This Month in Simpsons History: August
August 27, 1992
"Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes" airs on Fox, becoming the first Simpsons episode to air outside of the September to June broadcast schedule. Originally intended as a season four episode, Fox bumped up its premiere date to August 27, 1992 and branded the special as a 'summer original'. Fox planned to harness "The Simpsons" popularity to promote the series premiere of "Martin" starring Martin Lawrence. Although the decision to move the season four episode to season three shuffled around season episode totals (season three has 24 episodes and season four has 22 episodes), it was not an unprecedented exploit by Fox. The airing of "Blood Feud" was delayed during season two and would eventually air over two months after the season two finale "Three Men and a Comic Book" to spotlight the summer season of "Beverly Hills 90210". Despite airing after the finale, "Blood Feud" is still considered a season two episode.
Fox would revisit the concept of garnering attention for complementary programming in 1998 when "Lard of the Dance" became the second episode to air in August. Although intended for broadcast during season 10, the episode appeared a month prior to the official season ten premiere, "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace", and well after season nine's official season finale "Natural Born Kissers". Fox hoped that running a summer original episode would boost ratings for the series premiere of "That 70's Show" which was scheduled to air its first season from late August to July of the following year. Unlike the previous two exclusive summer episodes, "Lard of the Dance" is not included in the previous season's collection, but is considered a season ten episode that aired before the official premiere. This technicality has also been utilized with Treehouse of Horror specials airing before the advertised season premiere.
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