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Development. Shorts. From season 1 (1987) From season 2 (1987–88) From season 3 (1988–89) See also. References. External links. The Simpsons shorts. The Simpson family as they appeared in the early shorts from The Tracey Ullman Show. Their design gradually evolved towards those seen in the standalone show.
Introduction The Simpsons shorts; Development; Shorts From season 1 (1987) From season 2 (1987–88) From season 3 (1988–89) See also; References; External links
The series was created by Matt Groening, who designed the Simpson family and wrote many of the shorts. The shorts first aired on April 19, 1987 starting with "Good Night". The final short to air was "TV Simpsons", originally airing on May 14, 1989.
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- Overview
- Development
- Shorts
- See also
- References
- External links
Special episode list for an animated seriesTemplate:SHORTDESC:Special episode list for an animated series
shorts are a series of animated shorts that aired as a recurring segment on Fox variety television series The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, before the characters spun off into The Simpsons, their own half-hour prime-time show. It features Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The series was created by Matt Groening, who designed the Simpson family and wrote many of the shorts. The shorts first aired on April 19, 1987 starting with "Good Night". The final short to air was "TV Simpsons", originally airing on May 14, 1989. The Simpsons later debuted on December 17, 1989, as an independent series with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".
One marketing study found that only 14 percent of Americans were familiar with the shorts, compared to 85 percent in November 1990 who were familiar with the Simpsons family, 11 months after the full-length show began airing.
Only a few of these shorts have been released on DVD. "Good Night" was included on The Simpsons Season 1 DVD. Five of these shorts were later used in the clip-show episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" on the half-hour show, which was released on the Season 7 DVD. These five shorts were "Good Night", which was featured in its entirety, and portions of "The Perfect Crime", "Space Patrol", "World War III", and "Bathtime".Template:Sfn In "You Kent Always Say What You Want", the short "Family Portrait" replaces the entire opening sequence in celebration of the 400th episode. In June 2013, it was reported that FXX is trying to acquire the shorts for an OctoberTemplate:Specify Simpsons app, "Simpsons World".
When producer James L. Brooks was working on the television variety show The Tracey Ullman Show, he decided that he wanted to include short animated wraparounds before and after the commercial breaks. Having seen one of cartoonist Matt Groening's Life in Hell comic strips, Brooks asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts, which Groening initially intended to present as his Life in Hell series. Groening later realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life's work. He therefore chose another approach while waiting in the lobby of Brooks's office for the pitch meeting, hurriedly formulating his version of a dysfunctional family that became the Simpsons. He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name. Bart was modeled after Groening's older brother, Mark, but given a different name which was chosen as an anagram of "brat". The stories were written and storyboarded by Matt Groening. The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up; instead, they just traced over his drawings. The animation was produced domestically at Klasky-Csupo, with Wesley Archer, David Silverman, and Bill Kopp being animators for the first season. After season one, it would be animated by Archer and Silverman thereafter. Gyorgyi Peluce was the colorist and the person who decided to make the characters yellow.
