The Simpsons/Production

From Pop-Cult Guides

[edit] Executive producers

Groening, Brooks, and Sam Simon have been executive producers during the entire run. There is a more important position on the show, which is known as show runner. The show runner serves as head writer and is in charge of every aspect of the show's production for the entire season. Runners often stay on for multiple seasons, though they usually break their planning down by season. As of season 5, the show runner receives the first credit on the closing credits.

[edit] Voice actors

With one exception, all episodes list only the voice actors and not the characters they voice. Fox and the production crew wanted to keep the identities a secret during the first seasons, and therefore closed most of the recording sessions and refused to publish photos. They eventually revealed which characters the actors did in the episode "Old Money."^[1]

There are six main cast members on The Simpsons. Dan Castellaneta performs the voices of Homer Simpson, his dad Abraham Simpson, Krusty the Clown, and Mayor Quimby among others. Julie Kavner performs the voices of Marge Simpson, her sisters Patty and Selma, and mother Jacqueline Bouvier. She occasionally, but rarely, plays other one-shot characters. She has been known to refuse to perform Marge's voice in public, to maintain the mystique of the character. Nancy Cartwright performs the voice of Bart Simpson and other children from the school that he attends; most notably Nelson Muntz and Ralph Wiggum. Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson, is the only main cast member who regularly voices only one character, though she occasionally voices one-shot characters. The two male actors who don't voice members of the title family play a majority of the other male townspeople. Hank Azaria voices dozens of recurring characters including Moe, Chief Wiggum, and Apu. Harry Shearer performs perhaps the largest array of regulars, including Mr. Burns, Smithers, Principal Seymour Skinner, Ned Flanders, Dr. Hibbert, and many others. It should also be noted that Moe Szyslak and Mr. Burns were voiced by Christopher Collins in two early episodes (Some Enchanted Evening and Homer's Odyssey). Matt Groening states that the idea for the multiple reoccurring characters of The Simpsons "was very much inspired by the sketch comedy show SCTV, with all the SCTV characters in Melonville interacting."^[2]

Along with the main cast, there are also several regular guest cast members. Pamela Hayden occasionally voices women on the show, but more often provides the voices of male children, including Milhouse Van Houten, Rod Flanders and Jimbo Jones. Tress MacNeille voices Agnes Skinner, among other minor characters. Russi Taylor voices numerous school children; most notably Martin Prince, Sherri and Terri and Üter. Marcia Wallace voices Edna Krabappel, and the one-shot character Ms. Mellon. Until her death in 1995, script supervisor Doris Grau played Lunchlady Doris, and the occasional one-shot character. Maggie Roswell voices Helen Lovejoy, Miss Hoover, Luann Van Houten, and the late Maude Flanders. After the 1999 season, until the 2002 season, she did not appear because of a pay dispute. During this time she was replaced by Marcia Mitzman Gaven. Recurring "special guest" cast members include Albert Brooks, Joe Mantegna, Jon Lovitz, Karl Wiedergott, Jan Hooks and Kelsey Grammer (all of whom have voiced several characters, except Hooks and Grammer). Phil Hartman played the characters of Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure (in addition to several one-shot characters) until his death in 1998. Out of respect, both characters were retired after his death.

The main cast has been involved in much-publicized pay disputes with Fox on more than one occasion. In 1998, they threatened to strike, forcing 20th Century Fox TV to increase their salary from $30,000 per episode to $125,000. The actors were supported in their action by series creator Groening.^[3] As the revenue generated by the show continued to increase through syndication and DVD sales, the main cast stopped showing up for script readings in April 2004 after weeks of unsuccessful negotiations with Fox. They asked for $360,000 per episode, or $8 million for a 22-episode season. On May 2, 2004, the actors resolved their dispute with Fox after reaching an agreement.^[4]

See: List of cast members of The Simpsons

[edit] Writing

The writing team divides seasons into two parts. For each half season there will be developed and pitched approximately 16 story ideas. These are mostly written by one or two writers. The 16 story ideas get developed into 12 scripts. Since it takes six to eight months to produce an episode of The Simpsons, it is not possible to comment on current events.^[5]

The final scripts are developed during group rewriting sessions. In those sessions they can add and delete jokes, insert scenes, and call for rereadings of lines by the show’s company of vocal performers. The leader of those sessions is George Meyer, who has been with the show since the beginning. Long time writer Jon Vitti explains that even though he will get the script credit for an episode the best quotes are usually made by George Meyer.^[6]

John Swartzwelder is the most prolific writer on The Simpsons staff, personally writing 59 episodes. Another notable writer was Conan O’Brien, who wrote four scripts before he became the host of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. English comedian Ricky Gervais is the only celebrity ever to have guest written an episode, although there have been other guest writers, such as Spike Feresten, a Seinfeld writer famous for "The Soup Nazi" episode. The writing staff has included a significant number of Harvard University alumni, and the school is often referenced in the series. Conan O'Brien once served as the president of the Harvard Lampoon and Bill Oakley once served as vice president.

Further information: List of writers of The Simpsons

[edit] Animation

The Simpsons has been animated by many different studios over the past 18 years, both domestic and overseas. Throughout the run of the animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, the animation was solely produced domestically at Klasky Csupo. Klasky Csupo was also the animation studio during the first three seasons of the half-hour series. However, due to the increased workload, production was being subcontracted to overseas studios, usually in South Korea. While character and background layout is done by the domestic studio, inbetweening, coloring and filming is done by the overseas studios. Throughout the years, different overseas studios have animated different episodes, even episodes within the same season. During season four, Gracie Films made a decision to switch domestic production to Film Roman, which continues to animate the show to this day. The last episode to be animated by Klasky Csupo was "Kamp Krusty", in production order.

After season 13, production was switched from traditional cel animation to digital ink and paint. The first episode to experiment with digital coloring was "Radioactive Man" in 1995, and again during season 12 with the episode "Tennis the Menace", but after seeing the results, Gracie Films decided to hold off for two more seasons. "Tennis the Menace," being already completed, was broadcast this way.