Bartholomew JoJo "
Bart"
Simpson is a character in the American animated television series
The Simpsons and part of the
Simpson family. He is voiced by
Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in
The Tracey Ullman Show short "
Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist
Matt Groening created and designed Bart while 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. While the rest of the characters were named after Groening's family members, Bart's name is an
anagram of the word
brat. After appearing on
The Tracey Ullman Show for three years, the Simpson family received its own series on
Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989.