"Good Night" (also known as "Good Night Simpsons") is the first of the forty-eight ''Simpsons'' shorts and the second segment of the third episode of ''

The Tracey Ullman Show ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' is an American television sketch comedy variety show starring Tracey Ullman. It debuted on Fox on April 5, 1987, as the network's second original primetime series, following '' Married... with Children'', and ran fo ...

''s first season. It originally aired on

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

in the United States on April 19, 1987 and was the first appearance of the

Simpson family The Simpson family are the titular main characters featured in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of married couple Homer and Marge and their three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. ...

–

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

Marge Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret. Notable Marges include: People * Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist * Marge Anderson (1932–2013), Ojibwe ...

Bart Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...

Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA" * Lisa, stagename of Japanese singer Lisa Komine (born 1978) * Lisa (South Korean singer) (born 1980) * Lisa (Japanese musician, b ...

, and

Maggie Maggie or Maggy is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret, or Marigold. People Maggie * Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician * Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist * Maggie Alderson (born 1959), ...

– on television. After three seasons on

Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman; 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, singer, dancer, screenwriter, producer, and director. Despite being frequently referred to as a comedian, Ullman considers herself a character actress. Critics h ...

's show, the shorts were adapted into the animated show ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

''. "Good Night" has since been aired on the show in the episode "

The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" is the tenth episode of the The Simpsons season 7, seventh season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox in the United States on ...

" (in its entirety), along with several other ''Ullman'' shorts, and is one of the few shorts to ever be released on DVD, in the Season 1 DVD set.

Plot

and

say goodnight to their children, but all does not go according to plan.

tries to ask about the

mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...

, but is left contemplating it as he does not get a proper answer.

fears that

bed bug Bed bugs are parasitic insects from the genus ''Cimex'', which are micropredators that haematophagy, feed on blood, usually at night. Their bites can result in a number of health impacts, including skin rashes, psychological effects, and aller ...

s will eat her after hearing Marge say "Don't let the bed bugs bite".

is terrified by the lyrics of "

Rock-a-bye Baby "Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top" (sometimes "Hush-a-bye baby on the tree top") is a nursery rhyme and lullaby. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 2768. Words The rhyme exists in several versions. One modern example, quoted by the Nationa ...

". Ultimately, all three children decide to sleep in their parents' bed.

Origins

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2 ...

first conceived of the Simpsons in the lobby of

James L. Brooks James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. He co-created the sitcoms ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''Taxi'', and ''The Simpsons'' and directed the films '' Terms of ...

' office. He had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts, and had intended to present his ''

Life in Hell ''Life in Hell'' was a comic strip by Matt Groening that was published weekly from 1977 to 2012. Its main characters include anthropomorphic rabbits and a gay couple. The comic covers a wide range of subjects, such as love, sex, work, and deat ...

'' series. When he realized that animating ''Life in Hell'' would require him to rescind

publication right Publication right is a type of copyright granted to the publisher who first publishes a previously unpublished work after that work's original copyright has expired. It is in almost all respects the same as standard copyright, but excludes moral ...

s for his life's work, Groening decided to go in another direction. He hurriedly sketched out his version of a

dysfunctional family In psychology, abnormality (also dysfunctional behavior, maladaptive behavior, or deviant behavior) is a behavioral characteristic assigned to those with conditions that are regarded as dysfunctional. Behavior is considered to be abnormal when i ...

, and named the characters after his own family. Bart was modeled after Groening's older brother, Mark, but given a different name that was chosen as an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

of "brat".

Production

This short was written and storyboarded by Groening. Animation on the short began March 23, 1987. 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. It was produced at

Klasky Csupo Klasky-Csupo, Inc. ( ) is an American animation studio located in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1982 by producer Arlene Klasky and her then-husband, Hungarian animator Gábor Csupó (hence the company's name) in a spare room of th ...

, with Wesley Archer, David Silverman, and

Bill Kopp William Kopp (born April 17, 1962) is an American animator, writer and voice actor. Career Kopp studied animation at the California Institute of the Arts. In 1984, he won a Merit Award from the Student Academy Awards for ''Mr. Gloom''. In 1985, ...

being animators. The episode is sometimes considered to be the first episode of season 0 of ''The Simpsons''. The show's production number is MG01. 11 seconds of the short were cut in syndication airings. The short consisted of four segments, lasting 24, 15, 33, and 33 seconds, respectively. After the short plays from start to finish in "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular",

Troy McClure Troy McClure is a fictional character in the American animated series ''The Simpsons''. He was originally voiced by Phil Hartman and first appeared in the second season episode " Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment". McClure is a washed-up a ...

, who now has a look of disbelief on his face, as though he has never seen the clip before, covers his expression with an awkward laugh and insincerely comments "They haven't changed a bit, have they?", a comment on how the characters' appearance and personalities had altered from the shorts to the airing of that episode.

Critical reception

FilmThreat says "This dark nursery rhyme is funny and disturbing. Homer's voice is totally off the wall, nothing like it stands today, and it's interesting to see how far they've come since these early forays into animation". Todd Doogan of The Digital Bits was sad that "only neof the original Tracey Ullman Show shorts" was featured on the first season DVD". He added, "Still, the one you get perfectly illustrates just how far the show has come". DVD.net describes it as "''The Simpsons'' as some of you may never have seen before, drawn by the hand of Matt Groening himself and looking a little worse for wear." DVD Movie Guide says, "I've seen a few additional Ullman shorts and think they're nearly unwatchable, so I can't say I miss them, at least not for their entertainment value. However, they'd make a nice historical addition, so it's too bad we only get this single clip. The first one ever aired, 'Good Night Simpsons', runs for 115 seconds." The Digital Fix says the short extra on the DVD "showcases the superb sense of humour that has made ''The Simpsons'' what it is today", and that "the picture quality is quite breathtaking (considering the age of these shorts) while the sound is standard DD2.0 Stereo". It adds that "it is a teaser for something we will supposedly never see (all 48 shorts on DVD)" and wishes they had chosen a short that hadn't been featured in a future episode ("The 138th Episode Spectacular"), and therefore released on the Season 7 box set. ''

Planet Simpson ''Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation'', also abbreviated to ''Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation'', is a non-fiction book about ''The Simpsons'', written by Chris Turne ...

'' says "the drawing and animation were blatantly crude, thick-lined, and primary-colored" and that "the vignettes were far too short for anything as sophisticated as 'character development'". It adds that the "central gag fkids finding ironic horror in bedtime platitudes" was very simplistic, and doubts many people even watched the airing of the short. However, the book explains the significance of "Good Night" as "the first baby steps of an institution that would become one of the most-watched TV shows on earth and the most influential cultural enterprise of its time".

Home media

The short is featured on disc 3 of ''The Complete First Season'' DVD.

References

;Bibliography * *

External links

"Episode 1.3"
of ''

'' at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Good Night (The Simpsons) 1987 films 1987 comedy films 1987 animated short films 1987 television films 1987 American animated films 1980s English-language films 1987 American television episodes American adult animated films Adult animated comedy films The Simpsons Animated films about siblings Animated films about families Animated films set in the United States Films directed by Bill Kopp English-language short films