On October 9th, 1986, a little network named Fox launced in the United States. While its launch was mired with amazing choices like The Late Show with Joan Rivers, Werewolf, Mr. President, and the Adventures of Beans Baxter, it would thrive with the likes of 21 Jump Street and Married... With Children. But perhaps the most important program of Fox's early life was a little sketch comedy show named The Tracey Ullman Show. Maybe not so much for the actual live action content as good as it was, but the decision to add animated interstitials between breaks. Enter a man named Matt Groening. A cartoonist who had found notoriety through his self-published comic book named "Life in Hell". Such notoriety caught the eye of James L. Brooks, who at the time served as executive producer and co-creator of the Ullman show. Brooks wanted Groening's "Life in Hell" to serve as bumpers for the show.
It was there in the lobby of James L. Brooks' where Groening had made a decision that changed the face of animation as we know it. Fearing that he would lose the rights to Life in Hell, Groening came up with a completely different idea. A series of animated shorts focusing on a disfunctional family. He even chose to name the family after his own. And thus The Simpsons were born. Debuting with "Good Night", the extremely crudely animated shorts earned popularity. And much like the nearest Fonzie or Urkel, the popularity soon overshadowed Ullman's show itself.
Sadly the same could not be said for Dr. N!Godatu.
With the Simpsons success on Ullman, the eventual plans were underway to spin them off to their own prime time series. This was still the late 80's and prime time animated shows, especially ones centered less on appealing to children, had been nonexistent for over a decade, last being seen with 1973's Wait Til Your Father Gets Home. But with the Simpsons becoming not only a television hit through Ullman and being more well known through merchandise (much of which was bootlegged in the early days) and sponsorships with the likes of Butterfinger, it was a gamble worth taking. And thus with the aide of James L. Brooks and Sam Simon, The Simpsons was on track to premiere in the fall of 1989... but hit a snag.
You see, the original plan was to premiere in the fall of 1989 with Some Enchanted Evening. But when the original version from Korean Studio AKOM came out horrendously, with off model characters, rubbery animation and inconsistencies everywhere, everything had to be put on hold. (you can read my Tooncrap article from it here). Thankfully the show's animation quality improved and things were back on track as the show was now moved to a January 1990 premiere. But before that, the world got its first taste of half hour Simpsons through the official first aired episode The Simpsons Christmas Special, AKA Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.
And this is where our journey begins. Welcome to the review series 'Round Springfield. In this series, we'll look back at the classic era of the Simpsons episode by episode. Originally I planned to celebrate the Simpsons by ranking each season, but since I felt doing so stifled what I could offer in terms of reviewing, I changed gears to this route. Much like my other reviews, these will look at each episode in rundown form, complete with some gags and jokes, with a breakdown of my thoughts at the end. I'll also be looking back at some history with each episode, classic Simpsons media around each time and see just how fast the phenomenon grew. So if you'll join me, we shall begin. It's time to start our saga with the tale of Christmas bonuses, tattoos and unlucky greyhounds. Let's begin.
We open the episode as Homer, Marge and Maggie arrive at Springfield Elementary for the Christmas Pageant. Among the things we see are the Santas around the world. Ultimately this segment feels like tacked on educational content. Though I will admit a priest-like Santa Claus with eyes in the back of his head is more intriguing than the Coke mascot we know and tolerate. The most notable of these worldly Santas is Lisa's as Tawanga, the south seas Santa Claus.
Now as a kid I thought that design is pretty risque for an 8 year old character, leaving little to the imagination. But on commentary it was confirmed as a body stocking, so I guess it's fine. Of course thenext moment of the Christmas pageant is that of Bart's infamous "Jingle Bells, Christmas Smells, Robin laid an egg" during the fourth grade medley of Christmas classics. In fact, it's likely the only bit from the opening pageant segment that you even remember.
For the first big exposure to the Simpsons post-Ullman, I don't feel the pageant does that good a job at setting up the dynamic of the family. That however is fixed in the next scene as Marge is writing Christmas letters to friends of the family. One thing I like about the special is that it really does feel like Christmas from start to finish. Even little moments like Bart and Lisa writing their lists to Santa and Homer trying to untangle the lights. Really does help give you that warm feeling for the holiday. Bart wants a tattoo, while Lisa pines for a pony and Homer has to deal with the unbearable task of getting a word out of Marge's sister Patty on the phone.