The actors who voiced the characters in the short later reprised their roles in The Simpsons series. Dan Castellaneta performed the voices of Homer Simpson, Grampa Simpson, and Krusty the Clown.Template:Sfn Homer's voice sounds different in the shorts compared to most episodes of the half-hour show, as Castellaneta originally tried to impersonate Walter Matthau. Although he would retain this characteristic through the early episodes of the regular series, it was gradually dropped as Homer's personality evolved away from that of a stereotypical sitcom father. The producers of the show were in need of someone to do voiceovers, so rather than hire actors, they asked Castellaneta (who had already done some voice work) and Julie Kavner, both members of the Ullman Show cast, to do it. The kids still needed voices, and Nancy Cartwright, a journeyman voice actress, came in to audition. She recalled that "I was already doing voicework for eight different shows at the time and thought this would just be another job. They originally wanted me for Lisa's voice, but I thought 'Nah, I don't want to be the boring middle child, I want to be a bratty 10-year old boy.' So as soon as I gave a demonstration, [Brooks and Groening] hired me on the spot." Some time later, Yeardley Smith, a 22-year-old B-movie actress whose most notable accomplishment to date was featuring in the notorious 1986 Stephen King film Maximum Overdrive, was brought in to do Lisa's voice.Template:Sfn The recording of the shorts was often primitive; according to Cartwright, the dialogue for the Ullman shorts was recorded on a portable tape deck in a makeshift studio, which consisted of the video engineer suite, above the bleachers on the Ullman show set. While most of the characters' personalities are similar to what they are in the series, Lisa is simply a clone of Bart and did not have a distinct personality until a few episodes into the regular series.Template:Opinion
OverviewFrom season 1 (1987)From season 2 (1987–88)No. overall\tNo. in season\tTitle\tThe Tracey Ullman Show episode\tOriginal air date 81\t"Making Faces"\tSeason 2, Episode 1\tSeptember 22, 1987 (1987-09-22) Marge warns the kids that if they make scary faces, their faces will freeze in place forever. Bart, Lisa, and Maggie ignore her--until Marge gives them a scare with a mirror. 92\t"The Funeral"\tSeason 2, Episode 2\tOctober 4, 1987 (1987-10-04) The family attends the funeral of Uncle Hubert. Bart proves to be disruptive and Homer swears to never take the kids to another funeral, much to their dismay. 103\t"Maggie's Brain"\tSeason 2, Episode 3\tOctober 11, 1987 (1987-10-11) Bart and Lisa wonder what is inside Maggie's mind when looking at her in her crib. The audience sees her imagination: she is a giant, and she is tickling baby-sized versions of Bart and Lisa. 114\t"Football"\tSeason 2, Episode 4\tOctober 18, 1987 (1987-10-18) Homer promises the kids chocolate milkshakes if Bart can catch one of his long football passes. Unfortunately, there are many obstacles to overcome, like falling down a cliff, but Bart finally manages to catch the football — with his mouth. 125\t"House of Cards"\tSeason 2, Episode 5\tOctober 25, 1987 (1987-10-25) Bart tries to make a house of cards, but Lisa and Maggie make noises that cause the house to fall every time. 136\t"Bart and Dad Eat Dinner"\tSeason 2, Episode 6\tNovember 1, 1987 (1987-11-01) Marge takes the girls out to watch a ballet, leaving Homer in charge of dinner. Bart cannot stomach it when he is forced to eat a mix of fish nuggets and pork-a-roni. 147\t"Space Patrol"\tSeason 2, Episode 7\tNovember 8, 1987 (1987-11-08) Bart, Lisa and Maggie play a game of "Space Patrol" while Homer and Marge are out. Lisa plays a superhero with Maggie as her sidekick, while Bart puts a jug on his head with the pretense of it being the helmet of an alien warlord. However, his head gets stuck in the jug and Lisa "frees" Bart using a croquet mallet. Clips from this short were featured on a later Simpsons episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular". 158\t"Bart's Haircut"\tSeason 2, Episode 8\tNovember 15, 1987 (1987-11-15) When Bart's hair grows too long, Homer and Marge order him to get it cut. The barber ends up shaving Bart's entire head, and he attempts to disguise his scalp using glue, his old hair, and eventually a paper bag. The family promises not to laugh if he shows them the haircut, but fail to keep their vow when they see how ridiculous Bart looks. 169\t"World War III"\tSeason 2, Episode 9\tNovember 22, 1987 (1987-11-22) Homer wakes up the family in the middle of the night claiming that World War III has started to test their readiness for a nuclear war. The terrified family manages to escape to a fallout shelter in the basement in 18 seconds, but Homer says that this is too slow. After two more drills, the increasingly exhausted family members trick Homer into racing into the bunker alone and lock him inside. Bart asks Marge if this is a good thing to do; she ignores the question and says they'll let him out in the morning. Clips from this short were featured on a later Simpsons episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular". 