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 Late Show (1957 TV series) "The Late Show" was replaced on HSV-7's schedule by "Club Seven". The Late Show (1957 TV series) The Late Show is an Australian television variety series which aired from 1957 to 1959 on Melbourne station HSV-7. Aired on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and competing in the time-slot with GTV-9's popular "In Melbourne Tonight", the series included a mix of music and comedy. People who hosted the series during its run included John D'Arcy, Bert Newton and original host Noel Ferrier. The 22 August 1957 edition of The Age newspaper said of Bert Newton's debut on the series: ""Bert Newton, not