The Simpsons



The Simpsons are the stars of the long-running animated series of the same name, created by Matt Groening. The family appeared in the celebrity version of the Sesame Street song "Monster in the Mirror." The Simpsons replace two monsters on a wall painting, and at the end, Homer reprimands Bart (who yells "Hey, Wubba man!" to Grover). The show's voice cast are heard in the segment (Dan Castellaneta as Homer, Julie Kavner as Marge, Nancy Cartwright as Bart, and Yeardley Smith as Lisa).

The Simpsons has also made many references to the Muppets and Sesame Street.

Verbal Mentions

 * Brother From The Same Planet (February, 1993) - Homer walks down a street and notices a homeless guy in a dumpster to which he exclaims "Heh heh, just like Oscar the Grouch!'


 * The Twisted World of Marge Simpson (January, 1997) - In a deleted scene, Marge tells Homer to "name one thing that was ever helped by mob ties." Homer mentions Las Vegas, boxing, football, and Children's Television Workshop.


 * My Sister, My Sitter (March, 1997) - Ned Flanders tells Homer that he's got a "Fozzie of a Bear of a problem."


 * The Old Man and the "C" Student (April 25, 1999) - While cleaning the town, Chief Wiggum calls one of the fleeing rats "Rizzo".


 * Grift of the Magi (December, 1999) - The head of a toy company says that they have a hard time "coming up with the new Furby or Tickle-me-Elmo."


 * The Great Money Caper (December, 2000) - The episode's title is a spoof on The Great Muppet Caper.


 * Brawl in the Family (January, 2002) - At a meeting of the Springfield Republicans, Krusty the Clown suggests that they get rid of PBS because "those lousy Muppets" have been taking up his airtime.


 * Blame it on Lisa (March, 2002) - The Simpsons fly to Brazil in search of Lisa's pen pal Ronaldo. While staying at a hotel, Bart watches a "children's show" entitled Teleboobies with scantily clad female dancers, a walkaround pineapple, a lizard and a tall flamingo. Marge shows her disgust for the sexuality saying, "Bert and Ernie left it to your imagination."


 * You Kent Always Say What You Want (May, 2007) - At Spinster City Apartments, Marge plays a guessing game with the pictures that Maggie drew. One of the guesses that Marge makes about Maggie's drawings was Elmo.


 * E Pluribus Wiggum: (January, 2008) - Springfield elects Ralph Wiggum for president. Since Ralph hasn't chosen to be either Republican or Democrat, Chief Wiggum tries to help him make up his mind, stating that the Republican party's mascot is an elephant, and the Democrats mascot is a donkey. When asking who he likes better, Ralph says that he likes Elmo. On a talk show, it is asked if Ralph can go from Sesame Street to Pennsylvania Avenue.


 * How the Test Was Won : (March, 2009) - In Capitol City, Ralph Wiggum ends up on a garbage barge. A rat scurries all over him, which he claims to be Elmo.


 * The Blue and the Gray : (February, 2011) - While Marge and Lisa were running after Lisa's macaroni Marconi, Milhouse wonders if Marge's hair makes her sees something scary like the vampire on Sesame Street.


 * The Great Simpsina : (April, 2011) - While attempting to dump a whole load of peaches somewhere, Lisa finds herself lost in a run-down, old-fashioned-looking neighborhood, and she comments that the area is starting to look like Sesame Street. She then notices a trash can rattling, and wonders if maybe Oscar the Grouch is inside, but then the lid bursts open and a raccoon hisses at her, causing her to run away screaming.


 * Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts : (October, 2011) - Bart Simpson and several of his friends are taking over the school, resulting in the police and the SWAT Team arriving. When officer Lou asks if they can take on a whole school building without hurting any kids, Chief Wiggum mentions that the Muppets were able to take Manhattan.


 * The D'oh-cial Network : (January, 2012) - Rev. Lovejoy takes a "What Muppet are you?" quiz, the result being Beaker.


