20 Facts about The Simpsons:

• The Simpsons actually started off as animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987. Watch these animated shorts at SimpsonCrazy.com.
• The couch gag at the beginning of each episode makes it easier for production to extend the length of the episode if needed. The typical couch gag lasts about 5 seconds while the longest one on record lasts 46 seconds.
• The Simpsons holds the world record for the “Most Guest Stars Featured in a Television Series.”
• There are a total of 121 Springfields in the United States. In 2007, the official state of The Simpsons’ Springfield was revealed as Vermont. This city hosted the premiere of The Simpsons Movie.
  
• The Simpsons is dubbed in many other languages- including Japanese, German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Quebec French, and Arabic. In the Arabic broadcast, Homer drinks soda instead of beer and eats Egyptian beef sausages instead of hot dogs. What?!
• The Simpsons became the longest running primetime animated show passing The Flinstones in 1997. The Simpsons have aired over 434 episodes in 20 seasons.
• Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, allegedly designed the Simpson family in ten minutes.
  
• Groening named the characters after people in his own family. Although instead of using his name, he used Bart which is an anagram of brat.
• Groening refused to name Grandpa Simpson after his own grandfather. He left the naming of him to other writers who coincidentally chose Abraham which is actually Groening’s Grandpa’s real name.
• The character of bartender, Moe Szyslak, was based on Louis “Red” Deutsch. Deutsch was bartender who is remembered for his profane tirades against prank calls in the mid-70′s.
• On January 14, 2000, the Simpson family was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
  
• The Simpsons have six main cast members. These six people do the voices for almost all of the characters.
• The series recently just switched to HD on February 15, 2009 at the start of the 20th season.
• The first season of The Simpsons had an average of 13.4 million viewers while the nineteenth season had an average of 7.7 million viewers.
• Development of The Simpsons Movie began in 2001. The script was rewritten over a hundred times before being finalized.
• The Empire State Building was illuminated yellow as part of the DVD and Blu-ray Disc promotion for The Simpsons Movie. That was the first time the Empire State Building was used for a film promotion
  

• The Simpsons is the only non-variety show to guest star George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr.
• On December 31, 1999, Time Magazine named it the 20th century’s best television series.
• Episodes of The Simpsons are ready up to year in advance since they take so long to produce. This is why they weren’t effected by the writer’s strike.
• In 2008, the main voice actors for The Simpsons recieved a pay raise to $400,000 per episode.

The 21st season of The Simpson’s begins September 27, 2009 on Fox. The 21st season holds a few surprises for fans. Seth Rogen, the popular comedic actor from movies such as Pineapple Express and the new film Funny People, co-wrote a Simpsons episode. The excited Rogen is quoted as saying, “We sat down for a read-through and three hours later I’m in a studio improv-ing with Homer Simpson, it was the single greatest day of my life.”

The Simpsons have been renewed through the 22nd season.

• When Disney’s Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, a general admission ticket cost only $3.50.
• Walt Disney World Resort is roughly the size of San Francisco at 30,500 acres.
• There is an 8,500 acre preservative just south of Disney World called Disney Wilderness Preserve.
• Roughly 46 million people visit Walt Disney World every year.
• Workers hand sort the trash at Disney World to separate the recyclables from the trash.
• The Tower of Terror was originally planned to be taller but was reduced in height to avoid having to add a blinking light to the top to notify airplanes.
• Walt Disney World Resort is the largest single-site employer in the United States.
• Walt Disney World contains 4 theme parks, 2 water parks and 23 themed hotels.
• To stop land speculation around Orlando during the purchase of the land for Walt Disney World, phony companies were made up to purchase the theme park land.
• Walt Disney died before he could see Walt Disney World completed.