It has officially been 35 years of the Simpsons today (Picture: 20th Century Fox)
The Simpsons creator confessed that the actual first episode of the cartoon was ‘buried’ because it was so bad, leaving everyone scrambling behind the scenes.
The hit series has been on our screens for exactly 35 years today, having first premiered on December 17, 1989, with a timely episode about how Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie were spending their Christmas.
Since then, TV bosses have gone on to make us laugh while also dropping some really eerie predictions – including Donald Trump’s presidential win and a World Cup final.
Although Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire has gone down as a total classic, Matt Groening revealed that another instalment was meant to serve as the pilot, but had to be swapped at the very last minute.
During an appearance at the Simpsons panel at New York Comic Con in October, he recalled: ‘We were supposed to debut in the fall of 1989 and we got back the animation for the first episode, and it was so horrendous.
‘We lied to Fox and we said we hadn’t gotten the animation back. We delayed the premiere of the show from a fall premiere to December 17, 1989, and we debuted with a Christmas show.
The first episode was originally slated to be Some Enchanted Evening (Picture: 20th Century Fox)
Those behind the scenes ‘buried’ the original premiere (Picture: 20th Century Fox)
‘We took that very first episode and we buried it until we made it airable.
‘It was quite dramatic in those months before the show actually came on.’
Shedding light on the last-minute replacement, he continued: ‘In fact, when we first watched the original animation for what was supposed to be the first episode, which was about the babysitter bandit – inspired by one of my babysitters, who, in the show became Miss Botzcowski.
‘I remember one of the other writers turning to me after we watched this horrendous animation, and said to me, “Your career is over!”
The Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire became the first ever episode, airing in December, 1989 (Picture: 20th Century Fox)
‘But again, we fixed it and the show debuted in December, and it turned out great that it was a Christmas episode.’
The episode in question, Some Enchanted Evening, eventually aired on May 13, 1990, and became the season one finale.
It focused on Homer and Marge calling in a babysitter so they can enjoy a fancy evening out, with Miss Botz turning up at Evergreen Terrace to take care of Bart, Lisa and Maggie.
Things take a wild turn when the youngsters discover that she’s actually the infamous burglar dubbed the Babysitter Bandit, and call the police to capture her – however, Homer unwittingly lets her leave just moments before officers arrive at the house.
The program has gone from strength to strength(Picture: 20th Century Fox)
Season 36 premiered in September but there have been twists and turns aplenty – with the first episode being dubbed the ‘series finale’, and an animated Conan O’Brien declaring: ‘Well, it’s true. Fox has decided to end the Simpsons’.
While that was, thankfully, not actually true, there were more changes ahead, as Pamela Hayden announced her exit from the series after 35 years.
Pamela has voiced a string of huge characters over the years, including Milhouse, Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Janey Powell and Sarah Wiggum.
Last month, she confirmed her departure in a statement, which read: : ‘The time has come for me to hang up my microphone, but how do I say goodbye to The Simpsons?……not easily.
The woman behind the voice of Milhouse confirmed her exit (Picture: 20th Century Fox)
‘It’s been an honor and a joy to have worked on such a funny, witty, and groundbreaking show, and to give voice to Milhouse (and Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Janey, Malibu Stacy, and many others).’
Her final TV episode aired on Fox shortly after, titled Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes.
However, this won’t be the last time we hear her legendary tones in Springfield as she will be voicing characters for the upcoming batch of Disney+ special episodes, hitting our screens very soon.
O C’mon All Ye Faithfull is available to stream on Disney+ now, while The Past and the Furious will be released on February 12, 2025, followed by Yellow Planet on April 22, 2025.
This article was first published on October 24.
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