The Debut of the Simpsons - 1987

The Simpsons have been around since Reagan was president. They debuted on an April 19, 1987 episode of The Tracey Ullman Show and have been running non-stop ever since. After three years with Ullman they were given their own half-hour TV show which debuted on December 17, 1989 and since then they've had 486 episodes (a world record for a TV show) and are still going strong.

Among Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart and Maggie's accomplishments: 27 Emmys, a Peabody Award, A star on the Hollywood walk of fame, and a declaration by Time magazine in 1999 that The Simpson's was the 20th century's best TV show. It's also the longest-running American sitcom and the longest running primetime series (surpassing "Gunsmoke"). As if that weren't enough, The Simpsons Movie, released in 2007, grossed $527 million worldwide. The voice actors who began at a salary of $30,000 per episode currently receive something in the neighborhood of $400,000 per episode. Not a bad neighborhood.

(left) The Simpsons 1987 and (right) today