For example, Homer drinks soda instead of beer and eats Egyptian beef sausages instead of hot dogs. Because of such changes, the Arabized version of the series met with a negative reaction from the lifelong Simpsons fans in the area.[ 77] Animation Animation director David Silverman , who helped define the look of the show[ 23] Several different American and international studios animate The Simpsons . Throughout the run of the animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show , the animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo .[ 21] With the debut of the series, because of an increased workload, Fox subcontracted production to several local and foreign studios.[ 21] These are AKOM ,[ 78] Anivision ,[ 79] Rough Draft Studios ,[ 80] USAnimation ,[ 81] and Toonzone Entertainment.[ 82] For the first three seasons, Klasky Csupo animated The Simpsons in the United States. In 1992, the show's production company, Gracie Films, switched domestic production to Film Roman ,[ 83] who continued to animate the show until 2016 when they were replaced by Fox Television Animation , which allowed the show to be made more in-house. In Season 14 , production switched from traditional cel animation to digital ink and paint .[ 84] The first episode to experiment with digital coloring was "Radioactive Man " in 1995. Animators used digital ink and paint during production of the season 12 episode "Tennis the Menace ", but Gracie Films delayed the regular use of digital ink and paint until two seasons later. The already completed "Tennis the Menace" was broadcast as made.[ 85] The production staff at the American animation studio, Film Roman, draws storyboards , designs new characters, backgrounds, props and draws character and background layouts, which in turn become animatics to be screened for the writers at Gracie Films for any changes to be made before the work is shipped overseas. The overseas studios then draw the inbetweens , ink and paint, and render the animation to tape before it is shipped back to the United States to be delivered to Fox three to four months later.[ 86] The series began high-definition production in season 20; the first episode, "Take My Life, Please ", aired February 15, 2009. The move to HDTV included a new opening sequence.[ 87] Matt Groening called it a complicated change because it affected the timing and composition of animation.[ 88] Themes Main articles: Media in The Simpsons , Politics in The Simpsons , and Religion in The Simpsons The Simpsons uses the standard setup of a situational comedy, or sitcom, as its premise. The series centers on a family and their life in a typical American town,[ 5] serving as a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle .[ 89] However, because of its animated nature, The Simpsons ' scope is larger than that of a regular sitcom. The town of Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. By having Homer work in a nuclear power plant , the show can comment on the state of the environment.[ 90] Through Bart and Lisa's days at Springfield Elementary School , the show's writers illustrate pressing or controversial issues in the field of education. The town features a vast array of television channels, which enables the producers to make jokes about the entertainment industry and the press.[ 91] Some commentators say the show is political in nature and susceptible to a left-wing bias.[ 92] Al Jean acknowledged in an interview that "We [the show] are of liberal bent."[ 93] The writers often evince an appreciation for progressive leanings , but the show makes jokes across the political spectrum.[ 94] The show portrays government and large corporations as evil entities that take advantage of the common worker.[ 93] Thus, the writers often portray authority figures in an unflattering or negative light. In The Simpsons , politicians are corrupt, ministers such as Reverend Lovejoy are dismissive to churchgoers, and the local police force is incompetent.[ 95] Religion also figures as a recurring theme.[ 96] In times of crisis, the family often turns to God, and the show has dealt with most of the major religions.[ 97] Sexuality is often a source of jokes in the series or serves as the theme of certain episodes. Even though homosexuals are sometimes sources of gags, the series often comments on how American society treats them, with "Homer's Phobia " devoting an entire episode to the family making a gay friend and Homer's initial hostility to him. In 1990, The Simpsons became the first animated early evening show to depict a kiss between two men in "Simpson and Delilah ". Hallmarks Opening sequence Main article: The Simpsons opening sequence The Simpsons ' opening sequence is one of the show's most memorable hallmarks. The standard opening has gone through three iterations (a replacement of some shots at the start of the second season, and a brand new sequence when the show switched to high-definition in 2009).[ 98] Each has the same basic sequence of events: the camera zooms through cumulus clouds , through the show's title towards the town of Springfield . The camera then follows the members of the family on their way home. Upon entering their house, the Simpsons settle down on their couch to watch television. The original opening was created by David Silverman , and was the first task he did when production began on the show.[ 99] The series' distinctive theme song was composed by musician Danny Elfman in 1989, after Groening approached him requesting a retro-style piece. This piece has been noted by Elfman as the most popular of his career.[ 100] One of the most distinctive aspects of the opening is that three of its elements change from episode to episode: Bart writes different things on the school chalkboard,[ 99] Lisa plays different solos on her saxophone (or occasionally a different instrument), and different gags accompany the family as they enter their living room to sit on the couch.