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
The Simpsons (season 10) it "is not the last great 'Simpsons' season ever. The last great season was the eighth. The last really good season was the ninth. But the tenth is just pretty good, nothing more, nothing less." Mike Scully, who was show runner during seasons nine through twelve, is held responsible by many critics and fans for the decline. An op-ed in "Slate" by Chris Suellentrop argued that "The Simpsons" changed from a realistic show about family life into a typical cartoon when Scully was the show runner: "under Scully's tenure, "The Simpsons" became, well, a cartoon. Episodes that once would have