Off On A Tangent

How 'The Simpsons' Survives.

One morning last July ... I made my way to the sound stage where a new episode called ''Blame It on Lisa,'' in which the Simpson family heads off to Brazil, was being taped.

The actors who play the Simpson family -- Julie Kavner (Marge), Dan Castellenata (Homer), Yeardley Smith (Lisa) and Nancy Cartwright (Bart) -- were dispersed in a wide semicircle behind microphones, their scripts on stands in front of them like musical scores. Hearing those familiar voices without the mediation of my television speaker, I found myself transported into a two-dimensional world of supersaturated color whose dominant hues were pink, yellow and blue.

Hmm... Donuts... I mean... Really good article about the Simpsons.