August 1 1997 - The Simpsons, created by cartoonist Matt Groening (and named to the members of his family -- except for Bart, which is an anagram for Brat), appeared in 1897 as a serie of 30-second spots produced for the FOX Emmy Award-Winning variety series The Tracey Ullman Show. The Simpsons premièred on FOX as a half hour-comedy on January 14, 1990. Confirmed by fans and critici to be the most hilaric and lifelike portraits of the average American family, the series received the 1990 and 1991 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program.
The Simpsons, living in the community of Springfield, include Homer, a father wo gives bad advice and works as safety inspector at the nuclear power plant; Marge, a loving mother and wife who tries to reserve the peace in the family; Bart, a ten year old anarchist; Lisa, a smart, philosophical girl of ten years old, who loves to play the saxophone; and Maggie, the baby, who sucks her pacifier while watching the rest of the family quarrel.
THE SIMPSONS has a more colorfull history and a bigger influence on the world than any other television series. The show carries catchy phrases as "Cowabunga", "Aye Caramba", "D'oh!", "Eat my shorts!" and "Don't have a cow, man!" which has become part of the daily vocabulary of many viewers.
The biggest compliment the show ever received is the political disorder it produced and still produces, of which former Vice President Dan Quayle is painfully aware. While visiting the New Yersey Elementary School (6/15/92), the vice president corrected a young student's spelling of the word "potato" by making it "potatoe", only to find that the student was right and he was wrong! The opening credits of The Simpsons on June 25 1997 showed Bart, writing a sentence over and over again on the blackboard as a punishment for a prank he played. This time Bart wrote: "Potatoe, not potatoe"
According to Matt Groening, it was Bart's idea.
