"The Simpsons" first appeared in the mid-1980's as a short segment on what woman's TV series?

Before becoming a global phenomenon in their own right, America's favorite yellow family made their television debut in 1987 as a series of animated shorts on a new sketch comedy program. That program was "The Tracy Ullman Show," a flagship series for the then-fledgling Fox network (Review). Producer James L. Brooks, a fan of Matt Groening's "Life in Hell" comic strip, approached him to create animated bumpers to air between the show's live-action skits.

Fearing he would lose the ownership rights to his comic characters, Groening famously sketched out a new idea for a dysfunctional family just minutes before his meeting with Brooks. He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name. These original shorts, beginning with one titled "Good Night," featured a much cruder and scratchier animation style than the polished look the series would later adopt.

Over three seasons, 48 of these short segments were produced for "The Tracy Ullman Show." Their popularity grew to the point that Fox decided to take a risk and spin the family off into their own half-hour primetime series. The Simpsons (Review) premiered as a standalone show in December 1989 and quickly became a ratings juggernaut, helping to establish Fox as a major broadcast network and changing television history forever.