With over 580 episodes since its debut on Dec. 17, 1989, "The Simpsons" is the longest-running sitcom and animated program in the United States. Recently, "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening and executive producer James Lawrence "Jim" Brooks shared secrets to keeping the show fresh after 27 years.
"When we started out, Jim Brooks said, 'Let's make this funny for the whole family,'" TV Insider quoted Groening as saying. "We do jokes for kids, for teens, for grown-ups. And this is shocking: There are even jokes for grown-ups who read books."
According to Brooks, the trick to staying fresh is "to keep holding hands with innocence." He explained that they are always getting into new arenas including mobile games, theme-park lands, "The Simpsons" night at the Hollywood Bowl and anything they are "absolutely stupid at," which keeps them vital.
Groening and Brooks developed "The Simpsons" with the late Sam Simon. According to Brooks, there is not a day in "The Simpsons" writers' room that they are not gnawing their teeth off.
"The Simpsons" executive producer added that they are always pushing and policing themselves while staying on their toes. He said if people dropped by "The Simpsons" offices, they would never know the show is 27 years old show as they act like it is Year 1.
For "The Simpsons" character layout artist Chance Raspberry, there is no one artist in the show who is responsible for any single character. On the other hand, the characters all have to look like they were drawn by the same person in the same style.
Among the famous "The Simpsons" characters are Homer Simpson, Bart Simpson, Marge Simpson, Lisa Simpson and Maggie Simpson.
"Our challenge is to make it look like the Homer or the Bart," Commercial Appeal quoted Raspberry as saying.
"The Simpsons" season 27 episode 7 titled "Lisa with an 'S'" airs on Fox on Nov. 22.