 * Moonshine River : (September, 2012) - When the brother of Bart's former wife Mary (sibling of Cletus Spuckler) tells him and Milhouse that she ran off to New York City, Milhouse asks if that's where Sesame Street is located, and wonders what happens to Oscar the Grouch on trash day.


 * Gone Abie Gone : (September, 2012) - At Moe's Tavern, when discussing the money Homer earned from a lawsuit involving an onion ring accident, Lenny warns that banks can be tricky, because Kermit the Frog warned about it on Sesame Street, and that he "was wearing his trenchcoat." Homer asks in disbelief, "The frog in the trenchcoat is Kermit, too?" Lenny says that all the frogs on Sesame Street are Kermit, as it keeps the other frog actors out of work.


 * Specs and the City : (January, 2014) - At the Nuclear Power Plant, two workers wearing their hi-tech glasses that Mr. Burns gave them are playing a virtual game of Muppet Chess. When one of them manages to beat the other with his Fozzie piece, he gets a "Kermit-mate" and proudly says "Wocka-wocka!"


 * Diggs : (March, 2014) - A new transfer student at Springfield Elementary, Diggs (voiced by Daniel Radcliffe), has just saved Bart from the school bullies with his falcon. Among learning Bart is known across the school as the "kid that ate the frog," Diggs says that is probably the reason why they have to dissect a Muppet in biology class.


 * The Burns Cage: (April, 2016) - Milhouse, when deciding to audition for the part of Rick in a school production of Casablanca, mentions that co-stars always fall in love, like Kermit and Miss Piggy.

Comics

 * Simpsons Comics #43: (June 1999) - The supporting comic story (written and drawn by Scott Shaw!), features pitches for spin-offs featuring Poochie the Dog (a failed Itchy and Scratchy character). One of them is a parody of Muppet Babies, entitled "Poochie Babies" and featuring Li'l Poochie (in Baby Kermit's role), along with his friends Whiney Swiney, Spazzy Bear, Alonzo the Watchamacallit, Meowwlf, Baby Bestial and the twins, Skidmark and Scurvy. They are watched over by Manny, a sleazy male whose face isn't shown, ala Nanny.


 * Simpsons Comics #72: (April 2002) - In the comic "Secret Origin of Sideshow Mel," Mel states that "All the best sidekick jobs are going to either drunkards or Muppets."


 * Simpsons Comics #106: (May 2005) - In the story "Simpsons: the Musical," the family, stars of their own stage musical, meets up with several other musical performers, including two puppeteers from "Puppet Street, the Musical," a parody of both Sesame Street and Avenue Q (itself a parody of Sesame Street). Both puppeteers have parodies of Ernie and Bert with them.


 * Simpsons Comics #175: (February 2011) - Homer fantasizes and tells a complete parody of The Muppet Show, with Lisa as Kermit, Bart as Gonzo, Krusty as Fozzie, Grandpa and Jasper as Statler and Waldorf, and Barney as Sweetums. Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock are mentioned as well.


 * Radioactive Man 80-Page Colossal: (August 1995) - In the comic story "The 1,001 Faces of Radioactive Ape" (also written and drawn by Scott Shaw!), at one point Radioactive Man's simian counterpart mutates into a gigantic baby version of himself. One of the "gibberish" sounds he makes is "wokka-wokka!"


 * Bart Simpson #30: (June 2006) - In the comic "The Book That Ate Springfield" after having his show with no viewers because of his promoting to read the Larry Snotter book, Krusty exclaims "Lousy 'Sesame Street!' Oooh, let's teach the children to REEEAD! I WARNED them they were killin' the golden goose!"

Trivia

 * Santa's Little Helper, the Simpsons family dog, was included on Animal Planet's 50 Greatest TV Animals along with Kermit and Big Bird.


 * On May 15, 2016, the show promoted "Homer Live," a stunt in which viewers were able to ask Homer Simpson questions live on the air and via Twitter. Homer responded to a Twitter question about who his favorite Muppet is by tweeting: "Miss Piggy She's sexy and she's bacon."

