The Simpsons Begins as a Half-Hour Series
The Simpsons debuted as a half-hour television series on December 17, 1989, with a Christmas-themed episode.
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The Event
The Simpsons debuted as a half-hour television series on December 17, 1989, with a Christmas-themed episode.
The Wider Story
The characters had appeared earlier in short segments on The Tracey Ullman Show. The new format allowed longer stories and a larger fictional community.
Putting the Event in Perspective
This was not the characters' first-ever appearance.
Reading the Historical Record
A historical illustration can show an ordinary 1989 television audience without copying an episode or mixing in later series developments.
About the Historical Recreation
The accompanying visual is an illustrative reconstruction: an American living room in 1989 with a CRT television and indistinct animated colors. It is not authentic archival footage, an eyewitness record or additional evidence for the event.
Sources
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