《辛普森一家》是美國福克斯廣播公司的一部動畫情景喜劇，由馬特·格勒寧創(chuàng)作。該劇通過展現(xiàn)霍默、瑪琦、巴特、莉薩和瑪吉一家五口的生活，諷刺性地勾勒出了居住在美國心臟地帶人們的生活方式。空間設(shè)定于虛構(gòu)小鎮(zhèn)春田鎮(zhèn)的《辛普森一家》，從許多角度對美國的文化與社會、人的條件和電視本身進(jìn)行了幽默的嘲諷。 　　為了給制片人詹姆斯·L·布魯克斯制作一出動畫短劇，馬特·格勒寧構(gòu)思出了辛普森一家人的形象。格勒寧用自己家族成員的名字逐一地給他們命名，而自己的名字則用“巴特”替代。1987年4月19日，短劇成為了《特蕾西·厄爾曼秀》的一部分。在播映三季后，《辛普森一家》得以轉(zhuǎn)正進(jìn)入半小時的黃金時段，并成為了福克斯在早期達(dá)成的成功之一。 　　自1989年12月17日的首次播出開始，《辛普森一家》已播出了20季，共441集。2007年5月20日播出的第18季末集，是這部動畫的第400集；同時，2007年亦是該劇播出的20周年紀(jì)念。于2007年7月26日和7月27日在全球上映的《辛普森一家大電影》，至今已獲得約5.253億美元的票房收入。第20季已于2008年9月28日開始播出。 　　從作為一部電視劇制播以來，《辛普森一家》贏取了大量的獎項；其中包括24次艾美獎、26次安妮獎和1次皮博迪獎。1999年12月31日期的《時代》雜志將其評為20世紀(jì)最優(yōu)秀的電視劇作；2000年1月14日，《辛普森一家》的星星被刻在了好萊塢星光大道上。作為美國歷史上最長壽的情景喜劇及動畫節(jié)目，《辛普森一家》對流行文化產(chǎn)生了極大的影響：譬如霍默·辛普森懊惱時的咕噥聲“Doh!”便被英語詞典所收錄；同時此劇亦對許多面向成人的動畫情景喜劇產(chǎn)生了影響。 　　辛普森一家，是居住在美國“心臟地帶”式小鎮(zhèn)春田鎮(zhèn)的一個典型家庭。[46]家中的父親霍默擔(dān)任著春田鎮(zhèn)核電站的安全檢查員——這個職位與他粗心、弄臣式的個性顯得很不相稱。他的妻子瑪琦·辛普森，是一位典型的美國式主婦和母親。他們有著三個孩子：十歲的大兒子巴特是一個麻煩制造者；八歲早熟的女兒莉薩是一位積極行動主義者；小女兒瑪吉是一個幾乎不會說話，只能用吸橡皮奶嘴進(jìn)行交流的嬰兒。這家人養(yǎng)有一條名叫圣誕老人小助手的狗，以及一只名叫雪球二世的貓。兩只寵物都曾在幾集動畫中充當(dāng)中心角色。盡管度過了許多次節(jié)日或生日這樣的年度重要事件，辛普森一家人都沒有因為真實歲月的流逝而逐漸老去，其面貌與他們在1980年代末露面時并無二樣。 　　《辛普森一家》有許多乖僻的次要角色：同事、老師、親朋好友、地方名人。格勒寧起初只是打算讓這些角色出現(xiàn)一次，讓他們充當(dāng)笑料制造者，或用來填補(bǔ)小鎮(zhèn)需要的一些功能。不過，大部分的這些角色后來都被保留了下來，其形象也得到擴(kuò)充，甚至不少角色在后來還成為了幾集動畫的中心人物。據(jù)馬特·格勒寧所說，動畫采用了喜劇節(jié)目《第二城市電視臺》（SCTV）中使用大量配角制作節(jié)目的概念。(摘自Wikipedia) 　　The Simpsons is an animated sitcom about the modern family. It is FOXs most successful TV show to date. It started as a one-minute filler on the Tracey Ullman Show but soon evolved in to Americas favorite comedy. 　　The Simpsons focuses on a family of five. There is the father, Homer, a dull-witted, alcoholic, lazy, but lovable man. He often gets his family into crazy situations but always manages to fix things. The mother, Marge, is a stay at home mom who keeps the family together. She is the ideal wife and mother though she can be a little naive at times. She always does what she thinks is best for her family. Next is Bart, the 10 year old boy who lives on playing pranks. He gets into a lot of trouble but is generally a good kid. Next is the neglected middle child, Lisa. Lisa is the brain of the family and sometimes feels left out because of that. She is an outcast at school because of her talent. Finally there is Maggie the baby. Though she doesnt say much she is well known especially for her red pacifier. 　　Now the longest-running comedy in television history, THE SIMPSONS immediately struck a chord with viewers across the country as it poked fun of itself and everything in its wake. With its subversive humor and delightful wit, the series has made an indelible imprint on American pop culture, and the family members have become television icons. 　　January 14, 2009 kicked off "Best. 20 Years. Ever.," a year-long global 20th anniversary celebration of all things SIMPSONS. The year will conclude on January 14, 2010 and will feature THE SIMPSONS 20TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL – IN 3-D! ON ICE!, produced and directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me," "30 Days"). In the special, Spurlock will examine the cultural phenomenon of THE SIMPSONS in his distinctive and innovative style. 　　The critically praised series has been bestowed with numerous honors, including recently receiving five Emmy nominations for the 2008-2009 season. Over the course of their two-decade run, THE SIMPSONS have won 24 Emmy Awards: 12 for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance, 10 for Outstanding Animated Program and two for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music. 　　THE SIMPSONS is a Gracie Films production in association with 20th Century Fox Television. James L. Brooks, Matt Groening and Al Jean are the executive producers. Film Roman, a Starz Media company, is the animation house. Mike B. Anderson serves as the supervising animation director.