I might miss out on the one for Old Money if there was one. And a few Season Nine and Ten. But I'd literally just watch the one for Treehouse of Horror IX to see if the couch gag was mentioned (that's the one where the Simpsons all die before it, and then we see Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees wondering why they haven't showed up (and Jason actually talks).
@@strawberrysoulforever8336 I don't think they died before getting there, they just suffered injuries. And Jason didn't talk Freddy did. I Know cause I love Robert Englund
@@fozziepringleton2883 I think the writers wanted us to think they died. That was the intention. And I know Jason never talks, but this was the exchange: Freddy: I don't get it, they should be here by now. Jason: Ah, what are you gonna do? Jason does talk. And I already knew Robert Englund, the original Krueger, did Freddy's line. That must be the ninth time he's played Freddy, after the first six films, New Nightmare (where he also played himself) and Freddy vs Jason. The remake, of course, had Jackie Earle Haley, who actually auditioned to be in the first film and brought his friend Johnny Depp along. Haley didn't get in, but Depp played Glen in his first ever movie role. I know my trivia.
I do love that one, but for me the best line is from Moaning Lisa, when Homer makes Bart do the vacuuming because he doesn’t know how to deal with Lisa. “In times of trouble, you gotta go with what you know!” I laughed so hard!
I actually think cutting away to Mr. Burns during the shock therapy scene makes it even funnier. It disrupts the flow, sure, but I think that was intentional, like it fakes you into letting your guard down. You assume that the joke is over and it'll jump to the family recovering afterwards, but instead it smash-cuts to a close-up of Homer screaming in your face and you realise, oh god, it's STILL going.
I'm pretty sure it was the shows FIRST cutaway joke (in airing order anyhow, I don't know about production order) which is just a cool fun fact that makes No Disgrace Like Home even more interesting to me
When I was a kid I used to think it was the true first episode of The Simpsons and that's the reason why everyone acts differently and I assumed the electric "therapy" changed their personalities.
I actually think its one of the earliest production ones maybe? the babysitter one is definitely the first one made, but it could be second. But I also always got the feeling that this episode was the "first" one. It actually seems odd to me that the christmas episode is the first one. In my head this was first and that was the season finale. But I wasn't born yet at the time ('94 was my birthday), and so I assuredly saw them out of order and my brain decided whatever order it wanted.
@@GBDupree This was the first episode to air in the UK, I guess some broadcasters chose this episode as a good introduction to the characters at the time.
I was originally working on a "Marge in Chains" review due to all the memes about the pandemic and everything. But I quickly realized writing the review was becoming the least fun thing in the world, so I switched to this episode instead. Maybe I'll revisit it when I'm not stuck in my house. "There's No Disgrace Like Home" was the first episode I ever covered in a CZcams review (over 8 years ago!) and had always wanted to revisit it. Enjoy!
Nice! I was trying to find a Simpsons episode I definitely felt like watching, and someone I know (he also comments on your reviews) suggested Marge In Chains. But pandemic or healthy nation, it's not one of Season Four's stars. Marge vs The Monorail this ain't. My question is, when was this written and recorded? It aired fourth, but Some Enchanted Evening was recorded first and aired last in the season. Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire was actually sixth recorded. If I had to guess, this would be earlier, because Homer was a lot angrier in early episodes. He always had a temper, but he was almost constantly angry early on.
The gag with the 'perfect' family actually being at the clinic is a fun twist, especially with how it reflects on their behaviour earlier. It almost looks like this offscreen subplot where they tried the same ruse as the Simpsons, were more successful, but then the father, refusing to indulge that lowly cynical stranger with his real self, just keeps it going on and on until they finally reach where they are later. It almost feels like something Homer would have done in this episode if he'd pulled it off, just wanting the ruse to last forever and it turning ugly.
I really liked your positive take on how out of character this episode is in retrospect. “Interesting” is how I would explain a lot of season 1. Not bad, just different.
Of course it is different. It is the very first season. Characters have not been developed to where they eventually turned out to be. I would agree with you if this was like season 8 or 9 being this different; now THAT would have been interesting.
Hello I wanna use the word bad but you have they are clunky You talk about it like it's super Mario Bros 2 I think of it more like Super Mario land fun but pretty simple plan
i disagree with his take on marge..her passive apathetic look the other way uncaring role in no disgrace is very realistic to how most mothers act towards their family if they love them enough to accept them for their faults as they are and do not expect them to change much cause they have strong moral fiber and she was right to not worry they are who they are and homer is overreacting...he has no moral authority to change them and sometimes being yourself is ok to teach to kids especially if their parents raised them to make the right choices the way marge feels they have ..i get in other episodes this may not be the case but each episode is like a story and has to bee seen separate since they are written by different people and telling different morals and stories using the same characters so in the end that message stands true in theory.....perfection is overrated and opinion based from the eye of the beholder what is perfection its your perceived take on it...i actually like this marge more..the other seems like a t.v. sitcom stereotype always wanting to change her family and wag the finger at others without looking at herself first ..this one is not all high and mighty...cool...reminds me of my own mother in a lot of ways
Interesting is definitely what I call this episode. And different from normal, even further from normal than numerous other season 1 episodes. Marge getting so carefree and drunk is so different from her normal uptight "moral center of the family" character, and Homer pawning the TV and being so concerned about the family being so straight and well behaved is basically a total reversal of the 2 characters. Other season 1 episodes show them both a little off center from how they're established in subsequent seasons, but this is the only episode where Homer and Marge's characters are completely reversed. It almost seems like the writers deliberately made their characters reversed in this episode just because they wanted to try something. And it apparently didn't take too well, because we see how their characters were established in the long run after this.
