The Simpsons (franchise) In 2008, $750 million worth of "The Simpsons" merchandise was purchased worldwide. Peter Byrne, Fox executive vice-president of licensing and merchandising, called "The Simpsons" "without doubt the biggest licensing entity that Fox has had, full stop, I would say from either TV or film." Matt Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office. Brooks, the producer of the sketch comedy program "The Tracey Ullman Show", wanted to use a series of animated cartoons as bumpers between sketches. Groening had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts, and had intended
Non-English versions of The Simpsons studios. The move was heavily criticized by Chinese media. "The Simpsons Movie", however, has been dubbed into Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese. The show currently airs in Mandarin with some edits. Episodes are typically broadcast 2-3 weeks after its original airdate in the US. "The Simpsons" appeared for the first time on Swedish television on November 29, 1990. The series was originally broadcast on TV3 in English with Swedish subtitles. However, in 1993, the network decided to start dub "The Simpsons" to increase ratings, and the show was moved to a more child-friendly time. After a public outrage the dubbing was