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"The Simpsons": It Was Twenty Years Ago Today...

DToTheJ

DToTheJ

... when Fox aired "The Simpsons Christmas Special". It would obviously be the precursor to what is currently the longest-running scripted television series. Unusually, the debut episode is not listed as a "pilot" but it has the episode title "Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire."

Of course, in the late 1980's, the animated family started on Fox in segments of "The Tracey Ullman Show."
 
This is such an odd date for an anniversary considering that the first season was supposed to have aired in the fall of 1989. The very first produced episode "Some Enchanted Evening" along with the rest of the season was held back due to having very bad animation. "Some Enchanted Evening" ended up being the season finale because it had the most problems that needed to be addressed.

It's also hard to believe that the dvd box set for season one came out eight years ago. Well, not on this date but shortly after 9/11.
 
What's maybe the most amazing is how well the program has held up creatively over the years. It's still one of the most entertaining shows on TV, 20 seasons on. Episodes originally produced 15 or 20 years ago (written by a staff that then included the Tonight Show's current host Conan O'Brien) hold up extremely well now. The only show of that era with a similar creative shelf life is Seinfeld...and Jerry packed it in after nine seasons and 180 episiodes feeling he was starting to run out of gas creatively. Conversely the Simpsons team keeps it fresh and creative after 20 seasons and over 400 shows.
 
Well, certainly when you have a staff of three dozen producers or so, it helps!

Seriously, next time you catch the show on Fox, I dare you to count all of the names of the producers, executive producers, consulting producers, supervising producers, et al. that appear in the opening segment of the show. Beats sheep on a rough night!
 
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