“The Simpsons,” creator Matt Groening’s bickering brood...

“The Simpsons,” creator Matt Groening’s bickering brood of animated characters with the bulging eyes and unsightly overbites, returns to Fox Sunday night.

In a half-hour holiday special airing at 8:30 p.m. on Channels 11 and 6, father Homer tries to earn some extra money for family gifts by taking a second job. Naturally, his good intentions go amiss . . . until he’s saved by “Santa’s Little Helper.”

Fans of the quarreling characters who have missed them on “The Tracey Ullman Show” can circle Jan. 14 on their 1990 calendars. That’s the Sunday night when Fox will present the Simpsons in their own weekly series.

Executive producer Sam Simon calls it “a full prime-time series where we think it’s our job to tell stories and develop relationships and at the same time be true to the family that Matt created.”