The very first posting, I hope you enjoy it!
“Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”
– The foundations of a phenomenal program are beginning to be set out even at the very beginning of this episode, we see a Marge and Homer arriving late apparently due to Homer, Lisa’s ability to excel far best her other students despite her conditions, and Maggie in her “Star-snow” outfit, and this is all within the first couple minutes. These latent undertones are seen throughout this episode, such as Burns’ unreasonable demands at work, Moe and Barney’s inability to give Homer sound advice, and finally something that was lost along the way (around the ninth season if I am not mistaken), Homer’s envy in regards to Flanders and his family. The animation is crummy yet you have to keep in mind that this was towards the end of 1989, it is incredible to see these episodes and watch how they have grown and developed, and then in turn, in a way devolved away from what they originally were.
“Bart the Genius”
– “KWYJIBO on the loose.” More character introductions and certain dynamics that become more and more familiar as the show progresses. At the start of this episode we see Principal Skinner and Martin Prince for the first time, we also see the sort of teacher’s pet mentality that Martin has that is crucial in later seasons, and more importantly we see the relationship between Skinner and Bart, which any avid watchers of the show understand to be maybe one of the best relationships within the show (short of perhaps Burns and Smithers/ Lenny and Karl). A couple other side notes, I love the ending because it is the first sign of an essence of against-the-grain and out of the ordinary answers to sentimental topics, in this episode in particular, Bart comes clean and is honest and Homer flips out on him, where in any other “family” cartoon/sitcom there would have been a sappy ending in which Homer appreciates Bart’s honesty. Also, the geniuses in Bart’s class seemed like an excuse for the writers to exercise their minds just a bit and introduce people to the things they know (The Simpsons writers are historically incredibly gifted individuals with impressive degrees).
“Homer’s Odyssey”
– At the start of the episode, we are introduced to Otto, the school’s bus driver, and we already get a glimpse of his unreliability and ability to be a bad influence. We also get the first look at Smithers although we heard his voice in the first episode, his animation has changed vastly since then but his character has not (short of his recent extreme flamboyancy). “I’m no Supervising Technician, I’m a Technical Supervisor who cares too much.” This is the very first episode that you start seeing a very similar formula that runs rampant throughout the series. It begins with an epic failure from Homer, the dealing with this problem throughout the meat of the episode, his slow rise back to some form of dignity and pride, and it being taken away, but only slightly reestablishing some sort of . You might see an easy comparison of this scenario to that of America and our triumphs and shortcomings and the way in which they are portrayed both in the media and in conversation. That might be a bit of a stretch but I still see this comparison.
“There’s No Disgrace Like Home”
– “Mr. Burns: I’m never seen such an obvious attempt to curry my favor.
Smithers: Fabulous observation sir, just fabulous.” I am going to make one last far stretch comparison in this posting, but it is my belief that the Simpsons’ trip around other families to observe their behavior is a great summary of the family and their problems. I could use this as the whole America approach as in the Simpsons representing America and the other families are foreign countries, that our over-consuming, problem filled country is very similar to that of the Simpsons, but I don’t believe that was the intention. First showing of Itchy and Scratchy in the episode as well as Dr. Marvin Monroe. This episode is a tad bit off-kilter but it’s pretty decent given its release date and considering the task they were taking on, that is displaying all of the family’s problems and also their almost irreconcilable differences that make them function (if they function well is a whole different story, a good deal of reasons point in both directions, but I’ll save that for a later posting). Typical Simpsons’ family ending, nothing too special there, but still a pretty decent episode.
Thank you for reading, look out for another post within the week.
Thomas Balkcom's Simpsons Project 