Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire

Hey everybody. I'm Sari

and I'm Shaun

and we're the Simpson siblings. We've been watching the Simpsons since we were little. And we've talked about it all the time. And today's episode is the very first one Simpsons roasting on an open fire. Um, that's season one episode one aired December 17th, 1989. Directed by David silver. And written by Mimi pond

and we have no chalkboard or couch gag to talk about this time, because episode one, this

wasn't originally supposed to be the first episode. Of course we had the Tracy Allmand shorts, but as a full Simpsons episode, some enchanted evening was supposed to be the first. I know that there were some technical issues that push it back. Um, you'll notice that the order is a bit different because Santa's little helper is in this episode and he isn't in certain later aired episodes. And I think this is the better introduction to this dysfunctional family.

And one thing I saw just a couple of days ago was a YouTube video of a commercial for this episode. And they actually use some of the Tracy omen shorts as part of the material to use, to promote episode one. That's really crazy. And it's just interested in seeing a promotion for a Simpsons episode where that old style animation. Yeah,

that's interesting. There is a real big difference in animation. This is also one of the few times where we get a sort of title at the beginning, but it isn't actually the title. It's just says Simpson's Christmas special, which is also similar to the first Treehouse of horror. It doesn't say Treehouse of horror. It says Simpsons Halloween special. So that was kind of interesting.

And it's just fun to see a special as the very launching episode of this series. That's still going on today.

Yeah. And this is one, I watch this every Christmas and it's, and I don't watch it because it's a first episode. I watch it because it's a great Christmas special. So we start out at the school, Christmas pageant and we right off the bat have two and a half stars in the school sign. I don't know if it's two and a half or three and a half. It has like a review. I have a

dentist, three and a half stars. And that they're very proud of their three and a half stone.

Oh yes. Springfield elementary. And we get Maggie signature star look,

and very first off the bat, just Mars saying who be careful Homer as your first line in the series. And then he goes, and he hits a snow drift.

There we go. That's a good first impression. And we get these Santas of the world and Ralph doesn't seem quite as dimwitted yet. I'm wondering if they altered his character a bit. And we also get principal Skinner saying holiday flavor it's and they always catch it every time, I think was that intentional?

I think it was because it starts, he says, and here we have. Melody. I mean, medley of holiday flavor. It's like he caught his first mistake and has a second still

made the mistake. And it's interesting that we're seeing our first views of each of these family members. Like you said, the March telling her to be careful. And then we have Bart singing the Carroll with the wrong words and getting in trouble. Okay. Uh, it's just our first views of each of these characters.

Well, our first view of Lisa is her twirling flames wearing a skirt that's made up of about six lines on the screen. Very bold impression for Lisa.

Oh yeah. Yeah. Kind of interesting choice there. Then I love

Marges when she says Bart sings like an angel and you immediately hear his voice even before he starts doing the gangs. His voice just stands out from the crowd as oh yeah.

Angelic. Oh yeah. That's Marge seeing him with her special little guy goggles. So then we switched this scene and it's Marge writing her Christmas letter while Barton, Lisa writes a Santa and Homer getting out the Christmas lights. She mentioned snowball one. I always kinda always kind of wonder about snowball one. We don't really hear a lot. Kim or her she's outlining so much about the family and their accomplishments. And then she goes and Bart, we love

barks. Yeah. She just, she has to mention Bart, but not much to be excited for, but she still loves him. Oh

yeah. And I, of course then Bart asks for a tattoo and I love how Homer's reaction is. It'll be out of your own allowance. Like that's his whole beef with bark, getting a tattoo is going to pay for it.

Yeah. And you know, if you can come up with the money, go ahead and do it. He just doesn't care. Yeah.

And Homer just wants to impress his kids so bad as seen with his Christmas lights display compared to Ned Flanders and then Marge hiding the money in her hair. I I've got a lot of questions. Like what does she do in the shower? Does she sleep with it in

her hair? Yeah, I really stood out when she just pulled it out of her hair just seems like structured. Her hair wouldn't be able to hold it up. And I just wonder, is that money jar in her hair through the rest of the series? Is it still there today?

