The creators of The Simpsons are celebrating 20 years of the iconic series but, as Michael Rosser discovers, there is still plenty more to come, and some fresh ideas in development.

Fact file Matt Groening

Cartoonist, executive producer Born: Portland, Oregon, US

Portland, Oregon, US Age: 55

55 Career: creator, Life in Hell comic strip (1977); creator, The Simpsons (1987); creator, Futurama (1999)

creator, Life in Hell comic strip (1977); creator, The Simpsons (1987); creator, Futurama (1999) Lives: Venice Beach, LA

Venice Beach, LA Children: Two (Homer and Abe) Al Jean

Screenwriter, producer, showrunner Born: Detroit, Michigan, US

Detroit, Michigan, US Age: 48

48 Career: writer, Sledge Hammer (1986-87); writer, ALF (1988); writer/producer, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show; writer/executive producer, The Simpsons (1989-present); co-creator, The Critic (1994-95); co-creator, Teen Angel (1997-98); co-writer, The Simpsons Movie (2007)

writer, Sledge Hammer (1986-87); writer, ALF (1988); writer/producer, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show; writer/executive producer, The Simpsons (1989-present); co-creator, The Critic (1994-95); co-creator, Teen Angel (1997-98); co-writer, The Simpsons Movie (2007) Lives: Los Angeles

Los Angeles Hobbies: Raising his four-year-old daughter, movies, former comic-book collector

Matt Groening looks uneasy in the surroundings of the plush Cannes hotel where our interview is to take place. The cartoonist is in town to be honoured for creating smash hit TV show The Simpsons, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this week.

It would be easy to assume that Groening has grown used to such plaudits, pinballing from one awards ceremony to another and comfortable with the wealth his billion-dollar creation has generated.

But it is only when he pulls a pen from his jacket pocket to draw his most famous creation, Homer, that he looks relaxed and at ease.

“I have a constant feeling of bedazzlement, just watching these characters that are drawn in the style that I’ve used since I was 12 years old, with the big eyeballs and overbites,” says Groening, putting the finishing touches to the M and G that form Homer’s zig-zag hair and ear.

“Just the fact that Homer walks, much less falls off cliffs, is amazing to me. Hallucinatory.”

What is maybe even more amazing is the thought that one of the biggest TV shows in history was created in a frantic rush.

Back in 1985, Groening was to produce a series of animated shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show based on his newspaper strip Life in Hell. Minutes before meeting with the show’s producer, James L Brooks, Groening suddenly realised he could lose the copyright to his creation - so decided to come up with a new one.

In those manic minutes, he sketched a family that would be recognisable in silhouette - informed by an article he had read about iconic symbols such as Mickey Mouse and the CBS logo.

Pressed for time, he named them after his father, mother and two sisters - Homer, Marge, Lisa and Maggie. Eldest brother Mark escaped the cut as Groening instead opted to name the final member of the family Bart (an anagram of brat).

Their distinctive yellow skin tone was suggested later by an animator. Since Groening was used to his black-and-white newspaper strips, he expressed initial hesitation but then realised: “If the show turns out to be a hit, you’ll know you’re watching The Simpsons when you’re going through the TV channels and get a flash of yellow.”

First flashes

The characters flashed onto screens as a series of 48 x 60-second shorts that ran across three seasons of Ullman’s show from 19 April 1987, and proved popular enough to get the green light for a 1989 Christmas special.

It is at this point that Al Jean, now executive producer of The Simpsons, enters the picture. “I first heard they were doing a series in March of ‘89,” recalls Jean. “Sam Simon was developing it with Matt and Jim Brooks. I really wanted the chance to work with Jim.”

Looking a little weary in the whirlwind of Cannes - not helped by staying up to listen to sports coverage the night before - Jean says The Simpsons “has changed as little as a show could over 20 years”.

This is also a contributing factor in its success. “The fact that the characters don’t age is a big help,” he says.

“When the actors age, people complain that it’s not the show they first watched years ago. On The Simpsons, if the kids grew up but were still living with their parents, acting like jerks, that would be bizarre. They’d need to get some serious help.”

A growing cast of characters over what now totals more than 450 episodes also helps the story survive.

“It’s a very rich universe,” says Jean about Springfield, the fictional town where The Simpsons live. “Some shows would have four or five characters and there are only so many permutations of story you can do with that. We really have 30 or so major characters and that makes a big difference.”

Groening adds that there will always be ideas to sustain more episodes. “The show is about real life, so you can talk about anything in pop culture, politics, world affairs or personal relationships,” he explains.

“Sometimes it’s like solving a puzzle. I walked into the writers’ room and they were trying to figure out what Homer could do with a steam cleaning vacuum. We sat there stumped until one writer pitched that it was a rental because it’s a crime scene cleaner. There’ll always be more situations to put these characters in.”

In one classic episode, Homer imparted this fatherly advice: “Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is… never try.”

This work-shy attitude could never be aimed at the Simpsons team, who seemingly endure Herculean working schedules to achieve comedy gold.

Jean reveals that he heads into the office first thing to go over designs or edit audio. From 10am-1pm and 2pm-9pm he’s working on scripts with a 20-strong team of writers, and he’s often editing between 1-2pm. After writing, he works on story boards or outlines for new stories and tries to come up with new ideas. It’s a punishing schedule.

Groening, meanwhile, is keen to create new shows. He has already enjoyed success outside of The Simpsons with sci-fi animation Futurama, which returns on Comedy Central in mid-2010. But there could be more to come.

“I’m always creating little characters that are for some fantasy world of a TV show that may or may not happen,” he reveals.

“My struggle is to create something that looks like my own style, but doesn’t look like The Simpsons. But I have a couple of ideas of family-style sitcoms since I could walk into any network, offer them another Simpsons and I think they would probably drool a little.”

There are also “more high concept ideas” for animation that are more genre-specific and could be “either movies or TV shows”.

As for The Simpsons, there are no signs of the end just yet. US network Fox has ordered episodes through to the end of season 22, which will run into 2012 and take it up to 493 episodes.

“I used to draw flip books when I was a kid and never thought I’d do it professionally,” says Groening. “I didn’t think I had the attention span.”