History WesternAnimation / TheSimpsons

The show is centered - naturally - around the [[DysfunctionalFamily somewhat dysfunctional]] Simpson family. The father (and defacto protagonist) is Homer, a lazy, [[TheDitz dimwitted]], and [[CloudCuckooLander highly eccentric]] BumblingDad with a penchant for getting him and his family in and out of trouble. The mother is Marge, the [[StraightMan straight woman]] with an [[BeehiveHairdo absurd hairdo]] and [[TheBore incredibly bland tastes]]. Joining them are their kids - Bart, an underachieving (if still crafty) [[ThePrankster prankster]] who loves to torment the teachers at his school; Lisa, an [[WiseBeyondTheirYears intelligent and thoughtful]] girl who has trouble fitting in with everyone else; and Maggie, a 1-year old baby [[BrainyBaby with an unusual amount of problem solving skills and social awareness.]] Together, they live in the [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield ambiguously located]] town of Springfield, a QuirkyTown filled with eccentrics and idiots, all while dealing with scenarios that range from depressingly mundane to completely outlandish.

** [[CrapsackWorld/TheSimpsons Crapsack World]]

The show is centered - naturally - around the [[DysfunctionalFamily somewhat dysfunctional]] Simpson family. The father (and defacto protagonist) is Homer, a lazy, [[TheDitz dimwitted]], and [[CloudCuckooLander highly eccentric]] BumblingDad with a penchant for getting him and his family involved in and out of trouble. The mother is Marge, the [[StraightMan straight woman]] with an [[BeehiveHairdo absurd hairdo]] and [[TheBore incredibly bland tastes]]. Joining them are their kids - Bart, an underachieving (if still crafty) [[ThePrankster prankster]] who loves to torment the teachers at his school; Lisa, an [[WiseBeyondTheirYears intelligent and thoughtful]] girl who has trouble fitting in with everyone else; and Maggie, a 1-year old baby [[BrainyBaby with an unusual amount of problem solving skills and social awareness.]] Together, they live in the [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield ambiguously located]] town of Springfield, a QuirkyTown filled with eccentrics and idiots, all while dealing with scenarios that range from depressingly mundane to completely outlandish.

The show first aired from 1987 to 1989 as a series of animated shorts on ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow''. Unofficially known as "Season 0", the original 48 ad-bumpers led Groening and ''Tracey Ullman Show'' producers Sam Simon and Creator/JamesLBrooks to develop the show as a {{spinoff}} which premiered on the then-fledgling Creator/{{FOX}} network in December 1989. It reached the 30-season mark in 2018-19, making it the longest-running primetime sitcom in American TV history (worldwide, that honor belongs to ''Series/LastOfTheSummerWine'', although the latter has [[BritishBrevity fewer episodes]], with 297 while ''The Simpsons'' has made more than twice that), and surpassed ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'' as the [[LongRunners longest-running scripted primetime television program by episode count ever]] in 2018.[[note]]Unless, as Bart notes in the episode before they broke ''Gunsmoke''[='=]s record, one factors in the 432-episode radio adaptation.[[/note]][[labelnote:Added note]]The "primetime" distinction is important; many daytime soap operas and game shows have episode counts that dwarf ''The Simpsons''[='=] total, as does ''Series/SesameStreet''.[[/labelnote]]

The show is centered - naturally - around the [[DysfunctionalFamily somewhat dysfunctional]] Simpson family. The father (and defacto protagonist) is Homer, a lazy, [[TheDitz dimwitted]], and [[CloudCuckooLander highly eccentric]] BumblingDad with a penchant for getting him and his family involved in and out of trouble. The mother is Marge, the [[StraightMan straight woman]] with an [[BeehiveHairdo absurd hairdo]] and [[TheBore incredibly bland tastes]]. Joining them are their kids - Bart, an underachieving (if still crafty) [[ThePrankster prankster]] who loves to torment the teachers at his school - Lisa, an [[WiseBeyondTheirYears intelligent and thoughtful]] girl who has trouble fitting in with everyone else - and Maggie, a 1-year old baby [[BrainyBaby with an unusual amount of problem solving skills and social awareness.]] Together, they live in the [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield ambiguously located]] town of Springfield, a QuirkyTown filled with eccentrics and idiots, all while dealing with scenarios that range from depressingly mundane to completely outlandish.