Because it's her Christmas savings. So obviously she's not going to start that right away. She's probably been saving this from

lunch and all the coins in there. It would be jingling around. That's quite a creative spot to keep your money. Oh yeah,

definitely. And then, and the kids go to the mall and it's late eighties heyday, and I got a bit hurt succeeding. This the mall is pretty much off limits. Now we're recording this December, 2020 and going shopping with my mom was a big part of Christmas for me. But this year we just kind of did online and it's just kind of missing them all.

Yeah. It's, everything's coming to your door these days waiting to get back out into the real world. But I do like when they pull into the parking lot, they're in the double Z section parking. It reminded me of, remember we're in the issue. I

say that every time we go to Disney, remember in the itchy land, there's just two huge lots. We've got Bart wanting the mother tattoo. And Marge saying in his head that she likes it because it's so dangerous. And I love that margin. His head is a lot different than real life March,

and it shows a bit of Bart's character that even though he might make some bad choices, he doesn't always have a bad intention behind it. He just wants to make March happy. He's thinking, what can I do? Impress mom. He wants to be

the special little guy, right? Yeah. And then we cut to Homer learning that he's not getting his Christmas bonus. And we get that scene where he's looking at the dials in the nuclear plant. And the one that moves is a slightly different color than the others.

It's the whole, you know, Scooby dues going down the hallway and there's that one door that's a different, slightly different color. And then everyone goes into the room as they're making the announcement. One person grabs a donut and then two more people grab donuts. And before you know it, everyone's eating donuts, just staring, not the speaker. And

Mr. Smithers specifically says to keep working during the announcement. And of course they don't, well then Marge finds out that bark got his tattoo and Marge has to use the savings to get it removed.

And it's very convenient that at Springfield mall has a place to get tattooed. And the laser tattoo removal. Oh yeah. I wouldn't stop shopping.

Oh yeah. And then we get our first, I Carumba

the size of that laser. That thing was huge. And what, what did he say? You don't want to get this new, your eyes are growing

and I've heard that getting a tattoo removed is much more painful than getting a tattoo. I've I've not, I haven't experienced getting a tattoo removed, but.

I don't know. Yeah. I can just imagine Bert regretting his decision very quickly. Yeah.

And we see that right away in the next scene with the whole owl. Quit it. Moment. We

do that all the time is a

staple of my vocabulary.

Yeah. I'll just say, oh, and then Sarah will quit it. Quit. Oh, we are Simpsons

nerds. Oh yes. Oh. And that tattoo artist would get so soon.

I remember Burt goes up to ask for the tattoo and he says, how old are you? And Bert just blows break past the 18 barriers and says he's 21. I don't know if there's different laws in different states, but it seems like he'd want to be lying about his age, closer to what he actually is. Oh, 3 21.

I don't know. That might be a difference in laws for each state. I know here it's 18 to get one without parents supervision, but it could be 21. Have it elsewhere. I don't know. So Homer doesn't tell Marge that he doesn't get the bonus. And instead of telling her, he asked Steve Christmas shop and

we see a good side of Homer that he feels personally responsible for this financial situation. I feel like if this story would have played out a couple of years down the line, he would have jumped to blaming Bart for ruining Christmas, but instead he takes it upon himself. Make Christmas happen for the family. And we

get that, the sorta editing with the close-up to Marge, sort of patting him on the hands and you can tell he just does not want to do.

And there's that scene where he steps outside, just trying to figure out what he's going to do. He sees the Flanders house with all their lights, looks up their house with just a few lights, dimly lit. And when he hangs his head down, that seems just like chronic to me. Cause I remember we had the Chris's. Simpsons book as kids. And there was a full page that was just Homer there with his head hanging down in the dark. And I just remember

that so, well, I still have that book. I'll actually post it to our Twitter. I'll post a picture of that page of me holding that page because that book is just so iconic.