Connections
Recurring Cast
 * Hank Azaria plays Moe Syzlak, Chief Wiggum, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Carl Carlson, Dr. Nick Riviera, Professor Frink, Comic Book Guy, Superintendent Chalmers, Cletus Spuckler, Disco Stu, Duffman, and others
 * Nancy Cartwright plays Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders, Kearny, and others
 * Dan Castellaneta plays Homer Simpson, Grandpa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willie, Itchy the Mouse, Mayor Quimby, Barney Gumble and others
 * Leslie Carrara-Rudolph played various background characters
 * Kelsey Grammer plays Sideshow Bob Terwilliger
 * Julie Kavner plays Marge Simpson, Patty and Selma Bouvier, and Jacqueline Bouvier
 * Jon Lovitz plays Artie Ziff, Jay Sherman, Llewelyn Sinclair, Aristotle Amadopolis, Professor Lombardo, Enrico Irritazio and others
 * Kevin Michael Richardson plays various background characters
 * Harry Shearer plays Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, Kent Brockman, Dr. Hibbert, Principal Skinner, Otto Mann, Scratchy the Cat, Lenny Leonard, Rainier Wolfcastle and others
 * Yeardley Smith plays Lisa Simpson
 * Russi Taylor plays Martin Prince, Sherri and Terri, Uter and others
 * Frank Welker plays Santa's Little Helper and provides other animal and creature sounds

Crew
 * Bob Kushell was a credited writer of 2 episodes
 * Tom Martin was a credited writer of 3 episodes
 * Bobby Lopez composed and co-wrote the song "Enjoy It While You Can" for "A Totally Fun Thing That Bart Will Never Do Again"
 * Conan O'Brien was a credited writer of 4 episodes
 * Nell Scovell was a credited writer of 1 episode
 * Scott Shaw! has written and illustrated many issues of Simpsons Comics.
 * Patric Verrone was a credited writer of 1 episode

