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 Morecambe & Wise Show (1978 TV series) and the David Frost programme from Christmas 1979 was released by Network DVD on 11 April 2008 together with a second disc including the first series of Thames programmes from 1980. This was followed by a one-disc release, also by Network, which featured the three seasonal specials 1978-1980 only. No further plans have been announced to release the final three series and seasonal specials from 1981-1983 by Network. The Morecambe & Wise Show (1978 TV series) The Morecambe & Wise Show was a comedy sketch show originally produced by Thames Television and broadcast on the ITV network. The second show