PREVIEW: The Simpsons enlist WikiLeaks' Assange for 500th episode

By Chris Melzer and Pat Reber Feb 17, 2012, 21:51 GMT

New York - The cultural phenomenon The Simpsons is to notch up its 500th episode on Sunday night with a guest appearance by controversial WikiLeaks operator Julian Assange.

Never mind that Assange, 40, is stuck in Britain fighting his extradition to Sweden, where he faces charges of sexual assault on two women, or that he has angered the US government by leaking its secrets.

Those are just the sort of things that inspire the creator of the longest-running prime-time television entertainment series ever, Matt Groening.

The Simpsons made its debut in 1989 on Fox, the then-fledgling network owned by Rupert Murdoch, and caught the notice of an American audience ready for something different. It has gone on to earn well over 1 billion dollars, and a reputation as the most consistently subversive programme watched by a mainstream audience in the United States and around the world.

The show is so popular that celebrities elbow each other out of the way for a spot: James Brown, Johnny Cash, George Harrison, Bob Hope, Michael Jackson, Jack Lemmon, Tito Puente, Elizabeth Taylor - and those are just the ones who have died, quipped Groening as he got a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame just days before the airing of the milestone episode.

The Simpsons' executive producer Al Jean recently told Entertainment Weekly how Assange came to the show. Groening had heard that Assange wanted to make an appearance, 'so we asked our casting director Bonnie Pietila - who had been able to unearth Thomas Pynchon and got Tony Blair to do the show - to find Mr Assange. And she did.'

Assange recorded his appearance remotely in Britain. In the show, the Simpsons are forced to leave Springfield and in exile, they end up living next to Assange's character, media reports said.

The Simpsons have spun off an entire culture: an official US postage stamp; a theme park ride at the Universal Orlando Resort in Florida; a full-length movie; and a global following of ardent fans.

Groening has created a range of memorable characters - from the cynical doctor, the superficial journalist and the rabid capitalist, to the sleazy lawyer and the goody-goody neighbour. At some point, anyone who watches can recognize not only himself but everyone around him among the fictional residents of Springfield. No one is spared.

In a Halloween special episode, a cannibalistic Homer eats a few Germans: 'What did we Germans ever do to deserve this?' one victim asks, and then adds, after some thought, 'Oh, right.'

An episode early in the series, called Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk - the title was in genuine, if inaccurate, German - has Burns selling his power plant to two German investors. They turn around and fire Homer, who works as a safety inspector at the plant throughout the series.

In another episode, the programme convinced German film maker Werner Herzog - a man one would not expect to find in a US carton - to make a vocal appearance as a pharmaceutical executive.

Those who do not know the series may dismiss it as a children's programme because of its animation format. Even Groening admits that he initially thought it could appeal to children, but was not sure about adults. In fact, adult viewers have helped power the Simpsons through their current 23rd season, and seasons 24 and 25 are on order.

Its six main actors - who are perhaps the world's best-paid actors who are never seen - until recently got 400,000 dollars apiece for each 23-minute show. They've accepted one-third less for the next two seasons, but only after a huge clash.

The programme's viewing figures have fallen by about one-fifth since their all-time high of 8.7 million, with many deserting to the more satirical Family Guy programme.

The Simpsons' brand of satire may be less acid, but the show is not afraid of courting its own controversy. One 2005 episode made international headlines for taking on the issue of gay marriage, as Marge's sister comes out of the closet, and Homer conducts gay unions to increase tourism to Springfield.

The touchy subject material has not lost any of its impact in Muslim countries and Russia, where such subversive fun-poking continues to cause outrage and repeated attempts to ban the show.