According to Matt Groening, the showĪdopted the concept of a large supporting cast from the comedy show SCTV.ĭespite the depiction of yearly milestones such as holidays orīirthdays passing, the characters do not age between episodes (either A number of them have gained expanded roles and subsequently The creators originally intended many of theseĬharacters as one-time jokes or for fulfilling needed functions in the The show includes an array of quirky supporting characters:Ĭo-workers, teachers, family friends, extended relatives, townspeopleĪnd local celebrities. Both pets have had starring roles in several episodes. The family owns a dog, Santa's Little Helper, and a cat, Snowball V, renamed Snowball II in ' I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot'. Relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to careĪbout one another. They have three children: Bart, a ten-year-old troublemaker Lisa, a precocious eight-year-old activist and Maggie, the baby of the family who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier.Īlthough the family is dysfunctional, many episodes examine their He is married to Marge Simpson, a stereotypical American housewife and mother. Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a position at odds with his careless, buffoonish personality. The Simpsons are a family who live in a fictional ' Middle American' town of Springfield.