We also see the first appearance of Ned Flanders in the series. And instead of him being the "regular Charlie Church" that he would by typecast into, he's played more as the overly nice yet perfect neighbor who always has things better than Homer.
After taking a bit to warm us to the holidays, it's finally time for the conflict of the episode. Marge takes the kids Christmas shopping with the money she's stashed over the year (hidden conveniently in her hair). While at the mall, Bart finally gives in to his wanting of a tattoo. Meanwhile at the nuclear plant, the boss Mr. Burns acts in a Scrooge-esque fashion and cancels the Christmas bonus. What makes things worse is that Marge has to spend the savings to remove what little of the tattoo has been finished. When Homer learns later in the evening, he begins to panic. Worried that he'll ruin Christmas by revealing he didn't get his bonus, he lies about his bonus and promises to make this the best Christmas yet, despite being broke.
To continue spinning his web of lies, Homer decides to go Christmas shopping. Of course being near broke, he goes for stuff like panty hose for Marge and squeaky pork chop dog toys for Maggie. Wallowing in his beer at Moes, he learns from Barney that the mall is looking for part-time Santas. This is definitely where the better jokes of the episode come from, with the Santas losing enthusiasm when they learn they won't get paid til Christmas and Homer forgetting the reindeer names. When he heads home, Homer has to deal with Patty and Selma as they bring up the lack of a Christmas tree. So Homer does the only thing he can, which is steal a tree from someone's property, birdhouse and all. If you haven't realized it in this second act, Homer is pretty much full on deadbeat at this point.
Homer finds some decent success at the Santa gig, but his success is destroyed by Bart, who is dared to yank the beard off him. This gives us the debut of the iconic "I'm Bart Simpson, who the hell are you?" line.
Now that Bart has learned about Homer's secret, he comes with him to receive his Santa pay. However, due to about a dozen hidden fees, Homer is left with thirteen bucks. When all seems lost, Barney suggests that Homer uses his money to gamble at the dog track. Homer at first rejects, but Bart suggests he does it as, since this is a Christmas special, something good always happens to families at Christmas.
Line of the episode:
"If TV has taught me anything, its that miracles always happen to poor kids at Christmas. It happened to Tiny Tim, it happened to Charlie Brown, it happened to The Smurfs, and it's gonna happen to us." - Bart Simpson
The third act feels like there's a bit too much filler as we have not one, but two segments with the rest of the family more or less just saying "Where's Homer?" At the track, barney suggests the five race winning greyhound Whirlwind, but when he hears one of the dogs name is Santa's Little Helper, he thinks that it's a sign. Even with 99-1 odds. However, it turns out that Santa's Little Helper isn't too helpful as he comes in super ultra dead last.
Despite the rock bottom outcome, and the fact that TV lied to him, we still get a happy ending as Santa's Little Helper is disowned by his owner and jumps into the arms of the Homer. He's a loser, he's pathetic, he's... a Simpson. Homer eventually reveals his loss of a Christmas bonus, but it ultimately doesn't matter since he still brought home a dog. Something to share their love, and frighten prowlers. And thus we end much like we started, by lampooning a classic Christmas song, as Rudolph gets lovingly mocked.
For a first episode, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire is a solid episode. Not particularly the funniest, but much like early Simpsons, the focus was more on story and less on the faster comedic wit that the later seasons provided. And this story is great, showing Homer as a loving father, who while brutish, is a softy at heart. Definitely an evolution from his angry Walter Matthau early days from the Ullman shorts. While this episode doesn't give too much time to the rest of the family, only really bringing Bart into the story by the tail end, you still get a good feel for the family dynamic. And most importantly for a Christmas special, it feels like Christmas, from the setting to the plot itself being about a father trying to make the best Christmas for his family out of a bad situation. In the end, this is an A+ episode and still one of the best Christmas specials ever.
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FIRST APPEARANCES:
PRINCIPAL SKINNER
MR. LARGO
NED FLANDERS
TODD FLANDERS
MR. BURNS
PATTY AND SELMA
MOE SZYSLAK
BARNEY GUMBLE
SANTA'S LITTLE HELPER
SNOWBALL II
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NEXT TIME ON 'ROUND SPRINGFIELD:
"Bart the Genius"
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