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.jpg) The Simpsons Archive main page | |
Type of site | Television |
|---|---|
| URL | simpsonsarchive |
| Launched | 1994 |
| Current status | Online |
The Simpsons Archive, also known by its previousdomain name snpp.com or simply SNPP (named for theSpringfield Nuclear Power Plant), is aSimpsonsfan site that has been online since 1994. Maintained by dozens of volunteers from—amongst other places—thenewsgroupalt.tv.simpsons andSimpsons-relatedforums, the site features information on every aspect of the show, from detailed guides to upcoming episodes andmerchandise, to the episode capsules (text files documentingfreeze frame jokes, quotes, scene summaries, reviews and the like), for which the site is well known. In a bid to steer clear ofFox's legal department after a conflict in 1996, the site contains no multimedia or interactive features, preferring to focus on documenting the show through textual material.[1] As of October 2005, the site receives roughly 1.2 million hits per month. In December 2013, it was moved to simpsonsarchive.com, with the original snpp.com domain returned to the owner that had provided it to the project at no cost since 1995.[2]
The Archive began in 1994, the brainchild of Gary Goldberg, with extensive help from the members of alt.tv.simpsons at the time, including Raymond Chen, the first to compile the episode capsules, and Dave Hall, one of the first online Simpsons fans to champion list-compiling. The site, originally based on the Widener archive set up byBrendan Kehoe in 1989, featured a bright yellow and black design until 1998, when it was revamped to the more subdued style.
In addition to this, the site offers a search facility and anAbout the Archive page which allows you to contact any of the various maintainers and check which new pages and episode capsules have been added since your last visit.
The site has been featured in many publications, including the UKmagazineWebUser, in which the site ranked #3 in their list of the "Top 100 TV Websites" back in 2002, and several unofficialSimpsons books including the analyticalPlanet Simpson byChris Turner and the UK-issued episode guidesThe Pocket Essentials: The Simpsons by Peter Mann andI Can't Believe It's A Bigger, Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide byGary Russell andGareth Roberts.[4] InPlanet Simpson, Turner thanks the Simpsons Archive, saying that the book would have been impossible without it.
Matt Groening, creator of the show, was once quoted in theArgentiniannewspaperLa Nación as saying: "Sometimes we have to look at fan sites to remember [what we have done before]: one of the best is www.snpp.com. I have no idea what those initials mean, but it has a lot of stuff. Though for them, every episode is the worst ever."[5][6] Reviews from the site's episode capsules have also been mentioned in theDVD commentaries by various members of the show's staff.[citation needed]
In 2007, it was ranked number five onEntertainment Weekly's list of "25 essential fansites".[7]
I've just done my first non-fiction book, Oh No It's A Completely Unofficial Simpsons Guide for Virgin, co-authored with Gareth Roberts which has, to be frank, been more of a nightmare than it needed to be [the book was published as I Can't Believe It's An Unofficial Simpsons Guide, with Gary and Gareth writing under the pseudonyms Warren Martyn & Adrian Wood].
