The Comedy Sketch Show That Quietly Launched The Simpsons

For many of us, it’s hard to imagine a time before “The Simpsons.” As the longest-running scripted television series of all time, “The Simpsons” has been on the air since 1989, and while the show has certainly evolved over 36 seasons, some things have been there since the beginning. Maggie has always been a little too smart for a baby, Homer has always been a bit of a jerk sometimes, and people are rather inexplicably bright yellow, and that goes back to before the animated family even had their own television series. 

Before creator Matt Groening had a show of his own, the Simpson family and their neighbors in Springfield were the stars of a series of shorts on the Emmy-winning Fox sketch comedy series “The Tracey Ullman Show.” Though how exactly “The Simpsons” were conceived is contentious, we know for sure that the very first “Simpsons” short aired on the first episode of “The Tracey Ullman Show” on April 5, 1987, introducing America and soon the rest of the world to Bart, Lisa, Maggie, Marge, and Homer. “The Simpsons” changed the pop culture landscape, inspiring a whole new wave of adult animated shows. Without “The Simpsons,” there is no “Family Guy” or “South Park,” but without “The Tracey Ullman Show,” there might never have been a “Simpsons.” 

“The Tracey Ullman Show” was part of Fox’s attempt at original programming, following the controversial hit series “Married… With Children,” which also helped pave the way for “The Simpsons” in its own way. “The Tracey Ullman Show” introduced U.S. audiences to comedian Tracey Ullman, who already had three successful British shows under her belt and wanted to see if she could make a name for herself on American television as well. Each episode featured a few sketches featuring Ullman and her regular cast of players, a dance routine choreographed by Paula Abdul (yes, really), and cartoon interstitials before and after commercial breaks. The most popular of these were the ones featuring Groening’s funny family, which is why Fox decided to give him a 30-minute show of his own to really dig into the personalities in Springfield after the third season of “The Tracey Ullman Show.” 

Ullman wasn’t a huge fan of the “Simpsons” shorts on her show, and it’s kind of hard to blame her given the shoddy animation quality and early writing that isn’t really indicative of how great “The Simpsons” would become. Thankfully, the folks at Fox gave “The Simpsons” a chance to grow and the show has since become a cultural touchstone. 

Though Groening himself wouldn’t really understand just how great “The Simpsons” could be until the show’s second season, there is still some charm to those early “Simpsons” shorts. The shoddy animation is kind of fun now, feeling delightfully rough in an era where everything is done digitally and turbo-crisp, and the rebellious relationship between siblings Bart and Lisa is fun. (Lisa wouldn’t become the bookworm we know and love until the actual series, and even then it was developed over time.) 

Though there are some elements of “The Simpsons” that haven’t aged well, like some less-than-savory guest stars, the show has been uniquely original since its time as a series of shorts on one truly wacky sketch comedy show. Tracy Ullman has had plenty of her own success since her show’s end, including an HBO sketch series and a starring role in John Waters’ final film, “A Dirty Shame,” but the greatest legacy of her Fox show will always be launching “The Simpsons.”