The Simpsons: 20 Apex Facts For Power Fans

20 Where The Simpsons Got Their Names

The Simpson’s creator Matt Groening named the Simpson family members after members of his own family and substituted “Bart” for his own name. Groening chose Bart because it was an anagram for the word “brat”.

19 Why The Simpsons Are Yellow

Groening gave the Simpsons yellow skin in order to be eye-catching for people quickly flipping through channels. With the show’s success maybe we should start painting live-action actors yellow, too.

18 The Best Show Of The 20th Century

Time Magazine named it the best TV show of the 20th century, which is high praise considering Citizen Kane was chosen as the best film.

17 Danny Elfman’s Most Famous Piece

Danny Elfman composed the opening theme song in two days and considers it the most popular song of his entire career. That’s a flattering claim coming from the man behind the music of Oingo Boingo, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Batman.

16 The Bart Simpson Ban

In the 90’s, several school principals banned any Bart Simpson t-shirts from their schools. Principal ​​William Krumnow of Lutz Elementary School said about the snarky t-shirts, "To be proud of being an incompetent is a contraction of what we stand for. We strive for excellence and to instill good values in kids … the show teaches the wrong things to students." Eat my Bart Simpson shorts, William Krumnow.

15 Springfield, Everywhere

The town of Springfield got its name in an attempt to leave some ambiguity as to where the Simpsons actually live in the US. In the United States, there are 30 towns named Springfield, and the town in the show has featured rivers, deserts, farmland, mountains or whatever is necessary for the plot.

14 Why Krusty Looks Like Homer

Krusty The Clown’s resemblance to Homer Simpson is no accident according to Groening: “The satirical conceit that I was going for at the time was that The Simpsons was about a kid who had no respect for his father but worshiped a clown who looked exactly like his father.”

13 UC Berkeley Offers A Simpsons Course

The University of California-Berkeley offered a course called “The Simpsons and Philosophy,” where students used examples from The Simpsons to demonstrate deconstructed philosophical ideologies. The course creator said, "We're trying to make it serious. Students are able to develop their own De-Cal courses for real class credit, and I figured Berkeley students are smart and want something to pique their interest. But they also want something fun because they work so damn hard. So I put the two together. It's a fun but challenging class."

12 The Origin Of Homer’s Email Address

In a 2003 episode, Homer gave his email address as ChunkyLover53@aol.com. The writer of the episode, Matt Selman, created the email address before the episode aired and maxed out the inbox capacity (999 Messages) within minutes of the joke’s reveal. You can still email the address today and receive an automated reply from Homer.

11 Homer Beat Bill Cosby

The episode “Homer At The Bat” was watched by more people than the Winter Olympics and surpassed a Cosby Show ep for the most-watched ever.

10 Conan’s Animal Sacrifice

On Conan O'Brien's first day as part of the writing staff, a bird slammed into his window so hard that it smashed the glass and died on his carpet. George Meyer saw the dead bird twitching on Conan’s floor and said, “Bad sign man.”

9 The Secret Inside Moe's Phone Number

Moe’s telephone number is 764-34377, which is one digit more than the average US telephone number. The number is this long because it also spells out the word “SMITHERS.” This will make it easier for you to remember if you ever need to get in touch with Mike Rotch.

8 Matt Groening Is The Voice Behind Maggie's Sucking Sound

Maggie's sucking sound was originally recorded by Matt Groening and Gabor Csupo, and since then those original recordings have been reused.

7 The Yokel Children

The yokels, Cletus and Brandine, have 44 children.

6 The Real Clown That Inspired Krusty

Krusty The Clown was inspired by Portland’s own clown “Rusty Nails.” Groening said that Krusty was nothing like Rusty in terms of personality, “But he had that name, Rusty Nails, which I found incredibly disturbing as a child because you know you’re supposed to avoid Rusty Nails.” 

5 Bart’s Locker Combination Is A Reference To This Song

Bart’s locker combination is 36-24-36, which is a reference to the song “Brick House” by The Commodores. Bart knows what he likes.

4 Omar Simpson Can’t Drink Beer

In the Arabic version of The Simpsons, Homer is instead known as ‘Omar’ and drinks soda instead of Duff. All references to pork are also removed from the show.

3 The Simpsons Were Drawn To Be Recognizable In Silhouette

Groening says that part of his theory of animation design is that it’s important to draw characters that are recognizable just by their silhouette, which he did for The Simpsons.

2 The Only Characters With Five Fingers

God and Jesus are the only characters on the show to have had five fingers. I wonder if I would say something if I met God and he had six fingers.

1 Paul McCartney's Conditions To Appear

Paul McCartney agreed to appear in an episode of The Simpsons on the condition that Lisa remain a vegetarian for the remainder of the series.

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Top Image: FOX