[ 101] Halloween episodes Main article: Treehouse of Horror Bart Simpson introducing a segment of "Treehouse of Horror IV " in the manner of Rod Serling 's Night Gallery The special Halloween episode has become an annual tradition. "Treehouse of Horror " first broadcast in 1990 as part of season two and established the pattern of three separate, self-contained stories in each Halloween episode.[ 102] These pieces usually involve the family in some horror, science fiction, or supernatural setting and often parody or pay homage to a famous piece of work in those genres.[ 103] They always take place outside the normal continuity of the show. Although the Treehouse series is meant to be seen on Halloween, this changed by the 2000s (and again in 2020), when new installments have premiered after Halloween due to Fox 's current contract with Major League Baseball 's World Series .[ 104] Prior to 2020 (between 2011 and 2019), every Treehouse of Horror episode had aired in October. Humor The show's humor turns on cultural references that cover a wide spectrum of society so that viewers from all generations can enjoy the show. Such references, for example, come from movies, television, music, literature, science, and history.[ 105] The animators also regularly add jokes or sight gags into the show's background via humorous or incongruous bits of text in signs, newspapers, billboards , and elsewhere. The audience may often not notice the visual jokes in a single viewing. Some are so fleeting that they become apparent only by pausing a video recording of the show or viewing it in slow motion.[ 106] Kristin Thompson argues that The Simpsons uses a "flurry of cultural references, intentionally inconsistent characterization, and considerable self-reflexivity about television conventions and the status of the programme as a television show."[ 107] One of Bart's early hallmarks was his prank calls to Moe's Tavern owner Moe Szyslak where he asks for a gag name . Moe tries to find that person in the bar, but soon realizes it is a prank call and angrily threatens Bart. These calls were apparently based on a series of prank calls known as the Tube Bar recordings , though Groening has denied any causal connection.[ 108] Moe was based partly on Tube Bar owner Louis "Red" Deutsch , whose often profane responses inspired Moe's violent side.[ 109] As the series progressed, it became more difficult for the writers to come up with a fake name and to write Moe's angry response, and the pranks were dropped as a regular joke during the fourth season.[ 110] [ 111] The Simpsons also often includes self-referential humor .[ 112] The most common form is jokes about Fox Broadcasting.[ 113] For example, the episode "She Used to Be My Girl " included a scene in which a Fox News Channel van drove down the street while displaying a large "Bush Cheney 2004" banner and playing Queen 's "We Are the Champions ", in reference to the 2004 U.S. presidential election and claims of conservative bias in Fox News .[ 114] [ 115] The show uses catchphrases , and most of the primary and secondary characters have at least one each.[ 116] Notable expressions include Homer's annoyed grunt "D'oh! ", Mr. Burns' "Excellent" and Nelson Muntz 's "Ha -ha!" Some of Bart's catchphrases, such as "¡Ay, caramba! ", "Don't have a cow, man!" and "Eat my shorts!" appeared on T-shirts in the show's early days.[ 117] However, Bart rarely used the latter two phrases until after they became popular through the merchandising . The use of many of these catchphrases has declined in recent seasons. The episode "Bart Gets Famous " mocks catchphrase-based humor, as Bart achieves fame on the Krusty the Clown Show solely for saying "I didn't do it".[ 118] Purported foreshadowing of actual events Main article: The Simpsons future predictions The Simpsons has gained notoriety for jokes that appeared to become reality. Perhaps the most famous example comes from the episode "Bart to the Future ", which mentions billionaire Donald Trump having been president of the United States at one time and leaving the nation broke. The episode first aired in 2000, sixteen years before Trump (who at the time was exploring a presidential run ) was elected.[ 119] Another episode, "When You Dish Upon a Star ", lampooned 20th Century Fox as a division of The Walt Disney Company . Nineteen years later, Disney purchased Fox .[ 120] Other examples purported as The Simpsons predicting the future include the introduction of the smartwatch , video chat services, Richard Branson 's spaceflight[ 121] [ 122] and Lady Gaga 's acrobatic performance at the Super Bowl LI halftime show .[ 123] Al Jean has commented on the show's purported ability to predict the future, explaining that they are really just "educated guesses" and stating that "if you throw enough darts, you're going to get some bullseyes."[ 124] Producer Bill Oakley stated, "There are very few cases where The Simpsons predicted something. It's mainly just coincidence because the episodes are so old that history repeats itself."[ 125] Fact-checking sources such as Snopes have debunked many of the claimed prophecies, explaining that the show's extensive run means "a lot of jokes, and a lot of opportunities for coincidences to appear" and "most of these 'predictions' have rather simple and mundane explanations".[ 126] For example, the device shown on The Simpsons with autocorrection is an Apple Newton , a real 1993 device notorious for its poor handwriting recognition .[ 127] Technologically advanced watches have appeared in numerous works of fiction, decades before The Simpsons .[ 128] Influence and legacy Idioms A number of neologisms that originated on The Simpsons have entered popular vernacular.[ 129] [ 130] Mark Liberman , director of the Linguistic Data Consortium , remarked, "The Simpsons has apparently taken over from Shakespeare and the Bible as our culture's greatest source of idioms, catchphrases and sundry other textual allusions."[ 130] The most famous catchphrase is Homer's annoyed grunt: "D'oh! " So ubiquitous is the expression that it is now listed in the Oxford English Dictionary , but without the apostrophe.