Cu locația în Springfield, orașul tipic american, povestea se concentrează pe aventurile ridicole ale familiei Simpson; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa și Maggie, dar și pe o distribuție de alte câteva sute de personaje.
De la început, seria a devenit un simbol cultural, atrăgând sute de vedete care și-au făcut apariția ca invitați. Serialul și-a făcut un nume prin satira fără frică asupra politicii, mediei și vieții americane în general.
Marge bakes a batch of delicious cookies. Bart attempts to steal them, but burns his fingers trying to pick them up. Everyone except Bart and Maggie leave the kitchen to let them cool down, and Bart takes this opportunity to swipe them, muttering to himself "Aha! The perfect crime!" Homer and Marge come back to find the tray empty. Marge suspects Maggie of eating the cookies, but as a witness she knows exactly who took them and guides them along a trail of cookies running across the floor. His family catch him lying on his back in his bedroom amidst a pile of cookie crumbs. Looking up at them with his stomach full, he groans, "There is no perfect crime." His head bangs back down on the ground and Maggie, secretively, snacks on an uneaten cookie.