　　《辛普森一家》是美国福克斯广播公司的一部动画情景喜剧，由马特·格勒宁创作。该剧通过展现霍默、玛琦、巴特、莉萨和玛吉一家五口的生活，讽刺性地勾勒出了居住在美国心脏地带人们的生活方式。空间设定于虚构小镇春田镇的《辛普森一家》，从许多角度对美国的文化与社会、人的条件和电视本身进行了幽默的嘲讽。
　　为了给制片人詹姆斯·L·布鲁克斯制作一出动画短剧，马特·格勒宁构思出了辛普森一家人的形象。格勒宁用自己家族成员的名字逐一地给他们命名，而自己的名字则用“巴特”替代。1987年4月19日，短剧成为了《特蕾西·厄尔曼秀》的一部分。在播映三季后，《辛普森一家》得以转正进入半小时的黄金时段，并成为了福克斯在早期达成的成功之一。
　　自1989年12月17日的首次播出开始，《辛普森一家》已播出了20季，共441集。2007年5月20日播出的第18季末集，是这部动画的第400集；同时，2007年亦是该剧播出的20周年纪念。于2007年7月26日和7月27日在全球上映的《辛普森一家大电影》，至今已获得约5.253亿美元的票房收入。第20季已于2008年9月28日开始播出。
　　从作为一部电视剧制播以来，《辛普森一家》赢取了大量的奖项；其中包括24次艾美奖、26次安妮奖和1次皮博迪奖。1999年12月31日期的《时代》杂志将其评为20世纪最优秀的电视剧作；2000年1月14日，《辛普森一家》的星星被刻在了好莱坞星光大道上。作为美国历史上最长寿的情景喜剧及动画节目，《辛普森一家》对流行文化产生了极大的影响：譬如霍默·辛普森懊恼时的咕哝声“D'oh!”便被英语词典所收录；同时此剧亦对许多面向成人的动画情景喜剧产生了影响。
　　辛普森一家，是居住在美国“心脏地带”式小镇春田镇的一个典型家庭。[46]家中的父亲霍默担任着春田镇核电站的安全检查员——这个职位与他粗心、弄臣式的个性显得很不相称。他的妻子玛琦·辛普森，是一位典型的美国式主妇和母亲。他们有着三个孩子：十岁的大儿子巴特是一个麻烦制造者；八岁早熟的女儿莉萨是一位积极行动主义者；小女儿玛吉是一个几乎不会说话，只能用吸橡皮奶嘴进行交流的婴儿。这家人养有一条名叫圣诞老人小助手的狗，以及一只名叫雪球二世的猫。两只宠物都曾在几集动画中充当中心角色。尽管度过了许多次节日或生日这样的年度重要事件，辛普森一家人都没有因为真实岁月的流逝而逐渐老去，其面貌与他们在1980年代末露面时并无二样。
　　《辛普森一家》有许多乖僻的次要角色：同事、老师、亲朋好友、地方名人。格勒宁起初只是打算让这些角色出现一次，让他们充当笑料制造者，或用来填补小镇需要的一些功能。不过，大部分的这些角色后来都被保留了下来，其形象也得到扩充，甚至不少角色在后来还成为了几集动画的中心人物。据马特·格勒宁所说，动画采用了喜剧节目《第二城市电视台》（SCTV）中使用大量配角制作节目的概念。(摘自Wikipedia)
　　The Simpsons is an animated sitcom about the modern family. It is FOX's most successful TV show to date. It started as a one-minute filler on the Tracey Ullman Show but soon evolved in to America's favorite comedy.
　　The Simpsons focuses on a family of five. There is the father, Homer, a dull-witted, alcoholic, lazy, but lovable man. He often gets his family into crazy situations but always manages to fix things. The mother, Marge, is a stay at home mom who keeps the family together. She is the ideal wife and mother though she can be a little naive at times. She always does what she thinks is best for her family. Next is Bart, the 10 year old boy who lives on playing pranks. He gets into a lot of trouble but is generally a good kid. Next is the neglected middle child, Lisa. Lisa is the brain of the family and sometimes feels left out because of that. She is an outcast at school because of her talent. Finally there is Maggie the baby. Though she doesn't say much she is well known especially for her red pacifier.
　　Now the longest-running comedy in television history, THE SIMPSONS immediately struck a chord with viewers across the country as it poked fun of itself and everything in its wake. With its subversive humor and delightful wit, the series has made an indelible imprint on American pop culture, and the family members have become television icons.
　　January 14, 2009 kicked off "Best. 20 Years. Ever.," a year-long global 20th anniversary celebration of all things SIMPSONS. The year will conclude on January 14, 2010 and will feature THE SIMPSONS 20TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL – IN 3-D! ON ICE!, produced and directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me," "30 Days"). In the special, Spurlock will examine the cultural phenomenon of THE SIMPSONS in his distinctive and innovative style.
　　The critically praised series has been bestowed with numerous honors, including recently receiving five Emmy nominations for the 2008-2009 season. Over the course of their two-decade run, THE SIMPSONS have won 24 Emmy Awards: 12 for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance, 10 for Outstanding Animated Program and two for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music.
　　THE SIMPSONS is a Gracie Films production in association with 20th Century Fox Television. James L. Brooks, Matt Groening and Al Jean are the executive producers. Film Roman, a Starz Media company, is the animation house. Mike B. Anderson serves as the supervising animation director.