WATCH: It’s been 25 years since ‘The Simpsons’ became a fixture on TV sets around the world. Mike Armstrong takes a look back at how Homer, Marge, Lisa, Maggie, and especially Bart have become icons of American pop culture.
TORONTO — Wednesday marks the 25th anniversary of the debut of The Simpsons, the longest-running scripted primetime TV series in U.S. history.
More than 560 episodes have aired since Dec. 17, 1989 and the show is seen almost constantly in syndication. The Simpsons has earned 31 Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award.
Cartoonist Matt Groening created The Simpsons and developed the series with James L. Brooks and Sam Simon. The animated family first appeared in 1987 in short cartoons featured on The Tracey Ullman Show.
The main cast of voice actors consists of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer.
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In honour of the 25th anniversary of The Simpsons — which continues to air Sunday nights on Global — we present 25 fun facts.
– The Simpsons theme music was composed by Danny Elfman, the former lead singer for rock band Oingo Boingo and husband of actress Bridget Fonda, in just three days. He also wrote the themes for shows like Desperate Housewives and the scores of a long list of movies — including almost all of Tim Burton’s films.
– Yeardley Smith, who does the voice of Lisa Simpson, has had guest roles on shows including The Big Bang Theory, Hot in Cleveland, The Mindy Project and Mad Men. Her character in the 1997 movie As Good As It Gets is named Jackie Simpson.
– Bart Simpson (and Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum and Todd Flanders) is voiced by Nancy Cartwright, a 57-year-old follower of the Church of Scientology.
– Springfield Police chief Clarence Wiggum and his son Ralph Wiggum got their surname from the maiden name of the mother of The Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Homer Simpson shares a first name with Groening’s father, who was born in Saskatchewan, and Marge’s first name comes from Groening’s mother Margaret. His real-life sisters are named Lisa and Maggie.
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– Toronto-born voice actor Maurice LaMarche has voiced a number of characters on The Simpsons since 1995 and the late Canadian comedian Phil Hartman provided the voices of Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz. Over the years, many famous Canadians have been heard on the show. Among the northern guest stars: Seth Rogen, Cory Monteith, Ellen Page, Tommy Chong, Joshua Jackson, Donald Sutherland, Neve Campbell, Elvis Stojko, Dave Thomas, Frank Gehry, Scott Thompson, Randy Bachman, Alex Trebek, Bret Hart, Paul Anka, and Robert Goulet.
– Tom Cruise is among the stars who have turned down guest roles on The Simpsons. Others include Clint Eastwood, Bruce Springsteen, Prince and Bob Dylan.
– The 26th season of The Simpsons and 13th season of Family Guy kicked off in September 2014 with a crossover episode.
– Even though, in Season 6, Homer noted that it’s easy to misplace Canada on a map because it’s “tucked away down there,” The Simpsons has shown Canada a lot of love — well, good-natured teasing — over the 25 seasons. The show has referenced dozens of Canadian symbols, including the CFL, “O Canada” and the National Film Board. The show has also featured shout-outs to Calgary, Quebec, Lethbridge, Montreal, Moose Jaw, Niagara Falls, Nova Scotia, Vancouver and Winnipeg. The family visited Toronto in Season 13 (“It’s so clean and bland,” Marge noted), and Homer and Marge attended the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver in Season 22.
– Homer Simpson, voiced by Dan Castellaneta, is the only character with dialogue in every episode of The Simpsons.
– Michael Jackson voiced a psychiatric patient in an episode in the third season. He was credited as John Jay Smith.
– In 2013, The Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon teamed up with Canadian actress Pamela Anderson to offer the Canadian Sealers Association $1 million to end the East Coast seal hunt. The pair later showed up in St. John’s, Newfoundland to make their case.
– The Simpsons is one of the few shows that has been dubbed into both French and Quebec French. Among the differences: Homer’s donuts are called “les donuts” in France and “les beignes” in Quebec.
– The voices of all four Beatles have appeared on The Simpsons. George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney all made guest appearances and John Lennon’s song “Mother” was used in an episode.
– Comic Book Guy’s name is Jeff Albertson; the crazy cat lady is named Eleanor Abernathy; and Sideshow Bob’s name is Robert Underdunk Terwilliger.
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– Homer Simpson’s hair and ear, when seen from the side, spell out the initials of series creator Matt Groening.
– Ray Savaya of Oakville, Ont. won a contest in 2013 to have his all-Canadian “couch gag” used on an episode of The Simpsons.
– Marge Simpson appeared nude in the October 2009 issue of Playboy to mark the show’s 20th anniversary.
– Dustin Hoffman voiced Lisa Simpson’s substitute teacher Mr. Bergstrom in an episode during Season 2. He used the pseudonym Sam Etic (a play on “Semitic”) in the credits.
– Only one The Simpsons movie has been made (in 2007) but the lead actors are reportedly signed to make up to two more.
– Dozens of wacky headlines have appeared on the front page of the Springfield Shopper. Among them: “Incontinent Old Man Wins Miss Teen America,” “Spinning Newspaper Injures Printer” and “Second Headline Less Important, Studies Show.”
– The Simpsons got the Lego treatment in an episode that aired in May 2014.
– In 2009, the U.S. Postal Service issued a set of commemorative stamps honouring The Simpsons.
– Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor appeared twice as a guest on The Simpsons but only ever uttered eight words in total.
– The Simpsons is the only animated TV series to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
– Homer Simpson’s catchphrase “D’Oh!” was added to the Oxford English Dictionary without the apostrophe. The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations includes several phrases from The Simpsons, including “cheese-eating surrender monkeys” (Groundskeeper Willie’s description of the French).
New episodes of The Simpsons return to Global on Jan. 4.
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