# The Tracey Ullman Show
*The Tracey Ullman Show* was a weekly American television variety show hosted by the British comedian and one-time pop singer [Tracey Ullman](https://www.edgepedia.org/tracey-ullman), broadcast on the Fox network from 1987 to 1990. It combined sketch comedy with musical numbers and is best remembered as the program on which the [Simpson family](https://www.edgepedia.org/simpson-family) first appeared, in a series of animated shorts that spun off into *The Simpsons* in 1989.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Weekly American television variety show of sketches and music, hosted by Tracey Ullman[1](https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/The_Tracey_Ullman_Show) |
| Network and run | Fox, 1987 to 1990, four seasons[2](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/11361/the-tracey-ullman-show) |
| Premiere | April 12, 1987, on Fox as a Sunday night half-hour[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-17-tm-2236-story.html) |
| Producer | James L. Brooks, Emmy winner and Oscar-nominated writer-director, as one of the creators and producers[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-03-tv-1130-story.html) |
| Simpsons shorts | 48 one-minute shorts over three seasons, from "Good Night" (April 19, 1987) to "TV Simpsons" (May 14, 1989)[5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5CLnCJlydY) |
| First-year ratings | A 3.1 Nielsen rating and 5% share, about 2.7 million TV households, through February 1988[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-17-tm-2236-story.html) |
| Awards | Three Emmy Awards over four seasons, including the 1989 award for best variety, musical, or comedy series[6](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/jan/08/tracey-ullman-returns-to-bbc-with-first-television-series-in-30-years) • [7](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=bgsu1174927139&disposition=inline) |
## Format and production
Fox, then the newly launched fourth American network, took what the *Los Angeles Times* called a huge gamble when it gave Ullman, then popular in Britain but with little American exposure, her own series in April 1987[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-03-tv-1130-story.html). Each week Ullman played a range of characters, among them the spinster Kay; Francesca, a bright teenager living with her gay father and his lover; and the South African golf pro Kiki Howard-Smith. She was supported by a repertory cast that included the Emmy winner [Julie Kavner](https://www.edgepedia.org/julie-kavner), Dan Castellaneta, Joe Malone, and [Sam McMurray](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-mcmurray), and the series drew guest stars including [Steve Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-martin), Glenn Close, and Isabella Rossellini[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-03-tv-1130-story.html).
**Production pedigree.** The show carried considerable comic credentials. [James L. Brooks](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-l-brooks), an Emmy winner and Oscar-nominated writer-director whose television credits included *The Mary Tyler Moore Show* and *[Taxi](https://www.edgepedia.org/taxi-tv-series)*, was one of its creators and producers and served as Ullman's mentor[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-03-tv-1130-story.html) • [3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-17-tm-2236-story.html). Fox followed its original 26-episode commitment with an order for 30 more episodes in October 1987, and granted Ullman wide creative latitude compared with what she could expect elsewhere[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-17-tm-2236-story.html). Ullman described herself as a character actress rather than a comedienne, and critics labeled the series everything from a variety show to a "skitcom"[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-17-tm-2236-story.html).
## The Simpsons shorts
The Simpson family, Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, first appeared on television as a series of 48 one-minute animated shorts on the program, created by [Matt Groening](https://www.edgepedia.org/matt-groening), who designed the family and wrote many of the shorts[5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5CLnCJlydY). The animation was produced by the Klasky-Csupo studio[8](https://www.fact-archive.com/encyclopedia/The_Tracey_Ullman_Show). The first short, "Good Night", aired on April 19, 1987, and the last, "TV Simpsons", aired on May 14, 1989[5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5CLnCJlydY).
In the show's first two seasons the shorts served as bumpers between sketches and commercial breaks; in the third season they were expanded to full segments[9](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781641251112_A35145781/preview-9781641251112_A35145781.pdf). The yellow family became the most popular part of the program, and someone at Fox suggested turning the cartoons into a half-hour show[10](https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/bitstreams/9f511294-edea-4f38-8f6e-c5d9f60fa6f6/download) • [11](https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/column-i-saw-the-first-draft-of-the-first-simpsons-episode-and-it-wasnt-very-good-421999-Apr2012/). *The Simpsons* debuted as an independent series on December 17, 1989, with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"[5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5CLnCJlydY). Kavner and Castellaneta, already members of the Ullman show's live-action cast, supplied the voices of Marge and Homer, with [Nancy Cartwright](https://www.edgepedia.org/nancy-cartwright) as Bart and [Yeardley Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/yeardley-smith) as Lisa[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-03-tv-1130-story.html) • [12](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Total-Television-Programming-1948-1991-McNeil.pdf).
