10 Things You Didn't Know About The Making Of The Simpsons

7. Matt Groening Came Up With The Idea For The Simpsons Just Minutes Before He Pitched It

It was filmmaker James L. Brooks who approached Matt Groening in those all-important early days. Back then, Groening had been writing and drawing a comic strip called "Life in Hell" for 10 years and Brooks - a big fan - had requested to meet with him over the idea of producing animated shorts for use on The Tracey Ullman Show. Whilst waiting in the lobby for said meeting, though, a terrible thought struck Groening: if he agreed to go along with the "Life in Hell" shorts, he'd have to give away the publishing rights to his entire life's work. And as you can imagine, he really didn't fancy doing that. Moments before he was due to speak with Brooks, then, Groening quickly conjured a new idea about a dysfunctional family - one that would eventually go on to become The Simpsons. He named the characters after his own family members - Marge, Homer, Lisa and Maggie - and used Bart's name in place of his own. The rest, as they say, is history.