Say what you want about the decline in the quality of The Simpsons over the last decade, but it's hard to disagree with the fact that the very first episode, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, wasn't both groundbreaking and fantastic. Okay well it's technically not the very first episode as it appeared on The Tracey Ullmann Show in one minute shorts, but it then spun off into The Simpsons.
If you don't remember this episode, it introduces us to the Simpson family at Christmas. Marge has to spend all the Christmas money she saved on removing a tattoo from Bart's arm. Homer learns that he won't be receiving a Christmas bonus so takes up a job as a mall Santa. This doesn't pay as much as he initially thought so he puts money on a dog at the track; Santa's Little Helper. He of course doesn't even finish the race and is then abandoned by his owner outside. Homer takes him home to his family who are more than pleased.
Now although this episode probably has a place in every Simpsons fan's hearts, it's surprising to see, looking back, how slow and humorously sporadic this episode was. There were poor scene transitions, the animation wasn't great and this effected the pacing of the episode as a whole. However, the structure for what The Simpsons would become was all there to see. Lisa was talented, Bart was an underachiever. Homer was a bumbling fool and was hated by Patty and Selma. Even Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner and Moe fit into their familiar roles.
Now you could argue that A Miracle on Evergreen Terrace is a much better Christmas episode. It's definitely funnier and The Simpsons was at it's best here. I mean, the part where the family buy a new car with everyone's donations then immediately destroy the car is hilarious.
But Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire is my favourite purely for the fact that it is so groundbreaking. At the time, family sitcoms were centered around the family unit who were safe depictions of the middle upper class. They were soft and docile, but The Simpsons, which aired two weeks before the end of the 1980's, was satirical, dark in places and seemed to mock the values of the traditional, wholesome American family. How many family sitcoms were there that showed an angry father sho strangled his son? Or has a young boy getting a tattoo, with a needle? And as we all know, the world went Simpsons mad and SimpsonMania was everywhere. And the episode delivers that cliche message that Christmas isn't about materialism and possessions, but in a more sincere way. When Homer realises he can't afford to buy his family any gifts we really relate to him, and in this episode The Simpsons sits more in the real world than in the exaggerated world we came to see.
When everything is at it's low point and Homer loses his money at the dog track, it's Santa's Little helper that gives his family the best gift of all; something to share their love. And you can't get more Christmassy than that.
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