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 Abbott and Costello Cartoon Show The Abbott and Costello Cartoon Show The Abbott and Costello Cartoon Show is an American half-hour animated series of the famous comedy duo that aired in syndication from September 9, 1967 to June 1, 1968. Each of the 39 individual episodes consisted of four five-minute cartoons. The cartoons were created jointly by Hanna-Barbera, RKO General and Jomar Productions between 1965 and 1967. The series was syndicated by Gold Key Entertainment and King World Productions, with the rights now owned by Warner Bros. Television Distribution. The primary feature of this cartoon series was the fact that Bud Abbott supplied the voice