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 "Entertainment Weekly" "Top 100 Shows of the Past 25 Years". "Empire" named it the greatest TV show of all time. In 2010, "Entertainment Weekly" named Homer "the greatest character of the last 20 years", while in 2013 the Writers Guild of America listed "The Simpsons" as the 11th "best written" series in television history. In 2013, TV Guide ranked "The Simpsons" as the greatest TV cartoon of all time and the tenth greatest show of all time. Television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz ranked "The Simpsons" as the greatest American TV series of all time in their 2016