The Simpsons/Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire

Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
Season 1, Episode 1
Airdate	December 17, 1989
Production Number	7G08
Written by	Mimi Pond
Directed by	David Silverman
Stream
— N/A	1x02 → Bart the Genius
The Simpsons — Season One

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Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire is the first episode of the first season of The Simpsons.

Starring: Dan Castellaneta (Homer Simpson, Barney Gumble, Moldy, Grampa Simpson), Julie Kavner (Marge Simpson, Patty Bouvier, Selma Bouvier), Nancy Cartwright (Bart Simpson, Ralph Wiggum, SNPP Employee, Radio Singing Voice, Boy, Lewis Clark, Cashier, Bubbles), Yeardley Smith (Lisa Simpson),

and Harry Shearer (Mr. Burns, Principal Seymour Skinner, Mr. Largo, Ned Flanders, Waylon Smithers, Dr. Zitofsky),

Also Starring: Hank Azaria (Moe Szyslak), Jo Ann Harris (Girl Pamela Hayden (German Santa Girl, Rod Flanders, Santa Claus Woman, Milhouse Van Houten, Son)

Plot Overview

The episode starts of with Homer and Marge racing to get to Springfield Elementary for Bart and Lisa's Christmas pageant. They arrive just on time to watch Lisa perform and Bart sing.

The next scene shows the family sitting around the fireplace. Marge is writing a letter, while Bart and Lisa are writing up their Christmas lists. Lisa asks for a pony, Bart for a tattoo. The kids leave while Marge pulls out her Christmas savings, while her and Homer discuss what they are going to get the kids.

Marge takes the kids to the mall, where Bart promptly decides to take fate in his own hands, and walks into a tattoo parlor. Marge is forced to spend all their Christmas savings on a laser tattoo operation, banking on the fact that the family can use Homer's Christmas bonus to buy this years presents. At this same time Homer is working at the Nuclear Plant, where he finds out he is not going to get a bonus, but it doesn't matter too much, since he plans on using Marge's savings.

Homer comes home, and finds out that they have no money, but decides not to ruin Christmas for everyone, by telling them that he did indeed receive his Christmas bonus.

Now Homer has the problem of trying to buy presents cheaply, so he picks pantyhose for Marge, Paper for Bart, and a dog chew toy for Maggie. He goes to sulk in Moe's Bar when Barney walks in, wearing a Santa costume. Barney gives Homer the idea of working as a mall Santa to make a little extra money.

Marge's sisters, Patty and Selma arrive, and when Homer arrives home late from his Santa training, they start to insult him, saying he'll ruin Christmas for everyone.

The next day Bart discovers that Homer is working at the mall, and Homer confides in him about his lack of Christmas money, but that it will be all right when he goes to pick up his check later. Homer goes to pick up his check, while he tells Bart about the importance of a hard days work, only to find out that he made just 13 dollars for his efforts. Barney once again comes to save the day by telling Homer about Whirlwind, a shoe-in to win at the Greyhound Racing Tracks. Homer and Bart go to the tracks, ready to bet on Whirlwind, when an announcement comes over the P.A. system. The announcement is about a dog, Santa's Little Helper, to be exact. Homer takes this as a sign, and puts his 13 dollars on Santa's Little Helper to win, at 99 to 1 odds he could stand to make almost $1300. Sadly Santa's Little Helper has a horrible race, so bad that his owner kicks him and tell him to never come back again. The dog immediately runs to Homer, and jumps into his arms.

Just as Marge is about to call the police since she can't find her husband, Homer comes home. He starts telling everyone how he ruined Christmas when Santa's Little Helper jumps into the living room. Everyone is thrilled with their new pet, Christmas is saved.

Notes

Title Sequence

This is the only Simpsons episode without the normal title sequence.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• Santa's Little Helper: An abused racing greyhound who is rescued by Homer, after he is run off by his owner for his failures to compete in racing events, and is brought home as a gift to his family. It is implied that, given his owner's words shouted to the dog as he was abandoning him, he had finished last "for the last time," implying he was costing him money and had failed to be competitive at any of the races in which he was entered. Future episodes would explore SLH's past before he was adopted by the Simpsons, including how he was dog-napped and became a racing hound, and the bond with his mother that never went away even after being taken.
• First appearances in the series' proper:
  • The Simpsons family: Abraham Simpson (Grampa), Homer's father; and Patty and Selma Bouvier, Marge's sisters. Grampa is cantankerous, is frequently confused and often complains about anything and everything, while Patty and Selma have a cynical outlook on life, and with Homer share a mutual dislike of each other.
  • From the town of Springfield: Ned Flanders, Todd Flanders, Barney Gumble, Principal Seymour Skinner, Dewey Largo, Milhouse Van Houten, Ralph Wiggum, twins Sherri and Terri Mackleberry, Lewis Clark, Moe Szyslak, Montgomery Burns and Wayland Smithers.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• All in the Family: Like the world of the Simpsons, the Bunkers often dealt with bad news on or around the holidays, here Homer having to deal with not being awarded a Christmas bonus at work, much like Archie had his Christmas bonus taken away in the legendary sitcom's first Christmas episode; both plots deal with their respective patriarchs struggling to share the news with their families.
• Christmas songs' alternate lyrics:
  • "Jingle Bells": Bart's alternate lyrics – "Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg; Batmobile lost its wheel and the Joker got away" – are a part of schoolyard culture.
  • "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer": Bart and Lisa supply commentary akin to what children frequently add at the end of each line (e.g., "... had a very shiny nose" with Bart adding "like a light bulb") when singing the popular Christmas song. The reception varies, and here, Homer is moreso annoyed at the additional lyrics.
• Man-O-War: Dog-O-War (one of the entries in the dog race at Springfield Downs) is named after the legendary race horse that won the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in 1920, both in impressive fashion.
• Dollar General and other discount stores: The Circus Of Values, where the family does its Christmas shopping. The store is stylized more like the Dollar General and other stores of its era (Woolworth's (which was still operating in 1989), Ben Franklin, S.S. Kresgke's and others) than Walmart, which was already similar in format to Kmart and Target by the late 1980s.