The Simpsons shorts
The Simpsons Shorts is a series of one-minute shorts that ran on the variety show The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, before the characters spun off into their own half-hour prime time show called The Simpsons. The shorts were created by cartoonist Matt Groening in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office. He had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts, and had intended to present his Life in Hell series. When he realized that animating Life in Hell would require him to rescind publication rights for his life's work, Groening decided to go in another direction.[1] He hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family, and named the characters after his own family.[1] Bart was modeled after Groening's older brother, Mark, but given a different name which was chosen as an anagram of "brat."[2]
The stories were written and storyboarded by Matt Groening.[3] 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.[1] The animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo,[4] with Wesley Archer, David Silverman, and Bill Kopp being animators for the first season.[3] After season one it was animated by Archer and Silverman.[3] Georgie Peluse was the colorist and the person who decided to make the characters yellow.[3]
The characters are voiced by the same people known from The Simpsons. Dan Castellaneta performed the voices of Homer Simpson, Abraham Simpson, and Krusty the Clown.[5] Homer's voice sounds different on the shorts compared to most episodes of the half-hour show. His voice was in the beginning a loose impression of Walter Matthau, but it became more robust and humorous on the half-hour show, allowing Homer to cover a fuller range of emotions.[6] Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, and Yeardley Smith performed the voices of Marge Simpson, Bart Simpson, and Lisa Simpson respectively.[5]
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,[7] In the third season they were played as a single story.[7] Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit, claiming that her show was the source of The Simpsons success and therefore should receive a share of the show's profit. Eventually the courts ruled in favor of the network.[8]
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", "The Perfect Crime", "Space Patrol", "World War III", and "Bathtime".[9] Groening has announced that all of the shorts will be available on mobile phones.[10]
Season 1
| # | Airdate | Title | Screenshot |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 - 101 | April 19, 1987 | "Good Night" | 120px |
| Marge and Homer say goodnight to their kids but all doesn't go to plan. Bart philosophically contemplates (first time and last) the wonders of the mind, Lisa hears Marge say "don't let the bed bugs bite" and fears that her bed bugs will eat her, and Maggie is traumatized by the lyrics of "rock-a-bye-baby" | |||
| 2 - 102 | May 3, 1987 | "Watching TV" | 120px |
| Bart and Lisa quarrel over what channel they should watch. Repeatedly Maggie comes up to the television and changes the channel. The only thing they eventually agree on is to stop Maggie changing the channel. Later Homer is saying a speech about family matters and stops when the show comes back on. | |||
| 3 - 103 | May 10, 1987 | "Jumping Bart" | 120px |
| Homer makes several attempts to have Bart jump into his arms. Each time Bart jumps Homer is distracted and fails to catch him. | |||
| 4 - 104 | May 31, 1987 | "Babysitting Maggie" | 120px |
| Marge puts Bart and Lisa in charge of babysitting Maggie. They totally ignore her, and she gets electrocuted, falls down the stairs and chases a butterfly onto the roof only to fall off the roof. | |||
| 5 - 105 | June 21, 1987 | "The Pacifier" | 120px |
| Bart and Lisa take Maggie's pacifier away to stop her from sucking on it. Maggie has an entire drawerful of them and refuses to kick the habit. | |||
| 6 - 106 | June 28, 1987 | "Burping Contest" | 120px |
| Bart, Lisa and Maggie compete in a contest to see who can make the most disgusting burp. Marge objects several times, but to no avail. | |||
| 7 - 107 | July 12, 1987 | "Dinnertime | 120px |
| Marge serves the family dinner and the family sits down for the meal. Marge insists that family should have table manners, but the family's crude eating habits are hard to stop. | |||
Season 2