Guest Stars
 * Tom Arnold voiced himself in "Treehouse of Horror X"
 * Andre Agassi played himself in "Tennis the Menace"
 * Marv Albert played himself in "The Burns and the Bees"
 * Buzz Aldrin voiced himself in "Deep Space Homer"
 * Steve Allen played himself in "Separate Vocations" and "Round Springfield"
 * Edward Asner played the editor of the Springfield Shopper in "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner"
 * Alec Baldwin played himself in "When You Dish Upon a Star" and Caleb Thorn in "Bonfire of the Manatees"
 * Anne Bancroft played Dr. Zweig in "Fear of Flying"
 * Drew Barrymore played Sophie in "Insane Clown Poppy"
 * Jason Bateman played himself in "Home Away From Homer"
 * Tony Bennett played himself in "Dancin' Homer" and "Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade"
 * Greg Berg played Rory the bum in "Bart vs. Thanksgiving"
 * Jack Black played Milo in "Husbands and Knives"
 * Albert Brooks played Cowboy Bob in "Call of the Simpsons," Jacques in "Life in the Fast Lane", Brad Goodman in "Bart's Inner Child", Hank Scorpio in "You Only Move Twice", Tab Spangler in "The Heartbroke Kid," and Russ Cargill in The Simpsons Movie
 * Mel Brooks played himself in "Homer vs. Patty & Selma"
 * Pierce Brosnan played the Ultrahouse 3000 and himself in "Treehouse of Horror XII"
 * Peter Buck played himself in "Homer the Moe"
 * Jack Burns played Edward Christian in "Beyond Blunderdome"
 * Johnny Carson played himself in "Krusty Gets Kancelled"
 * Johnny Cash played the Coyote in "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer"
 * Kim Cattrall played herself in " Brother, Where Bart Thou?" (2009)
 * Dick Cavett played himself in "Homie the Clown"
 * Dick Clark played himself in "Treehouse of Horror X"
 * Clarence Clemons played the narrator in "Grift of the Magi"
 * Glenn Close played Mona Simpson in four episodes
 * Stephen Colbert played Colby Kraus in "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs"
 * Shawn Colvin played Rachel Jordan in "Alone Again, Natura-Diddly" and "I'm Goin' to Praiseland"
 * Tim Conway voiced himself in "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase"
 * Rodney Dangerfield played Larry Burns in "Burns, Baby Burns"
 * Ted Danson played Sam Malone in "Fear of Flying"
 * Danny DeVito played Herbert Powell in "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes?"
 * The Dixie Chicks played themselves in "Papa Don't Leech"
 * Plácido Domingo played himself in "The Homer of Seville"
 * Fran Drescher played the Female Golem in "Treehouse of Horror XVII"
 * Artie Esposito puppeteered in "The Fight Before Christmas"
 * Harvey Fierstein played Karl in "Simpson and Delilah"
 * Jodie Foster played Maggie Simpson in "Four Great Women and a Manicure"
 * Dennis Franz played himself playing Homer Simpson in "Homer Badman"
 * Lady Gaga played herself in "Lisa Goes Gaga"
 * Jennifer Garner played herself in "Treehouse of Horror XIV"
 * Ricky Gervais played Charles in "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife"
 * Mel Gibson played himself in "Beyond Blunderdome"
 * Kathie Lee Gifford played herself in "Treehouse of Horror IX"
 * Jeff Goldblum played MacArthur Parker in "A Fish Called Selma"
 * John Goodman played Meathook in "Take My Wife, Sleaze"
 * Elliott Gould played himself in "The Dad Who Knew Too Little"
 * Kathy Griffin played Francine in "Bye Bye Nerdie"
 * Melanie Griffith played herself in "The Monkey Suit"
 * Mark Hamill played himself and Leavalle in "Mayored to the Mob"
 * Tom Hanks played himself in The Simpsons Movie
 * Neil Patrick Harris played himself as the actor playing Bart Simpson in "Bart the Murderer"
 * Anne Hathaway played Jenny in "The Good, the Sad and the Drugly"
 * Tony Hawk played himself in "Barting Over"
 * Bob Hope played himself in "Lisa the Beauty Queen"
 * Ron Howard played himself in "When You Dish Upon a Star", "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder"
 * Joshua Jackson played Jesse Grass in "Lisa the Tree Hugger"
 * Michael Jackson played Leon Kompowsky in "Stark Raving Dad"
 * Mick Jagger played himself in "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation"
 * Penn Jillette played himself in "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder"
 * Elton John played himself in "I'm With Cupid"
 * James Earl Jones played the moving man, Serak the Preparer, and narrator in "Treehouse of Horror", Evil Maggie in "Treehouse of Horror V", and narrator in "Das Bus"
 * Larry King played himself in "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" and "Sideshow Bob Roberts"
 * Cyndi Lauper played herself in "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken"
 * Cloris Leachman played Mrs. Glick in "Three Men and a Comic Book"
 * Stan Lee played himself in "I Am Furious Yellow"
 * Jay Leno played himself in "The Last Temptation of Krust"
 * Little Richard played himself in "Special Edna"
 * Julia Louis-Dreyfus played Gloria in "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"
