The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom franchise created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company, following the misadventures of a satirical working class family, Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson, in the fictional town of Springfield. First appearing as animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987 before becoming its own half hour series in 1989, it is the longest running American scripted primetime television series and the longest running American animated series, having aired several hundred episodes across more than three decades on the air. The series has produced a theatrical film, The Simpsons Movie, released in 2007, along with video games, comic books, a themed area at Universal Studios and extensive merchandise, and it is widely credited with paving the way for later adult oriented animated sitcoms while its satire of American suburban life, politics and popular culture has made many of its episodes and phrases, including d'oh, part of everyday English usage.