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The Simpsons: Bart Star
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The Simpsons is an animated half-hour comedy that has redefined the term 'cartoon'. The show, at the time of writing, is in its 11th season, and with over 240 episodes it is by far the longest-running prime-time animated TV show1. Well known for its excellent writing and bewildering array of characters, The Simpsons has collected 15 Emmy awards and 33 nominations. This past January the show received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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According to his longtime collaborators on The Simpsons, Al Jean and Mike Reiss, Swartzwelder is a huge fan of Preston Sturges films and loves "anything old-timey American." This vaguely defined aesthetic presents itself in many of the episodes he's written, in the form of wandering hobos, Prohibition-era speakeasies, carnies, 19th-century baseball players, aging Western movie stars, and Sicilian gangsters.
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The Simpsons has been successful because of quality writing and a talented cast, but the show's longevity is at least partly due to the fact that it's an animated programme. Many shows suffer as the cast ages, but the characters on The Simpsons don't have to worry about that. It's doubtful that the show would be as enjoyable now if Bart and Lisa were grown up and attending college. Well, if Lisa was in college, at any rate.
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The Simpsons and their town are seen by the rest of the US as unpatriotic because of an incident concerning the flag and Bart. BUT the first 5 minutes of the episode is about vaccination:
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The popularity of the show is emphasised by the amount of Simpson-related merchandise available. In the early 1990s, it seemed that the Simpson family's faces were everywhere, especially Bart. Bart was the star of the first several seasons, and Bart t-shirts became the must-have item among youngsters. Many of the shirts featured Bart's face with a phrase underneath, such as 'Don't have a cow, man', and 'Underachiever and proud of it'. Some schools ended up banning these shirts, as Bart was considered a hell-raiser and a poor role model for children.
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Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office. Brooks had asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts, which Groening initially intended to present as his Life in Hell series. However, when Groening realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life's work, he chose another approach and formulated his version of a dysfunctional family.[7] He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name.[1]
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