I'm glad you still have it because I have no idea where it's been. Oh yeah, no, it's.

And then we get that wonderful Homer line, a credit card that won't set off that terrible beeping

has to be so bad to make a loud noise. Oh yeah. It reminds me forget. The episode was where they were trying to get a car and that siren goes off on the computer over says like, is that a good noise? No.

Oh, man. And then we've got the, uh, nothing over $5 store, which we have a store like that called five below. And it's kind of interesting. They had something like that back then. We've got Homer buying the gifts and his is really interesting gift choices, including the dog's squeaky toy for Maggie.

It says it's a dog toy, but maybe he can't read.

He can't read. And then we get this whole situation with Flanders outside with the gifts we've got this rivalry sort of growing between the two of them, just from episode one. With Ned having all these gifts and saying, oh, this one's mine and this one's mine and poor.

Homer's sitting there. Mr. Simpson, you dropped your pork chop.

Yep. Oh. And then he goes to Moe's and it seems a lot more spacious for some reason.

Yeah. They're probably still trying to figure out the layout, how everything works.

And then Homer gets an idea from Barney of all people to become a mall Santa, to get some extra.

Now, one thing from that scene that bothered me, Moe offers him a candy cane. I would not eat that unwrapped candy cane. That's been sitting in those pockets all day long. Yeah. Isn't the cleanest of people.

Uh, I just love these bits at the Santa school for the longest time as a kid, I thought Nixon and Donna Dixon were actual reindeer names because of the scene. You mean they aren't? Oh no.

And we have that professor that we ended up seeing later on this series. I forget what episode we see him in, but he's very familiar looking. Yeah.

He shows up here and there, especially in the early season. And then Homer heads home, super tired. And of course, Patty and Selma are there to criticize him. They mentioned that he doesn't have a tree, so he goes to get one

and went, just think it's interesting. Right off the bat with Patty and Selma. We see that large is really the only one that's ever happy to see them. Homer, Bart, Lisa, everybody just hates seeing them, but Marge just gets so happy every time they come over for a visit or call on the phone.

I like that. Um, the scene earlier in the episode that we didn't mention with the, uh, can I speak to March, please?

Is this. And just that little banter that goes on between the two of them he out,

and we get a nice, uh, counter score here with winter Wonderland playing in the background with all the tree signs and no dialogue. Good silhouette of Homer in the dark. When he finally decides to stop at the, uh, no trespassing.

Yeah, we passed the couple signs and the natural progression is the no trespassing sign.

That's where he's, that's where he's at now. Now

I thought the pricing on the trees was interesting. The first lot that they go by, it says all trees, $75. Wow. I ran it through a converter online based on 1989 money value to now, those trees would be $157. And even the slightly irregular trees that were selling for $45. That'd be $94 today. Oh

my goodness. I wonder if prices were just that high back then for Christmas trees, or if, maybe since he's getting this kind of close to Christmas, if the prices were high or,

or maybe we're putting way more thought than the animators ever did. That's another thing. Very good possibility.

Another possibility Bart is dared at the mall to go sit on Sanchez. I noticed Milhous sounds slightly different. I think they're still trying to figure out his voice, how to get that just

right. And there's one specific shot where he has his blue eyebrows, the angle changes and they're black. And then the angle changes get in there back to blue. Oh,

those early Simpsons out of the sides.

I love that. There's the one kid that's the on Homer's lap. And the kid asks for robot toys and a goop monkey. And just thinking that toys haven't changed over the years, that could very well be a toilets for sale today. Oh

yeah. Having my daughter two six now and seeing the kinds of toy commercials they have and it's, and a lot of the things have changed, but some things just have changed. And I think it's interesting that Bart does not recognize Homer as Sam. It's almost like the sailor moon effect where they just throw on a Tiara and a slightly different outfit. And suddenly they're completely unrecognizable from their alter. You go,

even after he goes, what's your name? Bart ner

little partner. Oh man. And another really just a plus Bart line. You must really love us to sink so low that it's just equal parts. Compliment an insult is just so bad.