[ 131] Dan Castellaneta says he borrowed the phrase from James Finlayson , an actor in many Laurel and Hardy comedies, who pronounced it in a more elongated and whining tone. The staff of The Simpsons told Castellaneta to shorten the noise, and it went on to become the well-known exclamation in the television series.[ 132] Groundskeeper Willie 's description of the French as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys " was used by National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg in 2003, after France's opposition to the proposed invasion of Iraq . The phrase quickly spread to other journalists.[ 130] [ 133] " Cromulent " and "embiggen", words used in "Lisa the Iconoclast ", have since appeared in the Dictionary.com 's 21st Century Lexicon,[ 134] and scientific journals respectively.[ 130] [ 135] "Kwyjibo", a fake Scrabble word invented by Bart in "Bart the Genius ", was used as one of the aliases of the creator of the Melissa worm .[ 136] "I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords", was used by Kent Brockman in "Deep Space Homer " and has become a snowclone ,[ 137] with variants of the utterance used to express obsequious submission. It has been used in media, such as New Scientist magazine.[ 138] The dismissive term "Meh ", believed to have been popularized by the show,[ 130] [ 139] [ 140] entered the Collins English Dictionary in 2008.[ 141] Other words credited as stemming from the show include "yoink" and "craptacular".[ 130] The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations includes several quotations from the show. As well as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys", Homer's lines, "Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is never try", from "Burns' Heir " (season five , 1994) as well as "Kids are the best, Apu. You can teach them to hate the things you hate. And they practically raise themselves, what with the Internet and all", from "Eight Misbehavin' " (season 11 , 1999), entered the dictionary in August 2007.[ 142] Many quotes/scenes have become popular Internet memes , including Jasper Beardley's quote "That's a paddlin' " from "The PTA Disbands " (season 6 , 1995) and "Steamed Hams" from "22 Short Films About Springfield " (season 7 , 1996). Television The Simpsons was the first successful animated program in American prime-time since Wait Till Your Father Gets Home in the 1970s.[ 143] During most of the 1980s, American pundits considered animated shows as appropriate only for children, and animating a show was too expensive to achieve a quality suitable for prime-time television. The Simpsons changed this perception,[ 21] initially leading to a short period where networks attempted to recreate prime-time cartoon success with shows like Capitol Critters , Fish Police , and Family Dog , which were expensive and unsuccessful.[ 144] The Simpsons ' use of Korean animation studios for tweening , coloring, and filming made the episodes cheaper. The success of The Simpsons and the lower production cost prompted American television networks to take chances on other adult animated series.[ 21] This development led American producers to a 1990s boom in new, animated prime-time shows for adults, such as Beavis and Butt-Head , South Park , Family Guy , King of the Hill , Futurama (which was created by Matt Groening), and The Critic (which was also produced by Gracie Films).[ 21] For Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane , "The Simpsons created an audience for prime-time animation that had not been there for many, many years ... As far as I'm concerned, they basically re-invented the wheel. They created what is in many ways—you could classify it as—a wholly new medium."[ 145] The Simpsons has had crossovers with four other shows. In the episode "A Star Is Burns ", Marge invites Jay Sherman, the main character of The Critic , to be a judge for a film festival in Springfield. Matt Groening had his name removed from the episode since he had no involvement with The Critic .[ 146] South Park later paid homage to The Simpsons with the episode "Simpsons Already Did It ".[ 147] In "Simpsorama ", the Planet Express crew from Futurama come to Springfield in the present to prevent the Simpsons from destroying the future.[ 148] In the Family Guy episode "The Simpsons Guy ", the Griffins visit Springfield and meet the Simpsons.[ 149] The Simpsons has also influenced live-action shows like Malcolm in the Middle , which featured the use of sight gags and did not use a laugh track unlike most sitcoms.[ 150] [ 151] Malcolm in the Middle debuted January 9, 2000, in the time slot after The Simpsons . Ricky Gervais called The Simpsons an influence on The Office ,[ 152] and fellow British sitcom Spaced was, according to its director Edgar Wright , "an attempt to do a live-action The Simpsons ".[ 153] In Georgia , the animated television sitcom The Samsonadzes , launched in November 2009, has been noted for its very strong resemblance with The Simpsons , which its creator Shalva Ramishvili has acknowledged.[ 154] [ 155] LGBTQ representation Main article: LGBTQ representation in The Simpsons The Simpsons has historically been open to portrayals of LGBTQ characters and settings, and it has routinely challenged heteronormativity .[ 156] [ 157] It was one of several animated television shows in the United States that began introducing characters that were LGBTQ, both openly and implied, in the 1990s.[ 156] While early episodes involving LGBTQ characters primarily included them through the use of stereotypes, The Simpsons developed several prominent LGBTQ characters over its run.[ 158] Producers of the show, such as Matt Groening and Al Jean , have expressed their opinion that LGBTQ representation in media is important, and that they seek to actively include it.[ 157] [ 159] Some characters, such as Julio, were created with their sexual orientation in mind, with it being central to their character.[ 160] The show expanded its roster of openly LGBTQ characters through episodes in which prominent characters Patty Bouvier and Waylon Smithers came out in seasons 16 and 27 , respectively.[ 161] [ 162]