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A Year in Comics - February 15th

Life in Hell, The Simpsons and Futurama

Matthew Abram 'Matt' Groening was born on February 15th 1954 in Portland, Oregon, USA, as the third of five children of Homer Philip Groening, a filmmaker, advertiser, writer and cartoonist, and his wife Margareth Ruth (formerly Wiggum), a former teacher.

(If those names sound familiar - Matt's siblings were Mark, Patty, Lisa and Maggie - just saying...)

After following Elementary and High School education, Groening attended The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, an art school where he befriended cartoonist Lynda Barry. After graduating in 1977, he went through a number of jobs before starting as a self-publishing underground cartoonist, starting with the comic Life in Hell, which soon became popular and was syndicated in a number of newspapers, running from 1978 until 2012.

Groening's success as a cartoonist was noticed in 1985 by a TV producer, who approached Groening with the proposal to produce a number of bumper cartoons for Fox TV's The Tracy Ullman Show. Reluctant to use his Life in Hell characters over fears Fox might force him to give up his creative ownership on the comic, Groening went on to conceive a cartoon centering on a dysfunctional 'average' American family. From being bumper shorts, the cartoon evolved into a proper half-hour cartoon which first aired on December 17th 1989 - called The Simpsons

Following the (continuing) succes of The Simpsons, Groening proposed a second series in 1997, set in the year 3000. This would become Futurama, however getting the show to air was frought with difficulties, and it took nearly two years before the first episode aired on March 28th 1999. After four seasons, Futurama was cancelled by Fox, however its popularity and strong sales eventually led to the commissioning a direct-to-DVD fifth season.

At the time of writing, The Simpsons is in its 31st season, having won numerous awards and influenced the genre of adult-oriented animated sitcom, while Groening is working on a yet-to-be-disclosed, 20-episode (two season) animated series for Netflix.

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56th entry out of ?

<- February 14th -- other February 15th entries

Mature Content

-- February 16th ->

Description
A Year in Comics - February 15th

Life in Hell, The Simpsons and Futurama

Matthew Abram 'Matt' Groening was born on February 15th 1954 in Portland, Oregon, USA, as the third of five children of Homer Philip Groening, a filmmaker, advertiser, writer and cartoonist, and his wife Margareth Ruth (formerly Wiggum), a former teacher.

(If those names sound familiar - Matt's siblings were Mark, Patty, Lisa and Maggie - just saying...)

After following Elementary and High School education, Groening attended The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, an art school where he befriended cartoonist Lynda Barry. After graduating in 1977, he went through a number of jobs before starting as a self-publishing underground cartoonist, starting with the comic Life in Hell, which soon became popular and was syndicated in a number of newspapers, running from 1978 until 2012.

Groening's success as a cartoonist was noticed in 1985 by a TV producer, who approached Groening with the proposal to produce a number of bumper cartoons for Fox TV's The Tracy Ullman Show. Reluctant to use his Life in Hell characters over fears Fox might force him to give up his creative ownership on the comic, Groening went on to conceive a cartoon centering on a dysfunctional 'average' American family. From being bumper shorts, the cartoon evolved into a proper half-hour cartoon which first aired on December 17th 1989 - called The Simpsons

Following the (continuing) succes of The Simpsons, Groening proposed a second series in 1997, set in the year 3000. This would become Futurama, however getting the show to air was frought with difficulties, and it took nearly two years before the first episode aired on March 28th 1999. After four seasons, Futurama was cancelled by Fox, however its popularity and strong sales eventually led to the commissioning a direct-to-DVD fifth season.

At the time of writing, The Simpsons is in its 31st season, having won numerous awards and influenced the genre of adult-oriented animated sitcom, while Groening is working on a yet-to-be-disclosed, 20-episode (two season) animated series for Netflix.

----------

56th entry out of ?

<- February 14th -- other February 15th entries

Mature Content

-- February 16th ->