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 and Philosophy such as the guilt Homer feels for not going to church, or Ned Flanders experiencing tragedies, despite following the Bible closely. The book was highly successful, selling over 203,000 copies, making it the best selling book in the Open Court Publishing's Popular Culture and Philosophy series. The book was also critically successful, highlighting the philosophical themes that the book was able to make with "The Simpsons", such as "Booklist", who wrote, "[...]these pieces make erudite concepts accessible by viewing things through the lens of a great cartoon series," or "Publishers Weekly" who wrote, "Fans of The Simpsons are certain to