March 1999 Edition, v3-06/HTML

Maintained-By: Ondre Lombard
Overseas-Production-By: Akom Production Company
Blackboard-Quote: I am not the royal heir to the school throne.  I am not the
                  royal he/
In-Memory-Of: Christopher Collins, Phil Hartman, Doris Grau, Homer Groening,
              "Doc Quack," Dr. Marvin Monroe, "Bleeding Gums" Murphy, Snowball
              I
Visitor Number: 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for alt.tv.simpsons, posted to the newsgroup as required and pointed to users asking about topics covered here.

A text version of the LISA is always available at rtfm.mit.edu, or by sending Email to with the word "LISA" as the subject. Translations of the LISA are also available in German, in Japanese and in Spanish.

The English Episode QuickList is available through http://www.wcat.com/simpsons/seq.txt, or you can receive the list by sending Email to with "QL" as the subject. A translation of the QuickList is also available in German and in Japanese. A Finnish translation of the QL can be obtained by emailing .

Corrections and Suggestions encouraged! Please direct all comments to .

NOTE: This document is by no means all-inclusive. It is intended to serve as a general guide to the series and pointer to other sources with more detailed information on specific aspects of the series and newsgroup.

In This Edition:

• New episode capsules (and the completion of Season Eight)!
• Follow-up soundtrack album no longer cancelled

Section I - General Interest

• alt.tv.simpsons Basic History
• "The Simpsons" Basic History
• "The Tracey Ullman Show" Simpsons History
• The Simpson Family
• Series Timeline
• Relevant Associated Newsgroups, Fanclubs, and FTP/WWW Sites
• Frequently Used Acronyms and Local Terminology
• Topics That Tend To Go Nowhere

Section II - Frequently Asked Questions

Characters, Places, and Internal Consistency
• How much does Maggie cost in the opening titles?
• Where *is* Springfield, anyway?
• What is the Simpsons' home address?
• What is the Simpsons' home phone number?
• Where did Matt Groening get the names for the Simpson family?
• Is it just me or are several of the characters left-handed?
• It seems to me that Homer's voice sounds different in some early episodes. Did they change actors, or is it just my imagination?
• There are still a few characters who sounded different in the first season. Were all the same actors doing the voices?
• What does the "J" stand for in Homer J. and Bart J. Simpson?
• Which one's Itchy and which one's Scratchy?
• Which one's Patty and which one's Selma?
• What are the names of the bullies who pick on Bart, and which is which?
• How come the Halloween Specials don't follow established continuity?
• Where did they get the money to animate the THOH short "Homer ^3"?
• Are Smithers and Karl gay (or bisexual)?
• Wasn't Smithers black in one episode?
• Who is that bee guy?
• And the guy who runs the comic shop, what's his name?
• What's that thing Homer says? Doh? Dough? D'ohh?
• Exactly how old is Homer? 35? 36? 38??
• How old is Mr. Burns?
• Is Bart's friend named Milhous or Milhouse?
• What are the names of Milhouse's parents?
• What's the deal with the rake scene in "Cape Feare"?
• The trivia questions in 3F31 said the cash register in the titles read NRA4EVR, and that both B.G. Murphy and Dr. Marvin Monroe died during Season Six. When did Dr. Monroe die, and the FAQ just said the cash register reads 847.63. What's going on here?
• With the passing of Phil Hartman, will Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz have new voices?
• Who is the person playing the baritone saxaphone for Lisa?

Background, Production, and Broadcast
• Who is Matt Groening?
• What exactly does he do for "The Simpsons"?
• Why wasn't MG's name on 2F31?
• What are all these hexidecimal numbers people keep talking about?
• Where do you get the production codes from?
• Where do the episode titles come from?
• How is a Simpsons episode created?
• What was the first episode?
• Why do the production codes in Season Six jump from 2F22 to 2F31? And what about 3F31 in Season Seven?
• What's this I keep hearing about "The Simpsons" being cancelled?
• How do I pronounce...
• Have any of the episodes been released on video?
• What's all this about syndication?
• Why are the syndicated episodes being cut?
• Why was the Tracey Ullman Show short "Babysitting Maggie" cut on Fox?
• Has The Simpsons won any Emmys/awards?
• What's this rumor I keep hearing about a Simpsons movie?

Comics, Music, Contest and Newsgroup-Specific
• How do I contact Matt Groening or the producers/writers of the show?
• What about Email addresses for Matt Groening or the production staff?
• I have a script/story idea I want to show to the producers...
• What's Bongo Comics Group/Simpsons Illustrated?
• What are the words to "The Itchy & Scratchy Show" Theme?
• Where can I get the music from "The Simpsons"?
• The Soundtrack Album, "Songs in the Key of Springfield" is great. Will there be a follow-up to it?
• Is my local station cutting the episodes?
• Why are some clips shown in commercials not in the transmitted episodes?
• What's this I hear about a real life version of the Simpson house?
• And who was the winner of 1995's "Who Shot Mr. Burns" 1-800-COLLECT contest?
• Is the "Simpsons" production staff aware of Usenet and a.t.s?

Section III - Commonly Requested Lists

• The Episode Capsules
• The Episode QuickList
• Required Reading
• The alt.tv.simpsons Mail Server

Section IV - Closing Remarks

• Acknowledgements
• Contributors
• Disclaimer and Copyright

On to Section I

Copyright © 1999 Artist Bros. Enterprises - (See Sec 4.3)