Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Before They Were Who They Are

One of the great questions of our time has for years remained agonizingly unaddressed. But now, alas, in the age of itunes and YouTube, America's prayers have been answered. Yes, that's right: all 48 of the original "Simpsons" shorts produced for "The Tracey Ullman Show" in 1987, '88 and '89 are now available for the first time since their original airings. And here's the coolest part of all: they're free for download. That's right -- free.

All you need to do to get 'em is go here to the site Simpson Crazy and get to it. But as the TV Squad post warned, there are two minor caveats: the videos are in AVI format, and you'll need the DivX codec in order to play it in Windows Media Player. If this sounds like a foreign language, worry not. The download site will guide you through it and has the DivX link.

You'll note in the shorts is that these pieces and gloriously rudimentary, the characters bearing little visual resemblance to those of today and the animation quality itself irresistibly horrid. It's part of the charm, of course. By the end of the run of the shorts in '89, they're looking a lot closer to the current version. But Homer still sounds more like Walter Matthau than Homer, as voiced by Dan Castellaneta, and would remain that way into the first season. In any case, what a treasure trove this is, ladies and germs.