The Simpsons: Twenty Years and Still Going Strong

Tonight The Simpsons airs its 450th episode along with an hour-long anniversary special directed by Morgan Spurlock (Super-Size Me, 30 Days).

Created by cartoonist and writer Matt Groening, The Simpsons began in 1987 as a series of 30 second shorts produced for "The Tracey Ullman Show". The first short aired on April 19, 1987 and the series caught on quickly. After three seasons, the shorts were developed into a half hour primetime show and the rest is history.

Here are Homer and the gang today compared to their premiere on "The Tracy Ullman Show".

On December 17, 1989, they aired their first half hour episode, a Christmas Special, entitled "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". The regular season Premier aired on January 14, 1990 with the episode "Bart the Genius". The show was an immediate hit and became the first Fox series to make it in the Top 30 ratings in the 1992-1993 season.

Much has changed in prime time over the past twenty years. Here's a list comparing the top ten shows from 1990 when The Simpsons premiered, to the last week of 2009, where The Simpsons came in at number 20.

1990                                                                 
1) Cheers                                                         
2) 60 Minutes                                                   
3) Roseanne                                                      
4) A Different World                                        
5) The Cosby Show                                          
6) America’s Funniest Home Videos                
7) Murphy Brown                                            
8) Murder, She Wrote                                  
9) Home Improvement                                     
10) Designing Women                                     

2009
1) NCIS
2) NFL Football (NBC)
3) NCIS: Los Angeles
4) Two and a Half Men
5) The Mentalist
6) The Big Band Theory
7) CSI
8) Criminal Minds
9) CSI:Miami
10) The Good Wife

The Simpsons holds the record for longest-running American sitcom, longest primetime animated television series and most guest stars featured in a television series. Over the past twenty years it has won 24 Emmy Awards, 26 Annie Awards and a Peabody Award.

Below is a picture of every character ever to appear on the show.

And here's a neat clip of Hank Azaria and Nancy Cartwright with James Tipton on Inside The Actors Studio.