“The Simpsons” Was Never Intended to Become This Popular

“The Simpsons” Was Never Intended to Become This Popular

The creator of the cult animated series The Simpsons, Matt Groening, has revealed that he never expected the show to become such a massive success.

According to People, the idea for the famous Springfield family came to Groening at the last minute before a meeting with producer James L. Brooks. He had originally planned to pitch a different project, but things did not go as expected. As a result, Groening quickly created a new set of characters and gave them the names of his own family members.

At the time, The Simpsons — now widely discussed online for its seemingly accurate predictions of future events — existed only as a series of short animated segments on The Tracey Ullman Show. Groening admits that he had little hope for its success and never imagined the project would grow beyond a few sketches.

However, audiences quickly fell in love with the unusual yellow-colored family, and the cartoon soon received its own standalone series.

It is worth noting that The Simpsons remains the longest-running scripted primetime television series in American history. Since its premiere in 1989, the show has produced more than 800 episodes.

Groening later went on to create another cult animated series, Futurama.