Vitals
Title: Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
Air Date: December 17, 1989
Episode No. 7G08 (Season 1, Episode 1)
Written by: Mimi Pond
Directed by: David Silverman
I'm not quite sure when I first saw this episode. By the time I was old enough to watch The Simpsons in the mid-90s, these first season selections were already rare in the syndication rotisserie, probably because the animation is obviously crunchier than the work done in later seasons. So when I came back around to these episodes they were already clunky. The voices and animation were a bit off and the writing was slower and had a lower joke density. There are still great episodes from the very beginning of The Simpsons run, but it was probably the right choice to let them slip into a comfortable retirement. Still, revisiting these early outings is worth doing, and even if you don't enjoy them as much as those from a few seasons later, there isn't a bad episode in the batch.
Its well known that Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire was not intended as the series premiere. It was supposed to be Some Enchanted Evening at the start of the 1989 television season, but that episode had to pushed to the end of the season due to a major animation catastrophe (the original animation is an extra on the Season 1 DVD, and well worth a watch). When the launch was pushed to just before Christmas, this episode became the natural plug-in. Instead of feeling like a pilot, therefore, the episode falls easily into subverting the tropes of stand-alone Christmas specials.* That extra level of parody really helps smooth over some rough spots along the way and make the episode much stronger than the typical premiere.
The show opens without the classic theme, instead drifting down onto Homer and Marge in the car, running late for the school Christmas pageant. The humor throughout this episode is down to earth, Marge and Home have to awkwardly work their way to the center of an aisle to find their seats. Bart is introduced singing the classic, Batmanized version of Jingle Bells. Lisa first appears performing as Towanga, the Santa Clause of the South Seas.
Actually kind of freaky.
Then its on to the part of Christmas that really matters, the consumerism. This is where the plot of the episode really launches. In a perfect dollop of the stilted logic that rules in Springfield, Bart gets a tattoo, enabled by Homer's "permission" and a grossly negligent tattooist with a proto-wiseguy voice that make me laugh every time I see it. After Marge catches Bart, we cut to the plant where Mr. Burns cancels Christmas bonuses just because he can. Then, to pile on the calamity, Marge's savings are spent on a laser-rific tattoo removal for Bart. Faced with disappointing his family and too broke for Christmas, Homer tells a white lie and sets out in search of miracle.
The first of Homer's many trips to Moe's sends him into training for a new part time job as a mall santa. When he arrives at home to find Patty and Selma there with withering disapproval he sulks off to steal a Christmas tree from the woods and is chased off by the gun-toting owner. The next day, Christmas Eve, Homer's Santa act is discovered when Bart decides to expose the fake Saint Nick and they have a heart to heart over Homer's effort to give the family a Christmas. At this point many sitcoms would tie on the bow and Christmas would be saved. Not the Simpsons, though, as it turns out Homer's net pay is only 13 dollars, no where near enough for presents
Now at rock bottom, with nothing to show for his efforts and out of time, Barney, singing "I'm in the money" to his own 13 dollars, offers to take Bart and Homer to the dog track. Bart convinces Homer to go and rather than betting on Barney's sure thing, Homer gets a feeling about a dog named Santa's Little Helper and puts all his money on the dog at 99 to 1. Of course, Santa's Little Helper comes in dead last and Homer once again defeated bangs his head on the metal rail with an amusingly realistic sound effect.
The episode finally turns when Santa's Little Helper's horrible owner disowns him and Bart asks if they can take him home. Homer's resists at first because Santa's Little Helper is "a loser," but a well-timed lick in the face wins him over. When Homer, Bart, and Santa's Little Helper, Homer is finally ready to admit what happened to the rest of the family (including a half-awake Abe), but before he can give his full confession Bart introduces the dog and all is forgiven. Cut to cheesy Christmas card photo of the last shot and its a wrap.
The most striking thing about this episode is that unlikely many pilots, it fits well with the series initial seasons. If you didn't know it was the first episode, you would never be able to tell. Of course the characters and animation developed over the first few years, but the shows early beats are immediately established. Lisa is smart, Bart is a brat, and Homer is a well-meaning buffoon.
Having said that, the episode is pretty bleak for the Simpsons. Working class sitcoms used to have a more prominent place on television, and they had yet to reduced to self-parody by ignoring the real money problems many families deal with on a daily basis (The Simpsons itself fell victim to this drift). That makes it a little bit jarring to see Homer and Marge fall into a true financial predicament. The show walks a fine line right from the start. I am one of those who has never gotten tired of the show and still manages to enjoy most episodes, even in this late season, but the show really lost something when it lost its working class grounding.
This isn't the best episode of the series, or even the strongest of the first season, but Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, is a milestone. As the first episode of a comedy it is miles ahead of many other beloved shows, and it is a very impressive, full-formed piece of work.
*Because Simpsons Roasting on a Open Fire was treated as a special separate from the main series, the show's first season actually competed against itself for the Outstanding Animated Program Emmy. This episode ended up losing out to the excellent Life in the Fast Lane.
Running Gags
Thing That Might Amuse No One But Me:
Marge's line: "Homer be careful," is the very first of the series and perfectly sums up everything that will follow.
Movie Reference of the Week:
The first reference in series history is a good one. The parents of Springfield Elementary watch Lisa's fire-dancing Towanga performance, mouths agape with horror, just as in the famous Springtime for Hitler reaction shot from The Producers.
Homer's Odd Job Count:
1 (Mall Santa)
Jeff Albertson's Obsessive Watcher Moment:
The only thing Lisa wants for Christmas is a pony. As everyone knows, she gets her pony in the third season episode Lisa's Pony, which features another poorly thought out Homer plan that somehow brings the family together with a little animal assistance.
Homer's Most Homer Moment:
We get an early flash of the Homer that would soon emerge when Marge shows him the Christmas jar she had to empty to get Bart's MOTH tattoo removed. Realizing their is no money for Christmas, he panics then ineptly tries to pretend everything is okay. Its always been one of my favorite character beats on the show. Its happens fairly often, but it is always funny, and one of Dan Castellaneta's best Homer modulations.
Weird Introductions of Classic Characters:
Ralph "Japanese Robot Santa Claus" Wiggum
Principal Seymour "I mispronounce half the words I try to say" Skinner
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