It debuted on Fox on April 5, 1987, as the network's second original primetime series to air, following Married... with Children, and ran for four seasons and 81 episodes until May 26, 1990.

The show blended sketch comedy with musical numbers and dance routines, choreographed by Paula Abdul, along with animated shorts.

Unlike British audiences, Americans were not aware of her comedy background outside of humorous appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Late Night with David Letterman.

[5] Saturday Night Live scribe and creator of CBS's Square Pegs, Anne Beatts was hired to write the pilot.

As one critic noted, Sellers had American director Stanley Kubrick as his visionary and Ullman would get American television and film director James L. Brooks, the man behind such hit television shows as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, and Rhoda, and the films Terms of Endearment and Broadcast News.

Brooks, along with co-executive Jerry Belson, Ken Estin, and Heide Perlman, went on a retreat in Northern California to think through the show.

One original character created solely by Ullman back in Britain was uprooted for the show: long-suffering British spinster Kay Clark.

Kay was based on a real woman who worked in a Midlands bank that Ullman kept in touch with long after leaving Britain for the United States.

Tracey Ullman Show costume designer Jame Ruhm suggested a drooping bust and cellulite-covered hips for the character.

"[17] She based the character Francesca on a neighbor, an awkward teenaged girl, who would come to visit her in her kitchen and would sheepishly stand in the corner.

"[d] Like Kay, another character created and performed by Ullman first for British television (Three of a Kind) and then adapted for the Fox show was impoverished housewife Betty Tomlinson.

Polly Platt, producer of his film Terms of Endearment had given him a cartoon called "Success and Failure in Hollywood" drawn by Groening as a gift.

Producers stopped hearing from Groening when Fox wanted to take over Life in Hell merchandising as part of his deal, resulting in his passing on the project.

Tracey Ullman was approached to do one of the voices of the Simpsons, but with her already spending up to three hours in the makeup chair, adding voice-over work was not feasible.

[19] Early reports regarding the show's premise were: The focal point would be Ullman starring in one, 12-minute-long "playlet", a shorter sketch, some music, and a weekly lecture from Harry Shearer.

[27] Describing the show, Castellaneta stated, "Essentially what dictates it is that there are no parodies and even if it's an unusual situation, Tracey and (executive producer) Jim Brooks try to keep things as believable and real.

"[28] Actress Julie Kavner had co-starred in Brooks' spin-off series to The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, starring Valerie Harper.

"[29] Actor Sam McMurray read for a guest spot on the show playing William, lover of 13-year-old valley girl Francesca's (Ullman) father.

[32] James L. Brooks knew the importance of good writers, and quickly assembled a team for the show, most notably, Heide Perlman and Ken Estin of Cheers fame.

Brooks discovered writer Marc Flanagan after watching a piece performed by Meryl Streep and Kevin Klein at a benefit.

The final segment of all four seasons has Ullman, clad in a pink robe, delivering a closing monologue to the studio audience before ending the show with her signature catchphrase, "Go home!

For season three, however, the opening was scrapped, and in its place, a live-action farce was used; Ullman pulls up to the 20th Century Fox lot in her car and hits a pedestrian.

After four seasons, Ullman decided to end the show, stating that she was "constantly challenged and happily tortured by a unique group of people."

The following is a list of recurring characters performed by Tracey Ullman, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, and Sam McMurray.

[44] The Simpson family debuted in short animated cartoons on The Tracey Ullman Show, beginning with episode three of the first season.

Except for a repeat airing of the short "Simpson Xmas", they did not appear in the fourth and final season of The Tracey Ullman Show, as they had their own half-hour TV series by then.

Tracey Ullman Show cast members Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner provided the voices of Homer and Marge Simpson, respectively.

As critic Howard Rosenberg of The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post pointed out, though, it was probably easier for her to survive, as the show she was producing was probably too "rule-bending" for NBC to be interested in, in the first place.

Married... with Children, the series that launched the same night as the Ullman show, was mired in controversy and soon became branded low-brow humor.

[41] When the last batch of episodes were screened in 1991 the series was given a 25mins slot and thus broadcast in full,[51] The Tracey Ullman Show aired on BBC Two in the UK,[41] Network 10 in Australia and TVNZ in New Zealand.