The Simpsons 20th Anniversary

Last night, the Paley Center for Media honored The Simpsons with an event at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Actor Hank Azaria semi-hosted the event and executive producers James L. Brooks, Al Jean and Matt Groening all accepted the honor and spoke.

Many clips of the series were shown, including short pieces of the Morgan Spurlock special The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3-D on Ice, which will air on January 14, 2010. The documentary special will be the conclusion to the year-long global celebration of The Simpsons that launched in January 2009. It will examine the cultural phenomenon of the show in Spurlock's distinctive and innovative style.

Other Simpsons voice actors Yeardley Smith and Nancy Cartwright appeared as did Jonah Hill, made a comical speech about The Simpsons show being his Sesame Street growing up. Josh Groban - whose song was featured on the show - rounded out the show with singing three songs live.

Azaria was a funny host, riffing on the mispronunciation of his name and introducing guests, speakers and clips in various Simpsons characters voices.

The Simpsons made its debut in 1989 and is now the longest-running primetime series in the history of television.