It was a time to laugh, a season that lasted for 23 seasons. And now we can’t imagine a world without ‘The Simpsons’ being on television. Now ‘Simpsons’ references and quotes have become a part of our daily language. In fact the amazing facts about the Simpsons, is meant to bring about the many events that occurred in the background of the great shows.
Top Ten Amazing Facts About The Simpsons
10. “D’oh!” is a real word in the Oxford English Dictionary
Among the amazing facts about the Simpsons is the expression “D’oh!” getting its entry into the prestigious Oxford English Dictionary. Actually, The Simpsons have crept up into virtually every aspect of modern culture, but this is the first time they are so impressively worming their way into the English language. Some time ago, the OED announced that Homer’s frequent utterance, “D’oh!” has found its own very spot in the dictionary. According to the OED the word means “Expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish.” This just goes on to prove that the world is wide open and anything could happen at any time.
9. Many of the characters are based on actual people
Many of the show’s iconic characters are in fact real people. The gravelly voiced gruff character Moe Szyslak is taken from the comedian Rich Hall, who has worked with George Meyer, ‘Simpsons’ writer. And Mr. Burn’s assistant Waylon Smithers is based on Richard Sakai, the associate producer of Simpson.
8. ‘Simpsons’ toys are banned in Iran
The skyrocketing popularity of the Simpsons has always come across some or other kind of controversy. However, Iran has gone ahead and took the extreme action in addressing all their concerns about the sarcastic as well as counterculture attitudes of the show. As a result, Iran’s Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults has recently issued an edict, banning the sale of Simpsons toys in any store in Iran. The reason for the ban is due to the show’s “destructive cultural and social consequences” of promoting western culture.
7. A look-alike of Simpsons’ home was built-in Nevada
Fox & Pepsi has come together to provide the ultimate collector’s item for the ‘Simpsons’ fans. A real world facsimile of the family’s multitude home in Henderson, Nevada, in suburban Las Vegas.
6. Lisa has accurately predicted three Super Bowl wins
In the Season 3 episode of ‘Lisa the Greek,’ the brainy Lisa and offish Homer, came together to spend some quality time by doing some betting on the NFL football games. Here, she picked a winner by using that never-fail system of hers.
5. Homer has the most downloaded GPS voice in the world
Homer Simpson possesses a unique voice, really a combination of Walter Matthau and Dan Castellanos’ father. Tom happened to hire Castellanos to find the right Homer voice that clients can download into their GPS devices.
4. Former First Lady Barbara Bush received a personal letter from Marge Simpson
Here is a remarkable story as revealed in these most amazing facts about Simpsons. Former First Lady Barbara Bush once remarked in a 1990 interview to the People Magazine that she had watched the TV show sometimes and thought it “was the dumbest thing I had ever seen.” Soon she got a personalized letter from Marge Simpson in response to the interview. In her letter, Marge freely admitted that her family was not perfect, and went on to tell Mrs. Bush that she always tried to inspire humility in her kids and “believed in my heart that we have a great deal in common. Each of us [is] living our lives to serve an exceptional man.” The letter moved Mrs. Bush to no end. And she wrote back apologizing for her remarks made in the interview and complemented Marge for “setting a good example for the rest of the country.”
3. Fox wanted to destroy all the early ‘Simpsons’ cartoons
Although the ratings for ‘The Tracey Ullman Show’ were not exactly gangbusters, ‘The Simpsons’ shorts became a raving hit with most viewers. However, this did not prevent Fox from wanting to cancel it. These cartoons cost about $15,000 for each, both to produce and to test the audiences, and it gave them very low ratings. Thankfully, Brooks noticed some profound potential in the well known cartoon family so that when the TV network scrapped ‘Ullman,’ he pushed for ‘The Simpsons’ to turn into a new series. To put it briefly, ‘The Simpsons’ remain the most victorious spin-off of all time.
2. The Simpsons are based on Matt Groening’s family
Groening was at first asked to create ‘Life in Hell’ cartoons for ‘The Tracey Ullman Show,’ but at the last minute decided that he couldn’t afford to lose the rights for merchandising of his unusual comic strip. Instead, Groening came with an idea on those fly moments before coming across James L. Brooks, and involving a family similar to theirs. Groening has said earlier that the character is slackly based on his brother Mark and himself.
1. Matt Groening received his big break when his cartoon was given to him as a gift
The very first item in the amazing facts about the Simspons is also its best. Before Groening could become a great figure in TV, he earned a living with the newspaper comic strip titled ‘Life in Hell,’ a bleak, funny, look at this world from the perspective of a depressed rabbit called Bongo. Then one day, Groening’s artwork attracted Polly Platt’s eye; Polly was a production designer and had worked on the Oscar-winning film ‘Terms of Endearment’ together with James L. Brooks, ‘Simpsons’ co-creator. In fact Polly Platt wished to thank Brooks for helping her to get an Oscar nomination and she bought the original copy of “The Los Angeles Way of Death”, which is a comic strip taken form Groening’s ‘Life in Hell’ comic strips, as a thank you gift. The strips soon became the subject for conversation during the retreat. The decision was finally made to bring Groening aboard, to make cartoons for the sketch series.
All these amazing facts about the Simpsons reveal the originality and talent that had gone into the making the famous series.