 * Yo-Yo Ma played himself in "Puffless"
 * William H. Macy played himself in "Homer's Paternity Coot"
 * Penny Marshall played Ms. Botz in "Some Enchanted Evening"
 * Andrea Martin played Mama Nahasapeemapetilon in "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons"
 * Steve Martin played Ray Patterson in "Trash of the Titans"
 * Phil McGraw played himself in "Treehouse of Horror XVII"
 * Michael McKean played David St. Hubbins in "The Otto Show" and Jerry Rude in "Monty Can't Buy Me Love"
 * Bret McKenzie played Kurt in "Elementary School Musical"
 * Ed McMahon played himself in "Treehouse of Horror IX"
 * Sam McMurray played a wormer in "Homer's Odyssey" and Gulliver Dark in "Homer's Night Out"
 * Bette Midler played herself in "Krusty Gets Kancelled"
 * Mike Mills played himself in "Homer the Moe"
 * Mr. T played himself in "Today I am A Clown"
 * *NSYNC played themselves in "New Kids on the Blecch"
 * Joe Namath played himself in "Bart Star" (1997)
 * Liam Neeson played Father Sean in "The Father, The Son, and The Holy Guest Star"
 * Sam Neill played Malloy the cat burgler in "Homer the Vigilante"
 * Willie Nelson played himself in "Behind the Laughter"
 * Bob Newhart played himself in "Bark the Fink"
 * Paul Newman played himself in "The Blunder Years"
 * Leonard Nimoy played himself in "Marge vs. the Monorail" and "The Springfield Files"
 * Conan O'Brien played himself in "Bart Gets Famous"
 * Dolly Parton played herself in "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday"
 * Mandy Patinkin played Hugh Parkfield in "Lisa's Wedding"
 * Rhea Perlman played Carla Tortelli in "Fear of Flying"
 * Katy Perry guest starred in "The Fight Before Christmas"
 * Michelle Pfeiffer played Mindy Simmons in "The Last Temptation of Homer"
 * Regis Philbin played himself in "Treehouse of Horror IX"
 * Natalie Portman played a teenaged girl in "Little Big Girl"
 * Wolfgang Puck played himself in "The Bart Knows What It Wants"
 * Tito Puente played himself in "Who Shot Mr. Burns?"
 * Daniel Radcliffe played Edmund in "Treehouse of Horror XXI" and Diggs in "Diggs"
 * Dan Rather played himself in "E Pluribus Wiggum"
 * Tim Robbins played Jim Hope in "Grift of the Magi"
 * Ray Romano played Ray Magini in "Don't Fear the Roofer"
 * Linda Ronstadt played herself in "Mr. Plow
 * Isabella Rossellini played Astrid Weller in "Mom and Pop Art"
 * Susan Sarandon played the ballet teacher in "Homer vs. Patty & Selma" and herself in "Bart Has Two Mommies"
 * Martin Sheen played Sgt. Seymour Skinner in "The Principal and the Pauper"
 * Brooke Shields played herself in "The Front"
 * Dick Smothers played himself in "O Brother, Where Bart Thou?" (2009)
 * Jerry Springer played himself in "Treehouse of Horror IX" (1998)
 * Ringo Starr played himself in "Brush with Greatness"
 * Jon Stewart played himself in "E Pluribus Wiggum"
 * Patrick Stewart played Number One in "Homer the Great"
 * Ben Stiller played Garth Motherloving in "Sweets and Sour Marge"
 * Michael Stipe played himself in "Homer the Moe"
 * George Takei played Akira the waiter in "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish," Wink the Japanese game show host in "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo," and the waiter in "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love"
 * Amy Tan played herself in "Insane Clown Poppy"
 * Elizabeth Taylor played Maggie Simpson in "Lisa's First Word" and played herself in "Krusty Gets Kancelled"
 * James Taylor played himself in "Deep Space Homer"
 * Teller played himself in "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder"
 * Dave Thomas played Rex Banner in "Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment"
 * Marisa Tomei played Sara Sloane in "A Star is Born-Again"
 * Lily Tomlin played Tammy in "The Last of the Red Hat Mamas"
 * Alex Trebek played himself in "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace" and "When You Dish Upon a Star"
 * Dick Tufeld played the Lost in Space Robot in "Mayored to the Mob" and "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore"
 * Kathleen Turner played Stacy Lovell in "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy"
 * Steven Tyler played himself in "Flaming Moe's"
 * Tracey Ullman played Emily Winthrop in "Barts Dog Gets an F"
 * Gedde Watanabe played the Mr. Sparkle factory foreman in "In Marge We Trust" and a Japanese father in "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo"
 * George Wendt played Norm Peterson in "Fear of Flying"
 * Betty White played herself in "Missionary: Impossible" and "Homerazzi"
 * Fred Willard played Wally Kogen in "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday"
 * Venus Williams played herself in "Tennis the Menace"
 * Henry Winkler played Ramrod in "Take My Wife, Sleaze"
 * Reese Witherspoon voiced Greta Wolfcastle in "The Bart Wants What It Wants"
 * "Weird Al" Yankovic played himself in "Three Gays of the Condo" and "That 90's Show"