The Simpsons (franchise) a family and their life in a typical American town. However, because of its animated nature, "The Simpsons"' scope is larger than that of a regular sitcom. The town of Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. By having Homer work in a nuclear power plant, the show can comment on the state of the environment. Through Bart and Lisa's days at Springfield Elementary School, the show's writers illustrate pressing or controversial issues in the field of education. The town features a vast array of media channels—from kids' television programming
The Simpsons Simpsons" has had crossovers with four other shows. In the episode "A Star Is Burns", Marge invites Jay Sherman, the main character of "The Critic", to be a judge for a film festival in Springfield. Matt Groening had his name removed from the episode since he had no involvement with "The Critic". "South Park" later paid homage to "The Simpsons" with the episode "Simpsons Already Did It". In "Simpsorama", the Planet Express crew from "Futurama" come to Springfield in the present to prevent the Simpsons from destroying the future. In the "Family Guy" episode "The Simpsons Guy", the Griffins visit