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The Simpsons Short
"Good Night"
	Homer tucks Bart in, in the very first scene.
Episode no.	1
Prod. code	MG01
Orig. airdate	April 19, 1987
Written by	Matt Groening
Directed by	Wesley Archer, David Silverman, and Bill Kopp
Runtime	01:49

"Good Night" is the first Simpsons short that appeared on The Tracey Ullman Show.^[1] It originally aired April 19, 1987, during the third episode of The Tracey Ullman Show and was the first appearance of the Simpson family on television. After three seasons on Tracey Ullman, the shorts would be adapted into the animated show The Simpsons. Good Night has since been aired on the show in the episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular", along with several other Ullman shorts, and it was also included in the Season 1 DVD set.

[edit] Synopsis

Homer and Marge say goodnight to their kids but all does not go according to plan. Bart philosophically contemplates the wonders of the mind, Lisa hears Marge say "Don't let the bed bugs bite" and fears that bed bugs will eat her, and Maggie is traumatized by the lyrics of "Rock-a-bye Baby". Ultimately, all of the kids decide to sleep with their parents.

[edit] Origins

Groening first conceived of the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. He had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts, and had intended to present his Life in Hell series. When he realized that animating Life in Hell would require him to rescind publication rights for his life's work, Groening decided to go in another direction.^[2] He hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family, and named the characters after his own family. Bart was modeled after Groening's older brother, Mark, but given a different name which was chosen as an anagram of "brat."^[3]

This short was written and storyboarded by Matt Groening.^[4] The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up; instead they just traced over his drawings.^[2] The animation was produced at Klasky Csupo,^[5] with Wesley Archer, David Silverman, and Bill Kopp being animators.^[4]

[edit] References

^ Richmond, Ray; Antonia Coffman (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers. pp. 14. ISBN 00063-8898-1.
^ ^a ^b BBC. (2000) (DVD). 'The Simpsons': America's First Family (6 minute edit for the season 1 DVD). UK: 20th Century Fox. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250735/.
^ Paul, Alan (1999-09-30). "Matt Groening" (Interview). Flux Magazine Issue #6.
^ ^a ^b Cagle, Daryl. "The David Silverman Interview". MSNBC. http://cagle.msnbc.com/hogan/interviews/silverman.asp. Retrieved 2006-12-29.
^ Deneroff, Harvey (January 2000). "Matt Groening's Baby Turns 10". Animation Magazine, Vol. 14, #1. pp. 10, 12.

[goodnight-0] Richmond, Ray; Antonia Coffman (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers. pp. 14. ISBN 00063-8898-1.

[americasfirstfamily-1] BBC. (2000) (DVD). 'The Simpsons': America's First Family (6 minute edit for the season 1 DVD). UK: 20th Century Fox. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250735/.

[mark-2] Paul, Alan (1999-09-30). "Matt Groening" (Interview). Flux Magazine Issue #6.

[silverman-3] Cagle, Daryl. "The David Silverman Interview". MSNBC. http://cagle.msnbc.com/hogan/interviews/silverman.asp. Retrieved 2006-12-29.

[animation-4] Deneroff, Harvey (January 2000). "Matt Groening's Baby Turns 10". Animation Magazine, Vol. 14, #1. pp. 10, 12.

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