Ullman herself was not a fan of the cartoons at the time; accounts of the show's history note that her dislike of *The Simpsons* nearly led the spin-off to an early end[13](https://www.slashfilm.com/1088960/tracey-ullmans-dislike-of-the-simpsons-nearly-led-it-to-an-early-grave/).
## Ratings and reception
The show earned critical acclaim but modest audiences. Through February 1988, its first full season, it averaged a 3.1 Nielsen rating and a 5 percent share, reaching about 2.7 million television households, near the bottom of a Fox Sunday lineup that itself sat near the bottom of the national rankings. Its numbers improved in early 1988, reaching a 4.6 rating and 7 percent share on January 24, its best marks since the premiere. Fox president Jamie Kellner pointed to Ullman's appeal to the 18-to-34 upscale demographic that advertisers sought, and moved the show to a 10 p.m. slot leading out of a 90-minute Fox comedy block[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-17-tm-2236-story.html).
Critics treated the series as a standout. A 1991 *Los Angeles Times* retrospective called it a classic by critical standards from almost its premiere episode and noted that in its final season it won several [Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/emmy-awards), including best individual performer in a variety or musical program for Ullman[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-03-tv-1130-story.html). Over its four seasons the show won three Emmys[6](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/jan/08/tracey-ullman-returns-to-bbc-with-first-television-series-in-30-years). In 1989 it won the Emmy for best variety, musical, or comedy series; the following year the Fox sketch show *In Living Color* took the same award[7](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=bgsu1174927139&disposition=inline).
## Legacy
The series' principal legacy is *The Simpsons*, which grew from the crude 1987 shorts into what AP described as a cultural juggernaut, reaching 800 episodes and 37 seasons[14](https://apnews.com/article/72d723e6d885b1944c9a1ec8b9a24c3a). *Time* wrote in 1994 that the series had "sprung in 1990 from cartoon spots on The Tracey Ullman Show" and credited it with a uniquely dense and witty style[15](https://time.com/3154036/simpsons-forever/). Reruns of the Ullman show aired on the Lifetime cable channel in the early 1990s, including a "Best of The Tracey Ullman Show" special featuring six of Ullman's most memorable sketches[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-03-tv-1130-story.html).
## References
1. [The Tracey Ullman Show, Wikisimpsons](https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/The_Tracey_Ullman_Show)
2. [The Tracey Ullman Show, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/11361/the-tracey-ullman-show)
3. [Queen of the Skitcom, Los Angeles Times, April 17, 1988](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-17-tm-2236-story.html)
4. [The Tracey Legacy, Los Angeles Times, February 3, 1991](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-03-tv-1130-story.html)
5. [The Simpsons | Tracey Ullman Shorts :: Season 1 (1987), YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5CLnCJlydY)
6. [Tracey Ullman returns to BBC with first television series in 30 years, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/jan/08/tracey-ullman-returns-to-bbc-with-first-television-series-in-30-years)
7. [Power, Resistance, and Television Comedy, OhioLINK ETD](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=bgsu1174927139&disposition=inline)
8. [The Tracey Ullman Show, Fact-Archive encyclopedia](https://www.fact-archive.com/encyclopedia/The_Tracey_Ullman_Show)
9. [100 Things The Simpsons Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die (preview)](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781641251112_A35145781/preview-9781641251112_A35145781.pdf)
10. [Hilton-Morrow & McMahan excerpt, Wits University](https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/bitstreams/9f511294-edea-4f38-8f6e-c5d9f60fa6f6/download)
11. [I saw the first draft of the first Simpsons episode, TheJournal.ie](https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/column-i-saw-the-first-draft-of-the-first-simpsons-episode-and-it-wasnt-very-good-421999-Apr2012/)
12. [Total Television Programming 1948-1991, McNeil](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Total-Television-Programming-1948-1991-McNeil.pdf)
13. [Tracey Ullman's Dislike Of The Simpsons Nearly Led It To An Early Grave, SlashFilm](https://www.slashfilm.com/1088960/tracey-ullmans-dislike-of-the-simpsons-nearly-led-it-to-an-early-grave/)
14. [After 800 episodes, 'The Simpsons' creators look back - and ahead, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/72d723e6d885b1944c9a1ec8b9a24c3a)
15. [Simpsons Forever!, Time, 1994](https://time.com/3154036/simpsons-forever/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Television talk, interview, and variety programs › Variety, music, and panel shows*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license