Editing The Simpsons (section)

===Characters===
{{Main|List of The Simpsons characters}}
The main characters are the [[Simpson family]], who live in the fictional "[[Middle America (United States)|Middle America]]" town of Springfield.{{sfn|Turner|2004|p=28}} [[Homer Simpson|Homer]], the father, works as a safety inspector at the [[Springfield Nuclear Power Plant]], a position at odds with his careless, buffoonish personality. He is married to [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] ({{nee}} Bouvier), a stereotypical American housewife and mother. They have three children: [[Bart Simpson|Bart]], a ten-year-old troublemaker and prankster; [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]], a precocious eight-year-old activist; and [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]] (named by Bart),<ref>S26E13</ref> the baby of the family who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. Although the family is dysfunctional, many episodes examine their relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to care about one another.<ref>{{cite video |people=Oakley, Bill |date=2005 |title=The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref>

The family also owns a [[greyhound]], [[Santa's Little Helper]], (who first appeared in the episode "[[Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire]]") and a cat, [[Snowball II]], who is replaced by a cat, also named Snowball II, in the fifteenth-season episode "[[I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot]]".<ref>{{cite episode |title=I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot |episode-link=I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot |series=The Simpsons |network=Fox |air-date=January 11, 2004 |season=15 |number=9}}</ref> Extended members of the Simpson and Bouvier family in the main cast include Homer's father [[Grampa Simpson|Abe]] and Marge's sisters [[Patty and Selma]]. Marge's mother [[Simpson family#Jacqueline Bouvier|Jacqueline]] and Homer's mother [[Mona Simpson (The Simpsons)|Mona]] appear less frequently.

[[File:Simpsons cast.png|thumb|upright=2|''The Simpsons'' sports a vast array of secondary and tertiary characters.]]
The show includes a vast array of quirky supporting characters, which include Homer's friends [[Barney Gumble]], [[Lenny Leonard]], and [[Carl Carlson]]; the school principal [[Seymour Skinner]] and staff members such as [[Edna Krabappel]] and [[Groundskeeper Willie]]; students such as [[Milhouse Van Houten]], [[Nelson Muntz]], and [[Ralph Wiggum]]; shopkeepers such as [[Apu Nahasapeemapetilon]], [[Comic Book Guy]], and [[Moe Szyslak]]; government figures [[Mayor Quimby|Mayor "Diamond" Joe Quimby]] and [[Clancy Wiggum]]; next-door neighbor [[Ned Flanders]]; local celebrities such as [[Krusty the Clown]] and news reporter [[Kent Brockman]]; nuclear tycoon [[Montgomery Burns]] and his devoted assistant [[Waylon Smithers]]; and [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters|many more]].

The creators originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokes or for fulfilling needed functions in the town. A number of them have gained expanded roles and subsequently starred in their own episodes. According to Matt Groening, the show adopted the concept of a large supporting cast from the comedy show ''[[Second City Television|SCTV]]''.<ref name="avclub1">{{cite news |url=https://www.avclub.com/matt-groening-1798209542 |title=Matt Groening: Interview |access-date=January 15, 2022 |last=Rabin | first = Nathan |date=April 26, 2006 |newspaper=[[The A.V. Club]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090119014837/http://www.avclub.com/articles/matt-groening,13984/ |archive-date=January 19, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>