It was April 1987. Ronald Reagan was president, Aretha Franklin and George Michael had a number-one hit in “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me),” and Tracey Ullman was entertaining America with songs, sketches, and crudely drawn filler material… that would eventually become the longest-running (and best) scripted primetime television series in American history. And it all began exactly 30 years today, with the poorly animated short, “Good Night.”
Some 615 episodes, 48 shorts, and one movie later, The Simpsons is still going strong. It may not be the cultural juggernaut it once was — the highest-rated episode this season would be the lowest-rated episode from seasons 1-8 — but that’s because The Simpsons is an institution. As South Park famously pointed out, it’s done everything. But when was the first time The Simpsons did everything? In honor of its 30th birthday, I took a look back at some of the show’s “firsts.” Who was the first non-Simpson character to speak? What was the first episode to take place in the future? Who was the first guest star?
Here’s to another 30 years.
The First Guest Star
Sam McMurray as a random Springfield Nuclear Power Plant worker (and later, Duff Beer announcer) in “Homer’s Odyssey”
The First Line Spoken By a Non-Simpson
Principal Skinner in “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”
The First Hour-Long Simpsons Episode
Season 28’s “The Great Phatsby Parts 1 & 2” (“Who Shot Mr. Burns?” isn’t applicable because the two parts aired months apart)
The First “Itchy & Scratchy”
“Burning Love” from season one’s “Krusty Gets Busted”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqgKMtFSqZo
The First Simpsons Character to Die
Beatrice Simmons in season two’s “Old Money”
The First “The Simpsons Are Going to…” Episode
Season six’s “Bart Vs. Australia” (yes, Bart visited France and Homer traveled to India with Apu, but those doesn’t count because the entire family wasn’t with them; this is the first time it was a far-away destination with everyone)
The First Episode with the Great Phil Hartman
Lionel Hutz in season two’s “Bart Gets Hit by a Car”
The First (Non-Parody) Original Song
“Happy Birthday, Lisa” from season three’s “Stark Raving Dad”
The First Future Episode
Season six’s “Lisa’s Wedding”
The First Flashback Episode
Season two’s “The Way We Was” (technically, it’s “The Telltale Head” and “Dancin’ Homer,” but those only go back a day or a few weeks)
The First “Worst. Episode. Ever.”
Season eight’s “The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show”
The First Time We See Gil Gunderson
Season nine’s “Realty Bites” (why Gil? I’d argue, and with all due respect to Shauna and Boobarella, he’s the last great “new” recurring character)
The First Episode with a 9.3 Rating on IMDb
Season eight’s “Homer’s Enemy” (that’s a series-best)
The First Episode with a 4.4 Rating on IMDb
Season 23’s “Lisa Goes Gaga” (that’s a series-worst)
The First Episode Written by a Woman
Season one’s “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” by Mimi Pond (there wouldn’t be another female-penned script until Nell Scovell for season two’s “One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish”)
The First Episode to Win an Emmy
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) for season one’s “Life on the Fast Lane”
The First Time The Simpsons Beat The Cosby Show In the Ratings
Season three’s “Homer at the Bat” (the season before, Fox pitted its biggest hit against NBC’s incredibly popular The Cosby Show on Thursday nights; it was a bold, risky, and much-discussed move that eventually paid off)
The First Simpsons Episode That Was Supposed to Be a Movie
Season four’s “Kamp Krusty” (it ran short, and as Al Jean said, “If we make it into the movie, then we don’t have a premiere, and second, if we can’t make 18 minutes out of this episode, how are we supposed to make 80?”)
The First Crossover With Another Fox Show
Season six’s “A Star Is Burns” (Jay Sherman from The Critic visited Springfield)
And most importantly, The First Simpsons Video Game
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants, released in February 1991