And I feel bad for anyone who's done that job that hears that and says, oh yeah.

And then Homer of course is disappointed. Only getting $13 and that the lady, um, rattles off all the different charges that they had.

Yeah. Thing is such a scam. I really hope it's not like that in real life. The Sante is in the malls as they deserve to get paid. Well, it's a hard job. I would assume this, this

episode will be dedicated to the Sanders of America.

Thank you for your word.

We salute

you. And then Barney is awful beard. Oh, it's just hanging off his face. There's like a big gap between his shin and where the beard starts. Oh my gosh. And he's so excited for his $13. Oh yeah.

He's ready to go to the dog races.

Which is the next logical step.

Oh yeah, of course. That's where we're going next. And then we get this moment with Lisa and the happy little elves, which seems like a very seasoned one and two thing. They just kind of disappear after that.

Yeah. Cause we have them with like the babysitter bandit and a couple of other episodes, but. Disappear. I think we see the elf toys in her room a few times, but even those go

away. Yeah. And Lisa really showing her true self with that rant to Patty and Selma, where it's really showing her intelligence and how eloquent she can speak, how she forms an opinion, um, to stand up to them. The. Aunts that are substantially older than our, who are essentially insulting her father in front of

her and poorly. So she has this amazing speech in petty just looks at her blankly and goes, yep.

This is go watch your show. Dare and that's. Oh, man, it just kind of breaks your heart at how she's being dismissed, but that's also very critical to her character. That she always has these eloquent arguments and then just get shut down. And then we get Homer deciding to bet on Santa's little helper,

best choice he ever made. Oh yes.

And saying this little helper really loses the race and he says, I don't want to leave until our dog finishes. And just this little, long's also

loved, there's a line a few minutes before where they're talking about the odds for him winning. And said it'd be a 99 payout. And he says 99 times 13 equals Merry Christmas.

Yeah. He's

not really doing the math. Nope.

Ah, and then we just, we get this perfect line that the guy kicks out, Santa's little helper for losing and he comes running to the Simpsons and Bart tries to convince Homer to take him in and homeless. He's a loser. He's put that egg, he's a Simpson.

Uh, and I just love that. Look on his face. When he looks up at Homer. I know part of what you did for our artwork for the podcast was to put my dog Amos and as sent his little helper. Cause he just, the way he acts the way his body is the way his eyes look just reminds me so much of him. Oh yeah.

He's a good boy. He go, boy, he wants to be a good boy. And I really love how soon as a little helper story relates to homers that they try so hard and they don't quite make it, but finding others like them who love them. That's the important thing. At the end of the day,

it comes down to family.

And we got this sweet moment after the credits of everyone singing Rudolph while Maggie rides on seeing this little helper. Yup. And just the whole family's reaction to Santa is a little helper. They're not mad about not having other Christmas presents. They're just happy to have. And, you know, more love in their

family. Homer even walks in with an apologetic speech as to why he doesn't have any presence. And he gets interrupted by bar saying, Hey guys, we got a dog and no one even acknowledges that they don't have presence. They just live the dog. Yeah.

And, well, there's this one line that just punches me right in the heart where Lisa goes, I guess, love at first sight is possible. It's like, oh my God, I get very clumped. Yeah. Yeah. It's just such a overall sweet. Episode. And I watch this every year on Christmas, usually Christmas Eve, I'll put this on while I'm making cookies. It's, it's a good, wholesome Simpsons outing. And it also happens to be their first episode.

It just is a really good emphasis of the roots of the family, because I feel like a lot of the newer episodes are sometimes shock factor or sometimes really rough stories. And it's good just to see something happy happening in the Simpsons.

Thank you so much for listening to the Simpson siblings podcast. If you'd like to join us next time, we'll be watching season five, episode eight boy Scouts into hood. If you want to watch the episode before listening, that will give you your best listening experience and until then happy holidays, everybody.