The Simpsons holds the record for most guest stars; it is also the only non-variety show to have had appearances from three former Beatles (Paul, George and Ringo).
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The Simpsons (1989) - 145 trivia entries
Directed by Matt Groening, starring Dan Castellaneta, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Julie Kavner, Kelsey Grammer, Nancy Cartwright, Phil Hartman, Yeardley Smith (add more)
Across whole show
The Simpsons holds the record for most guest stars; it is also the only non-variety show to have had appearances from three former Beatles (Paul, George and Ringo).
The only voice artists who regularly perform as only one character are Yeardley Smith as Lisa and Marcia Wallace as Edna Krabappel. Yeardley has also voiced different versions of Lisa (Lisa Jr. and Lisabella) in at least two other episodes.
Evergreen Terrace, the street the Simpsons live on, is also the street Matt Groening grew up on in Portland, Oregon.
Maggie scans as $847.63 in the supermarket at the beginning (not NRA4EVER, as Troy Maclure asserts in 3F31 "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular), the price it costs to feed and care for the average American baby every month.
Milhouse was named after Richard Milhous Nixon.
Many of the characters in the show are named after streets in Portland, Oregon. These include Flanders, Kearney, Lovejoy, Quimby and Terwilliger (Sideshow Bob).
Bart's anonymous prank calls to Moe the bartender were inspired by tapes of real-life prank calls made to New Jersey bartender Louis "Red" Deutsch (the tapes were widely circulated during the 1980s). Deutsch constantly received calls requesting fictitious bar patrons (Al Coholic, Stu Pitt, etc), and always responded in a hostile manner every time he realized he'd been duped.
The character Professor John Frink is named after a producer of the show and based on Jerry Lewis's The Nutty Professor. Professor Frink alludes to being charged with copyright infringement in connection with Jerry Lewis at a convention.
The Simpsons continually pokes fun at the Fox network because it is the only show on Fox that does not have to be checked by its executives and edited accordingly. This also means the producers of the show can get away with a lot more on prime time television.
The salesman character Gil, who can't catch a break, is based on Jack Lemmon in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992).
Initially, Yeardley Smith auditioned for the voice of Bart and Nancy Cartwright for the voice of Lisa. They play them the other way around.
The Simpsons are named after Matt Groening's own immediate family. His parents are called Margaret and Homer, and he has sisters called Maggie and Lisa. Bart is the only one not named after a Groening, although he takes Matt's place in the Simpson family.
When Matt Groening first designed the show, the characters were colored yellow so people would think the color on their TV set was off, and would attempt to try and correct the problem by changing the color on their set to give the characters a more "human" color. But in reality, they were colored yellow to stop channel surfers from constantly flipping around the channels.
The aliens Kang and Kodos are named for two "Star Trek" characters - Kang was a Klingon warrior, and Kodos was a Hitler-like mass murderer.
Homer's voice is based on the dramatic style Dan Castellaneta's father used when he talked.
When the cast appeared on "Inside the Actors' Studio," Hank Azaria stated that the voice of Moe was based on a bad impression of Al Pacino. Ironically, not only did Azaria and Pacino share a scene together in Michael Mann's Heat (1995), they also share the same birthday.
A running joke throughout the series is that no one knows where Springfield is. The writers are always coming up with ways to keep the audience guessing. Some examples of this are: in 'Sunday, Cruddy Sunday' when Marge phones the egg painting company and gives her address, she says, "742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield Ohi...", then cuts out to say, "Oh hiya Maude!" to Maude Flanders, who suddenly appears in the kitchen. When Homer and Bart are off to the Edison Museum in 'The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace' they drive past a sign with exits to New Jersey, Michigan and Oregon, none of which are close to each other. When Larry Burns spots Mr. Burns on the train, he asks where the train is going. The conductor says, "Springfield." and Burns asks, "Springfield where?", but the conductor's reply is drowned out by the train's engine.
In several episodes, one of Maggie's stuffed toys is a stiff-limbed rabbit. This rabbit starred in a comic strip Matt Groening used to write, about a rabbit and his journey through a troubled life.
Marge was in labor with Bart for 53 hours.
Check out the doorknocker on the Simpsons' front door. It looks a lot like Mr Burns when he puts his head down, complete with the three liver spots and the pointy nose.
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