10. The Bush family were not fans of the show. In October 1990, then-First Lady Barbara Bush called the show “the dumbest thing [she] had ever seen,” prompting the show’s writers to pen a response from Marge Simpson, who argued the family was trying their hardest. The First Lady then apologized.
In early 1992, then-President George H.W. Bush said, during a speech for his failed re-election campaign, “We are going to keep on trying to strengthen the American family, to make American families a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons.” The writers responded in the show’s very next broadcast, a rerun, with an opening showing the family watching the speech as Bart replies, “Hey, we’re just like the Waltons. We’re praying for an end to the depression, too.”
11. While the show has been a mainstay on Sunday evenings for much of its run, its initial success there, becoming the first Fox series to rank among the season’s top 30 highest-rated shows in its first season, prompted the network to move it to Thursdays, airing opposite The Cosby Show, then the number one show. It would remain there until season six when it was moved back to Sundays.
12. Yeardly Smith, the voice of Lisa, is the only main cast member who regularly voices only one character.