| # | Airdate | Title | Screenshot |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 - 201 | September 22, 1987 | "Making Faces" | 120px |
| The kids make scary faces at each other. Marge warns them that if they make scary faces, the faces will stay there forever. This warning has the opposite effect. | |||
| 9 - 202 | October 4, 1987 | "The Funeral" | 120px |
| Uncle Hubert is dead and the family attends his funeral. Bart is determined to see his uncle's corpse, but passes out when he glances into the casket. | |||
| 10 - 203 | October 11, 1987 | "What Maggie's Thinking" | 120px |
| Bart and Lisa wonder what's inside Maggie's mind when looking at her in her crib. Maggie sees them as demons and later as infants with her being the grown up. | |||
| 11 - 204 | October 18, 1987 | "Football" | 120px |
| Homer promises the kids chocolate milkshakes if Bart can catch one of his father's long football passes. Unfortunately, there are many obstacles to overcome. | |||
| 12 - 205 | October 25, 1987 | "House of Cards" | 120px |
| Bart tries to make a house of cards, but Lisa and Maggie make noises that cause the house to fall every time. | |||
| 13 - 206 | November 1, 1987 | "Bart and Homer's Dinner" | 120px |
| The girls are out watching a ballet and Homer is in charge of the dinner. Bart can't stomach it when he is forced to eat a mix of fish nuggets and pork-a-roni. | |||
| 14 - 207 | November 8, 1987 | "Space Patrol" | 120px |
| 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 stuck in the jug and Lisa "frees" Bart using a croquet mallet. | |||
| 15 - 208 | November 15, 1987 | "Bart's Haircut" | 120px |
| Bart's hair is too long and he is sent to a barber. His hair cut is too short and he tries multiple ways to hide it. | |||
| 16 - 209 | November 22, 1987 | "World War III" | 120px |
| Homer wakes up the family to practice for a nuclear drill. After multiple drills the family gets tired of him and traps him in the basement. | |||
| 17 - 210 | December 13, 1987 | "The Perfect Crime" | 120px |
| Marge bakes a batch of delicious cookies and Bart attempts to steal them, when everyone except him and Maggie leave the kitchen. Homer and Marge come back to find the tray empty, but Maggie guides them along a trail of cookies running across the floor. The family catches Bart lying on his back in his bedroom amidst a pile of cookie crumbs. | |||
| 18 - 211 | December 20, 1987 | "Scary Stories" | 120px |
| Bart tells Lisa and Maggie a series of scary stories in the dark only to believe they're coming true. | |||
| 19 - 212 | January 10, 1988 | "Grampa and the Kids" | 120px |
Grampa tells the kids stories from the good old days. When the kids stop paying attention to him, he feigns his own death to recapture their attention.
| |||
| 20 - 213 | January 24, 1988 | "Gone Fishin'" | 120px |
| Bart and Homer go on a fishing trip. Homer asks Bart for a balogna sandwich, but Bart forgot the bologna. 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. | |||
| 21 - 214 | February 7, 1988 | "Skateboarding" | 120px |
| Bart teaches his sisters how to skateboard, but is outdone every time he tries to show off. | |||
| 22 - 215 | February 14, 1988 | "The Pagans" | 120px |
| When the family is on their way to church, the kids declares themselves pagans. After the car breakes down in the nature, the kids start acting like pagans much to Homer's disliking. | |||
| 23 - 216 | February 21, 1988 | "Closeted" | 120px |
| Bart tries to avoid to doing chores and ends up hiding in the closet. He finds himself locked in and must find a way to bust out. | |||
| 24 - 217 | February 28, 1988 | "The Aquarium" | 120px |
| Homer takes Bart, Lisa and Maggie to the aquarium. Bart finds a way to get into the shark tank and swims with a shark. | |||
| 25 - 218 | March 6, 1988 | "Family Portrait" | 120px |
| Homer has trouble taking a normal family portrait. Everytime they are close to a good picture the family sabotages the shot. | |||
| 26 - 219 | March 13, 1988 | "Bart's Hiccups" | 120px |
| Lisa and Maggie try to cure Bart's hiccups. The cure is some rather unorthodox methods. | |||
| 27 - 220 | March 20, 1988 | "The Money Jar" | 120px |
| Marge warns the kids that they shouldn't steal from the money jar. Bart, Lisa and Maggie tries to fight the temptation of stealing the money. | |||
| 28 - 221 | May 1, 1988 | "The Art Museum" | 120px |
The Simpsons go to an art museum. Bart stares at a nude painting and Lisa plays with an ancient vase. Marge realizes that the kids are too young to appreciate fine arts.