1710\t"The Perfect Crime"\tSeason 2, Episode 10\tDecember 13, 1987 (1987-12-13) When Marge makes a batch of chocolate chip cookies, Bart becomes obsessed with pulling off "the perfect crime" and stealing them all. His various attempts are foiled by the heat of the cookies and Maggie, but eventually, all of the treats vanish from the tray. Maggie takes Homer and Marge along a trail of cookie crumbs that leads to Bart's bedroom, where he is lying with a bloated stomach and complaining that the "perfect crime" is impossible. Clips from this short were featured on a later Simpsons episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular". 1811\t"Scary Stories"\tSeason 2, Episode 11\tDecember 20, 1987 (1987-12-20) Bart tells Lisa and Maggie a series of scary stories in the dark, only to believe they're coming true. 1912\t"Grandpa and the Kids"\tSeason 2, Episode 12\tJanuary 10, 1988 (1988-01-10) Grampa tells the kids stories from the good old days. When the kids stop listening to him, he feigns his own death to recapture their attention. •This marks the first speaking appearance of Grampa Simpson. 2013\t"Gone Fishin'"\tSeason 2, Episode 13\tJanuary 24, 1988 (1988-01-24) Bart and Homer go on a fishing trip. Homer asks Bart for a baloney sandwich, but Bart forgot the baloney. He puts the bait on the sandwich instead. When they get the boat in the water, they hit rapids and later fall off of a waterfall. 2114\t"Skateboarding"\tSeason 2, Episode 14\tFebruary 7, 1988 (1988-02-07) Bart teaches his sisters how to skateboard, but is outdone every time he tries to show off. 2215\t"The Pagans"\tSeason 2, Episode 15\tFebruary 14, 1988 (1988-02-14) When the family is on their way to church, the kids declares themselves pagans. After the car breaks down, the kids start acting like pagans, much to Homer's dismay. After the children strip naked and wear leaves, an enraged Homer chases them inside a church, where they ironically take sancturary. •This is the first short to have Bart call his father "Homer" rather than "Dad". 2316\t"The Closet"\tSeason 2, Episode 16\tFebruary 21, 1988 (1988-02-21) When Bart hears Homer calling him, he fears that his father will make him do chores. He hides in a closet, only to accidentally lock himself in. After a failed attempt to get Maggie to help him, Bart breaks down the door and decides to do his chores--only to discover a note explaining that the whole family has left to get chocolate milkshakes. 2417\t"The Aquarium"\tSeason 2, Episode 17\tFebruary 28, 1988 (1988-02-28) Homer takes Bart, Lisa and Maggie to the aquarium. Bart finds a way to get into the shark tank and swims with a shark. When Homer finds out, he threatens him, prompting Bart to stay in the tank--it's safer than dealing with his father's anger. 2518\t"Family Portrait"\tSeason 2, Episode 18\tMarch 6, 1988 (1988-03-06) Homer has trouble taking a normal family portrait. Every time they are close to a good picture, the family sabotages the shot. This short replaced the opening sequence in a later Simpsons episode "You Kent Always Say What You Want". •Features the first appearance of the running gag in which Homer chokes Bart, saying "Why you little..."From season 3 (1988–89)•List of The Tracey Ullman Show episodes
•List of The Simpsons episodes
•"Treehouse of Horror XXV"
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General
•Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M.
Specific
1.Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire. BBC (2000).
2.Ullman Has a Cow Over 'Simpsons' : Lawsuit Alleges She Was Cut Out of Millions in Merchandising Profits (19 April 1991).
•The Simpsons shorts on IMDb
Template:The Simpsons Template:Matt Groening Template:Fox Animation Template:Featured list
The shorts were featured on the first three seasons on The Tracey Ullman Show. By the fourth and last season of The Tracey Ullman Show, the first season of the half-hour show was on the air. In the two first seasons the shorts were divided into three or four parts, but in the third season they were played as a single story.
Dec 1, 2019 · The Simpsons shorts are a series of animated short films that aired as a recurring segment on Fox variety television series The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, before the characters spun off into The Simpsons, their own half-hour prime-time show. They feature Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Magg
The Simpson family as they originally appeared in shorts from The Tracey Ullman Show as their television debut in 1987. The Simpson family debuted in short animated cartoons on The Tracey Ullman Show , beginning with episode three of the first season.
