The Simpsons first aired 35 years ago, on 17 December 1989, with a Christmas special originally scheduled to run eighth in the series – but brought forward because the ugly animation on the planned debut episode was so disliked, it was shuffled to last place. With a scheduled autumn start already delayed, the creators had to begin by airing their festive episode, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, out of sequence. Despite this fumbling start, however, the series was an instant hit.
“After the Christmas show aired, I had a Simpsons jacket; I was at Disney World and people were approaching me asking me if they could buy it,” says Al Jean, who co-wrote the first series and is the show’s executive producer today. “They’d all seen the special. It was this phenomenon.”