| |||
| 29 - 222 | May 8, 1988 | "Zoo Story" | 120px |
| The family goes to the zoo and find a lot of similarities between them and the monkeys. Homer unwisely teases a monkey at the zoo and gets a faceful of poo for his trouble. | |||
Season 3
| # | Airdate | Title | Screenshot |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 - 301 | November 6, 1988 | "Shut Up, Simpsons" | 120px |
| Maggie squeaks her toy, which causes a chain reaction of anger in the family. An attempt for reconciliation leads to even more anger. | |||
| 31 - 302 | November 13, 1988 | "Shell Game" | 120px |
| Bart tries to hide the cookies he stole from the jar by distracting his parents with the shell game. When his plan seems to succeed, he is bested by Maggie. | |||
| 32 - 303 | November 20, 1988 | "The Bart Simpson Show" | 120px |
The kids are watching TV and Homer tells them to stop watching violent cartoons. Unable to watch cartoons Bart puts on his own show, which eventually angers Homer even more.
| |||
| 33 - 304 | November 27, 1988 | "Punching Bag" | 120px |
| Bart and Lisa take out their frustrations on a punching bag with Homer's picture on it. When Homer commands Marge to make the kids stop, he later finds her punching the bag. | |||
| 34 - 305 | December 18, 1988 | "Simpson Christmas" | 120px |
| Bart tells a story of a traditional Christmas in the Simpson family in the style of "The Night Before Christmas". | |||
| 35 - 306 | January 15, 1989 | "The Krusty the Clown Show" | 120px |
The kids get to see Krusty's show live for the first time.
| |||
| 36 - 307 | January 29, 1989 | "Bart the Hero" | 120px |
| Sent out to exercise, Bart foils a robbery attempt. | |||
| 37 - 308 | February 5, 1989 | "Bart's Little Fantasy" | 120px |
| Bart tells a story about large kids who throw their small parents into a small room. | |||
| 38 - 309 | February 12, 1989 | "Scary Movie" | 120px |
Bart, Lisa and Maggie go to the movie to see "The Happy Little Elves Return" (much to Bart's dismay), but Bart convinces the girls to see "Space Mutants" instead. However, Bart ends up being scared by it.
| |||
| 39 - 310 | February 19, 1989 | "Homer Hypnotism" | 120px |
| Homer tries hypnosis to calm down his crazy kids. | |||
| 40 - 311 | February 26, 1989 | "Shoplifting" | 120px |
| Bart's attempt to swipe some chocolate is foiled. | |||
| 41 - 312 | March 12, 1989 | "Echo Canyon" | 120px |
| The family drives to Echo Canyon, takes turns making echoes, and Bart almost makes a boulder crunch the family car. | |||
| 42 - 313 | March 19, 1989 | "Bathtime" | 120px |
| Homer makes Bart take his "Sunday Night Bath", only to flood the bathroom. | |||
| 43 - 314 | March 26, 1989 | "Bart's Nightmare" | 120px |
| In this sequel to "Shell Game", Bart has a nightmare after eating every single cookie from the cookie jar. | |||
| 44 - 315 | April 16, 1989 | "Bart of the Jungle" | 120px |
| The kids swing from the trees off Homer's ties. | |||
| 45 - 316 | April 23, 1989 | "Family Therapy" | 120px |
| Homer takes the family to a psychologist. | |||
| 46 - 317 | April 30, 1989 | "Maggie in Peril (Chapter One)" | 120px |
| Bart kicks Maggie's ball out of sight and she takes off to retrieve it back. | |||
| 47 - 318 | May 7, 1989 | "Maggie in Peril (The Thrilling Conclusion)" | 120px |
| Part 2. Maggie floats in the air hanging on to balloons and lands safely back in her playpen. | |||
| 48 - 319 | May 14, 1989 | "TV Simpsons" | 120px |
| Homer attempts to fix the television antenna on the roof. | |||
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 BBC. (2000). 'The Simpsons': America's First Family (6 minute edit for the season 1 DVD) (DVD). UK: 20th Century Fox.
- ↑ Paul, Alan. "Matt Groening" (Interview)Flux Magazine Issue #6.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Cagle, Daryl. The David Silverman Interview. MSNBC. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
- ↑ Deneroff, Harvey. "Matt Groening's Baby Turns 10"Animation Magazine, Vol. 14, #1, pp. 10, 12.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Template:Cite book
- ↑ Brownfield, Paul. "He's Homer, but This Odyssey Is His Own"Los Angeles Times.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Template:Cite book
- ↑ Spotnitz, Frank. "Eat my shorts!"Entertainment Weekly, p. 8(1).
- ↑ Template:Cite book
- ↑ Groening's repeats u-turn (2006-08-06). Retrieved on 2007-01-11.
The episode guide is based on:
