By the time the first episode
of The Simpsons aired in 1989, a
regular Fox viewer would already know them from their vignettes on The Tracey Ullman Show – the sketch
comedy show that spawned a series that would be running 25 years later running
over 500 episodes and a theatrical feature film. Even as this first episode, “The
Simpsons Christmas Special” unravels, one can see that the groundwork for this
popular series is already in place. While the show would start to become better
over time, the series’ humble beginnings are off to a satisfying start.
The episode begins at
Springfield Elementary, where Bart and Lisa are performing in the school’s
holiday pageant. Lisa does a traditional tribal fire dance, while Bart opts to
sing “Jingle bells, Batman smells…” before promptly being pulled off the stage.
As the episode progresses, Marge has to spend all her Christmas gift money on
removing an unfinished tattoo Bart decided to get for himself. On the same
hand, Homer learns that Mr. Burns is not giving out Christmas bonuses this year
and thus, to avoid disappointing his family, takes a job as a mall Santa.
The job does not go according
to plan and all Homer gets out of it is a measly $13. Barney encourages Homer to go to the dog
track in hopes their luck will change. Homer bets 99 to one on a dog named
Santa’s Little Helper, insisting it’s a holiday miracle. Alas the dog does not
even place. In the parking lot, Santa’s Little Helper is abandoned by his owner
and Homer takes the dog home – bringing home a perfect Christmas gift – something
to share the family’s love.
The fact that this is
an episode from the show’s first season really shows. While it was not the
first episode produced, the series still has not found its true voice just yet.
Compared to the pacing of later episodes – this one is more subdued, slower, and
quieter. The animation is not refined
and to be honest is not very good. The combination of so-so animation and
quieter humor style makes this very much a product of its time, especially
given what The Simpsons turned into a
few years later with the more bizarre, satirical edge the show received, the
more realistic setting Springfield was early on is reflected in this episode.
But, despite all that,
while this is not the smartest, best-written episode, it’s still a good episode
of what The Simpsons was at the time
which, even then, is nothing particularly bad – it just hasn’t found itself
yet. As a standalone Christmas special, it’s one to very much admire. While the
show has done numerous other Christmas episodes over the years – to me, this
one stands out as the best one because of how earnest and less silly the style
of comedy is. It may be a product of its time in the show’s history, but the product
as a whole still works. Just don’t expect it to be one of the series’ great
episodes.
Critic emulated: Robert Canning (IGN)
No comments:
Post a Comment