Whenever we think of seminal television shows such as Seinfeld, Family Guy and The Simpsons, it's difficult to imagine the characters or surroundings being any different to the way they are now. And this is especially true when it comes to The Simpsons. Many of us grew up watching the yellow humanoids in Matt Groening's satirical depiction of working-class life. Homer's idiocy, Bart's antics, and Lisa's wry sense of humor kept us entertained for hours on end.

It's the longest-running American sitcom, and since its debut on the 17th of December 1989, 629 episodes of The Simpsons have been broadcast. However, the iconic television show may have ended up looking very different to the program that we now know and love. As anyone who works in production will attest to, the storylines that we saw pan out over episodes and seasons of The Simpsons were workshopped to death by writers and animators, and there's likely to be many a feasible idea left on the cutting room floor.

Animator for the hit sitcom, David Silverman, took to Twitter to share some notes he took during a writer's retreat for the team, and it just goes to show that things could easily be very different. 

He began by sharing pictures of Homer having a lark, which isn't too out of the ordinary... Considering the fact that Homer is always having a lark. "Homer has a good laugh. We all could use a good laugh. (same sketchbook 12/95)," he wrote.
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/tubatron/status/966189491382874112]]

Some of his other notes were packed with concepts that never made it on air, such as Smithers opening his own company. Who would have known, eh?

"Another sketch from Winter ‘95 writers retreat (@thatbilloakley & @Joshstrangehill show runners). Ken Keebler suggested what became the Simpsons Spin-off Showcase (5/11/97). Note that “Smithers & Co.” became “The Love-magic Grampa."

And any Simpsons veterans will remember the violent cartoon cat, Scratchy. Turns out that he was actually meant to be Smithers' pet. ""Scratchy is his cat," one social media user wrote with the kissing face emoji, while another added "Scratchy being Smithers’ cat is something I never knew I needed to see. I’d love for there to be another spinoff episode!!"

In fact, the entire thread quickly devolved into a wish-train of more Smithers related spin-offs and storylines. "Man I would have loved to see Smithers as a mentor for Millhouse," one Twitter user added.

David Silverman also revealed just how long some ideas can take to come to fruition. For example, this particular idea aired a whopping three years later...

"Another sketch from that Dec. ‘95 writers retreat. This became LISA THE SIMPSON aired much later 3/8/98. Goes to show how some ideas sit on the shelf," David wrote.

Well, there you have it. It's apparent that it takes a lot of effort to make a television show as great as The Simpsons.

Whenever we think of seminal television shows such as Seinfeld, Family Guy and The Simpsons, it's difficult to imagine the characters or surroundings being any different to the way they are now. And this is especially true when it comes to The Simpsons. Many of us grew up watching the yellow humanoids in Matt Groening's satirical depiction of working-class life. Homer's idiocy, Bart's antics, and Lisa's wry sense of humor kept us entertained for hours on end.

It's the longest-running American sitcom, and since its debut on the 17th of December 1989, 629 episodes of The Simpsons have been broadcast. However, the iconic television show may have ended up looking very different to the program that we now know and love. As anyone who works in production will attest to, the storylines that we saw pan out over episodes and seasons of The Simpsons were workshopped to death by writers and animators, and there's likely to be many a feasible idea left on the cutting room floor.

Animator for the hit sitcom, David Silverman, took to Twitter to share some notes he took during a writer's retreat for the team, and it just goes to show that things could easily be very different. 

He began by sharing pictures of Homer having a lark, which isn't too out of the ordinary... Considering the fact that Homer is always having a lark. "Homer has a good laugh. We all could use a good laugh. (same sketchbook 12/95)," he wrote.
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/tubatron/status/966189491382874112]]

Some of his other notes were packed with concepts that never made it on air, such as Smithers opening his own company. Who would have known, eh?

"Another sketch from Winter ‘95 writers retreat (@thatbilloakley & @Joshstrangehill show runners). Ken Keebler suggested what became the Simpsons Spin-off Showcase (5/11/97). Note that “Smithers & Co.” became “The Love-magic Grampa."

And any Simpsons veterans will remember the violent cartoon cat, Scratchy. Turns out that he was actually meant to be Smithers' pet. ""Scratchy is his cat," one social media user wrote with the kissing face emoji, while another added "Scratchy being Smithers’ cat is something I never knew I needed to see. I’d love for there to be another spinoff episode!!"

In fact, the entire thread quickly devolved into a wish-train of more Smithers related spin-offs and storylines. "Man I would have loved to see Smithers as a mentor for Millhouse," one Twitter user added.

David Silverman also revealed just how long some ideas can take to come to fruition. For example, this particular idea aired a whopping three years later...

"Another sketch from that Dec. ‘95 writers retreat. This became LISA THE SIMPSON aired much later 3/8/98. Goes to show how some ideas sit on the shelf," David wrote.

Well, there you have it. It's apparent that it takes a lot of effort to make a television show as great as The Simpsons.