30 Years of The Simpsons!

30 years ago, on this day, December 17, 1989, Matt Groening's The Simpsons made its debut as an animated sitcom on FOX with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". The premiere episode was nominated for two Emmy Awards in 1990. The series' was originally intended to debut earlier in 1989 with "Some Enchanted Evening", but didn't due to animation problems with the episode. The series is a satirical depiction of working-class life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield and parodies American culture and society, television, and the human condition. The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with producer James L. Brooks. Groening created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after his own family members, substituting Bart for his own name. The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After three seasons, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and became Fox's first series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–90). Since its debut on December 17, 1989, 672 episodes of The Simpsons have been broadcast. It is the longest-running American sitcom, both in terms of seasons and number of episodes. The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on July 27, 2007, and grossed over $527 million. Then on October 30, 2007, a video game was released. Currently, the series finished airing its thirtieth season, which began airing September 30, 2018 and was renewed for a thirty-first and thirty-second season on February 6, 2019, the latter of which will contain the 700th episode. #TheSimpsons #Simpsons30