MUMBAI: The Simpsons, Fox's animated series will kick off its 16th season on Sunday in the US. In India the show airs on Star World.

To celebrate the occasion the Rupert Murdoch owned broadcaster has expanded the site - thesimpsons.com. It offers extended biographical sketches of 32 characters from the show, as well as 47 interactive gags and video games. A folder for each character contains custom animation, interactive jokes and games.

The show has gained Brownie points due to its irreverence, wit and willingness to take on anything from politics to religion to family values notwithstanding the strong conservative mood in the US.

Meanwhile a movie version of the show will hit theatres shortly. The films performance could very well decide the fate of the show. A report in The Guardian had earlier indicated that the show could end in 2009 when it completes 20 years of existence.

The shows creator Matt Groening added " It is a bunch of humans working really hard. It doesn't get any easier because we're still faced with the problem of having a history. We are trying not to repeat ourselves and we are also competing with people's memories of their favourite episode."