Tracey Ullman Show on FOX

The splendid Ullman headlined one of Fox's first prime-time series, which featured sketches, song-and-dance routines and an eclectic lineup of guests (including Steve Martin, Isabella Rossellini, Glenn Close, Mel Brooks and Martin Short). A cocreation of James L. Brooks, it showed Ullman to be a master of many characters (and voices), gave Fox its first Emmy and was also the birthplace of a little animated ditty created by Matt Groening called `The Simpsons' (which got its own show in 1990).