America's most famous dysfunctional cartoon family — The Simpsons — were unveiled as the latest faces on a set of commemorative stamps released by the U.S. Postal Service. A total of one billion "The Simpsons" stamps will be issued across the United States to mark the 20th season of the long-running comedy that follows the fortunes of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. U.S. Postal Service official David Failor said at a ceremony in Los Angeles that the issue marked the first time a television series has been the sole subject of a stamp set in the United States. Matt Groening, the creator of the hit animated series, designed the stamps. "This is the biggest and the most adhesive honor 'The Simpsons' has ever received," Groening said. The U.S. Postal Service receives about 50,000 suggestions for special stamp sets each year, but only about 20 are selected, Failor said. "We are emotionally moved by the Postal Service selecting us rather than making the lazy choice of someone who has benefited society," the show's executive producer James L. Brooks said. "It's only supposed to be dead people on stamps. Somehow we were able to overcome that."

dysfunctional:不正常的，不和谐的

commemorative：紀念的

long-running：上映很久的

hit：大受欢迎，畅销的事务

adhesive：黏的;有黏性的

executive producer：执行制作人

to overcome：克服，战胜