The Simpsons began as a disposable idea

By Robert Scucci | Updated 1 month ago

Sometimes, the best concept for intellectual property begins as a disposable idea, and so is exactly like The Simpsons It became in 1987 when the creator of the Matt Groening series did not want to separate from his first notable effort, Life in hell. He immediately becomes popular among comics fans after his debut in 1980, Life in hell eventually he would capture the attention of James L. Brooks, who had a hand in creation The Tracey Ullman Showwhere we first saw a very raw iteration of The Simpsons Before becoming a cultural force that reinvented family comedy as we know it. Initially approached by Brooks to adapt your Life in hell characters for a segment in The Tracey Ullman showGroening realized sudden and overwhelming that if the program failed, then his comic would fail with him: a destiny that he did not want to succumb if he had any voice.

A frantic exercise in self -preservation

Fearing to lose the rights of Life in hell to perpetuity if he failed, but knowing that he had to launch something To Brooks to have the opportunity to obtain one of their creations in The Tracey Ullman showGroening came up with a rapid idea of ​​discarding in the lobby of the Brook office before its launch meeting, which was a primitive version of The Simpsons based on your own family. Drawn crudely, as it was conceptualized on the fly, Groening assumed that the animators would clean their original versions of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, but they simply traced on their original drawings, which resulted in the short parodies that eventually became a force of pop culture so that it accelerates after winning the traction in the variety program, two years before become green life for green light.

Although this disposable idea saw an immediate success for its representation of a dysfunctional family, the Simpson family as shown in the Ullman trace show Sketch are far from what the family would evolve when given the opportunity to become their own series in 1989 based on Groening characters.

Based on the Royal Family of Groening, but not really

Groening has also been registered that he affirms that, although Homer and Marge bear the name of their real parents, and Lisa and Maggie bear the name of their minor sisters, the Simpsons are nothing like their own family apart from their names, which he simply used because the original concept was a disposable idea and could not think of any other name to use at the time. Not wanting to name a character after himself, Groening chose Bart for the child’s name, which is simply an anagram for “brat”, and then it was revealed that he was inspired by his older brother, Mark.

An unexpected blow

History will tell you that The Tracey Ullman Show It was not a great success, but the disposable idea of ​​groening in the form of The Simpsons It was a ray in a bottle thanks to its raw representation of a modern family. Knowing that The Simpsons He had the potential to be the next big thing on television, Brooks and Groening joined Sam Simon, who had been known for working in series as Taxi and Health. With the aim of ridiculing the modern comedies of the time with a scathing satirical tone, Matt Groening wanted to undermine the idea of ​​healthy and safe middle class families as they are portrayed in a series like Family ties and The brave In his efforts to show the United States the darkest side of suburban life using the same characters that occurred to him at any time as his creative vehicle.

Little knew, his disposable idea would not only be a runaway success, but would eventually become the oldest animated comedy of all time, which still contributed new episodes until today. So, the next time I work in a creative project to which he has dedicated his life and time, he may want to consider taking a break and eliminating some disposable ideas just to see what happens. From what you know, you will have the following Simpsons In your hands because sometimes the best ideas come from the most unpretentious places.