The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Developed by Groening, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon, the series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Set in the fictional town of Springfield, it caricatures society, Western culture, television, and the human condition.
Marjorie Jacqueline "Marge" Simpson (née Bouvier) is a character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. Voiced by Julie Kavner, she first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Marge was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on Life in Hell but instead decided to create a new set of characters. He based the character on his mother Margaret Groening. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, the Simpson family received their own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989.
Daniel Louis Castellaneta is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series The Simpsons. Castellaneta is also known for voicing Grandpa in Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold!, and has had voice roles in several other programs, including Futurama, Sibs, Darkwing Duck, The Adventures of Dynamo Duck, The Batman, Back to the Future: The Animated Series, Aladdin, Earthworm Jim, and Taz-Mania.
Julie Deborah Kavner is an American actress. Known for her voice role as Marge Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, Kavner first attracted notice for her role as Brenda Morgenstern, the younger sister of Valerie Harper's title character in the sitcom Rhoda, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She also voices other characters for The Simpsons, including Marge's mother, Jacqueline Bouvier, sisters Patty and Selma Bouvier, and half step great aunt Eunice Bouvier.
James Hugh Calum Laurie is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two acted together in a number of projects during the 1980s and 1990s, including the BBC sketch comedy series A Bit of Fry & Laurie and the P. G. Wodehouse adaptation Jeeves and Wooster. From 1986 to 1989 he appeared in three series of the period comedy Blackadder, first as a guest star in the last two episodes of Blackadder II, before joining the main cast in Blackadder the Third, and going on to appear in Blackadder Goes Forth and many specials.
David Khari Webber Chappelle is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in and co-created the satirical comedy sketch series Chappelle's Show (2003–2006) before quitting in the middle of production during the third season. After a hiatus, Chappelle returned to performing stand-up comedy across the U.S. By 2006, Chappelle was called the "comic genius of America" by Esquire and, in 2013, "the best" by a Billboard writer. In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked him No. 9 in their "50 Best Stand Up Comics of All Time".
Chappelle's Show is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedians Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show and starring in the majority of its sketches. Chappelle, Brennan, and Michele Armour were the show's executive producers. The series premiered on January 22, 2003, on the American cable television network Comedy Central. The show ran for two complete seasons. An abbreviated third season of three episodes aired in 2006, compiled of previously unreleased sketches.
Louis James Lipton was an American writer, actor, talk show host, and dean emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University in New York City. He was the executive producer, writer, and host of the Bravo cable television series Inside the Actors Studio, which debuted in 1994. He retired from the show in 2018.
The Tracey Ullman Show is an American television sketch comedy variety show starring Tracey Ullman. It debuted on Fox on April 5, 1987, as the network's second original primetime series to air following Married... with Children, and ran for four seasons and 81 episodes, until May 26, 1990. The show was produced by Gracie Films. The show blended sketch comedy with musical numbers and dance routines, choreographed by Paula Abdul, along with animated shorts. The format was conceived by creator and executive producer James L. Brooks, who was looking to showcase the show's multitalented star. Brooks likened the show to producing three pilots a week. Ullman was the first British woman to be offered her own television sketch show in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
"Freelove Freeway" is a song written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who starred in the British comedy series The Office. Gervais first performed the song as David Brent in Series 1, Episode 4 of the show. From 2018, "Freelove Freeway" also appears in Freeview adverts in the United Kingdom.
"The Sweetest Apu" is the nineteenth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 5, 2002. In the episode, Homer and Marge discover that convenience store owner Apu is having an affair with the Squishee delivery lady working in his store.
Robert Fuller is an American horse rancher and retired actor. He began his career on television, guest-starring primarily on Western programs, while appearing in several movies, including: The Brain from Planet Arous, Teenage Thunder, Return of the Seven (1966), Incident at Phantom Hill (1966), and The Hard Ride (1971). In his five decades of television, Fuller was known for his deep, raspy voice and was familiar to television viewers throughout the 1960s from his co-star roles on the popular 1960s Western series Laramie as Jess Harper and Wagon Train as Cooper Smith. He was also well known for his starring role as Dr. Kelly Brackett in the 1970s medical/action drama Emergency!
Neal Brennan is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, and podcaster. He is best known for co-creating and co-writing the Comedy Central series Chappelle's Show (2003–2006) with Dave Chappelle and for his Netflix stand-up comedy special 3 Mics (2017).
Livewire is a kids' talk show on the U.S. television cable network, Nickelodeon which began in September 1980 and ended in 1985. The series was designed for kids of all ages, and the show's main focus discussed true current events and stories during those times. It was taped at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York through Reeves Teletape Studios of Sesame Street fame. It was filmed "live on tape" with a participating audience of about 20-30 teenagers, and was hosted initially by Mark Cordray, but Fred Newman soon replaced Cordray as host. It was a CableACE Award winner, the first Nickelodeon talk show to achieve that feat. Livewire was the #1 rated show on Nickelodeon in 1982, and never went below #7 in the ratings during the 5-year span of the show. After the last episode aired, the show went into reruns until May 7, 1988.
Sherry! is a musical with a book and lyrics by James Lipton and music by Laurence Rosenthal. The musical is based on the 1939 George S. Kaufman-Moss Hart play The Man Who Came to Dinner.
"Of Human Action" is the seventh episode of the second season of the science fiction/crime series Fringe, and the 27th episode overall. The episode followed a case involving the apparent kidnapping of the son of a scientist working for biotechnology corporation Massive Dynamic, leading the Fringe team to deal with the repercussions of mind control.
The Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University is a three-year graduate program in the theater arts. It has been located at Pace University in New York since 2006 and grants Master of Fine Arts degrees in acting, directing, and playwriting. The program is sanctioned by the Actors Studio, though graduation from the school does not guarantee membership in the Actors Studio.
