Homer Jay Simpson is one of the main protagonists in the animated
television series The Simpsons as the patriarch of the
eponymous family. He is voiced by
Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in
The Tracey Ullman Show short "
Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Homer was created and designed by cartoonist
Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of
James L. Brooks' office. Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on his comic strip
Life in Hell but instead decided to create a new set of characters. He named the character after his father, Homer Groening. After appearing for three seasons on
The Tracey Ullman Show, the Simpson family got their own series on
Fox that debuted December 17, 1989.