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Back in the '60s, the height of TV hip was a gig on Batman. Today, the guest shot with the coolest cachet is lending your voice to The Simpsons. Since 1989, when the bug-eyed, yellow-faced family startled viewers and became Fox's first hit, more than 50 famous people have improbably shown up in the cartoon town of Springfield or had their voices spring from the mouths of its denizens. The visitors have been a democracy of fame, ranging from legendary stars to newcomers, from singers to a swinger, from athletes to an astronaut. And yet the Simpsons themselves remain unchanged by their repeated brushes with celebrity.

On April 28, Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie will breathlessly race to their ratty couch for the 100th time. After five years, 3,000 minutes, and dozens of Bart's punitive scribblings on the Springfield Elementary School blackboard (I will not encourage others to fly...I will not yell ''She's dead'' during roll call...I will not belch the national anthem...), the Simpsons continue to be both the quintessential middle-class family and a collection of lunatic mutants willing to take into their home a very large, white insane- asylum refugee who claims to be Michael Jackson (and just happens to sound remarkably like the Gloved One). To honor the family, we asked a few of Springfield's better-known visitors what it was like to be turned into a Simpsons cartoon.

KATHLEEN TURNER ROLE: Stacy Lovell, creator of the Barbie-like Malibu Stacy doll. THE EXPERIENCE: ''They sent me a script and I flipped over it. It was such a close reflection of my daughter's and my disagreement over all that stupid Barbie stuff.... I thought I looked like Lauren Bacall. I pictured (the character) much less attractive.'' FAVORITE CHARACTER: Lisa. ''She's just so outspoken. She's just instinctively on the correct ethical side.''

NEIL PATRICK HARRIS ROLE: A grown-up version of Bart. THE EXPERIENCE: ''The Neil version of Bart was pretty funny. It was kind of like Bart with a pug nose. (I had) just three lines. But it was cool to watch everyone improvising.'' FAVORITE CHARACTER: Homer. ''I like going, 'DOH!' I do it often in my daily life.''

SARA GILBERT ROLE: Laura, a neighbor Bart has a crush on. THE EXPERIENCE: ''She was the coolest. They went for some characteristics based on how people in America see me. It's very Darlene-esque, more so than Sara-esque.'' FAVORITE CHARACTER: Apu, the Indian owner of the Kwik-E-Mart. ''I like that accent.''

JAMES WOODS ROLE: Himself-he runs Apu's Kwik-E-Mart to prepare for a movie role as a convenience-store clerk. THE EXPERIENCE: ''My kid brother said (the caricature) was uncanny and it was hysterical how accurate they were.'' FAVORITE CHARACTER: Lisa. ''She has a monopoly on the brains in the family- she's my role model.''

SMOKIN' JOE FRAZIER ROLE: Himself-the ex-heavyweight champ slugs (Homer's friend) Barney outside Moe's Tavern and later presents Homer with an award. THE EXPERIENCE: ''They called and said, 'We got a paying job for you where you don't have to get hit.' I think the episode would have been more realistic if my character had hit the loudmouth Ali instead of the loudmouth at the bar.'' FAVORITE CHARACTER: Homer. ''He is the closest to my age.''


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