7:50 "I think they are trying to evoke that this pawn shop is shady" What gave it away, the tired looking worker doing his job or THE BAZOOKA IN THE BACK?
This was the episode that semented The Simpsons as a "anti sitcom" family on television. And what made The Simpsons so popular and relatable at the time.
I never even noticed the 'perfect' family from the picnic were at Monroe's clinic at the end. This adds a completely new dynamic to one of my favourite episodes!
What I really love about this episode is that they do feel like they are real people. In later Simpsons everything is way more cartoony and bombastic (and funnier), but here? Just watching a regular american family (or what I guess one looks like, I'm from spain I wouldn't know)
I keep hear that people that are watching this series now skip season 1, saying the series gets good at season 2. I really like season one, it may be my favorite. I find it really sad when first timers don't watch the first season.
I think Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire is the perfect introductory episode. It really captures the heart of classic Simpsons before the show went down the drain.
seasons 1 is better than the end half of season 8 and most of season 9 10 and 11...people need to realize its solid man..its not super amazing but its very good
Season one still goes down as the best season for me. The rough animation, the dark scenes, how homer was really a caring parent. Just made it for a great season.
They feel more like real people instead of just hilarious cartoon characters. I’ve got a soft spot for the early episodes even if they’re not the funniest
Funny you feel that because even as a kid, this episode always kind of got under my skin. This may be because season 5 was sort of my primer for how I interpret the show (I think I got the season 5 DVD as a Christmas present when I was about 8 or 9). It not only seemed really out of character for Homer, but it also made him seem kind of self righteous and hypocritical. Or it may just be that I've always had a weird pet peeve with "we need to get our shit together as a family" stories.
I always had a soft spot for this one, though maybe because it's my first proper experience with the Simpsons as it was the first episode that aired on terrestrial TV in the UK all those years back. I always kinda equated this sort of looseness of the episode, both in narrative and animation to what the Simpsons should have been like (I mean it is yellow people with bug eyes, it kinda fits a bit surreal). Your comparison to Bob's Burgers is interesting as it has that similar aesthetic, almost like how The Simpsons might have evolved if they had kept that Season One weirdness rather than trying to make it a more polished sitcom. This version of Homer didn't bug me as much at first view, since I got the point Homer was meant to be this nemesis dad for Bart early on, this strict self righteous hot head who went against his antics. Him trying to make a stand against his dysfunctional family but being hypocritical and buffoonish about it that you could sympathise with both sides felt fitting. It's ironic that this seems more and more like a role reversal of later Season Five onwards-ish episodes however, when Marge or Lisa would criticise the family's lack of tact, but the show by that point would often be willing to undermine them a bit and point out their narcissistic elements about it. There's an alternate universe somewhere which followed episodes like this and Homer's Odyssey where town hall meetings everyone would be expecting HOMER to butt in with some sanctimonious killjoy complaint. Actually this episode if anything feels the most like a straight adaptation of the Tracey Ullman Simpsons dynamic to a full episode. Have you ever considered doing some videos concerning the shorts? The primordial days of the Simpsons would be interesting to study.
Same though for me it was getting this on vhs along with Bart the General back when buying a couple of episodes on on a plastic brick seemed like a neat idea.
Yes, the Bob-Rake scene is a good comparison point. Much like that scene, the pacing & framing is what sells the laughs. It knows just where to change views, where to change it to, and how to escalate from one moment to the next. When other shows attempt something similar, I find they miss that most of the time.
What if he were the Simpson’s version of Zed that was referenced in 22 Short Films? He’s the only character I can think of that matched the tone of every scene Herman is in, especially that parody
Bart: "They'd work much better without the padding Doc" Dr. Monroe: "no no that's not true" ***Thunk*** Ahhh! Bart: see ... one of the funniest moments ever in any simpsons episode ever
Homer in the early seasons was often portrayed as being Dim yet loveable ,and not the full on Peter Griffin esque dumb asshole he'd become in the mid-Scully/Jean years.
That sounds like a really interesting idea that wouldmake a fun video, rewriting this episode to fit with later characterization or just in a later season
Oh that's easy. Just get in your cryogenic tube for and we'll unfreeze you in a few decades when Matt Groaning the 3rd's evil empire has been toppled and The Simpsons are finally cancelled.
This episode was beautiful. It's a true depiction of family. We've all been there, envious of other families, thinking that somehow they don't have the same problems we do. Then the way that despite their dysfunction, they are a family unit and they still have each other. That's true family. You drive each other crazy but at the end of the day, you still have each other
Session 1 for me is special, for Christmas my auntie got me a couple of tapes of Session 1 episodes and I watched them over and over again, so it always brings me back to good time's and memories, it just has that special place in my heart I love them.
Homer: sometimes I feel like we’re the worst family on the block Marge: maybe we should move to a larger community These kind of jokes are why I still watch season 1
Funny enough, the bit at the picnic is one of my partner's and mine biggest hits. We never tire of quoting the dialogue, Marge's song, the German version of this is really really funny too. They were super experimental with the translation in the first season and it totally shows.
this is consistently my fav youtube channel ever. your dedication to this amazing show is genuinely so admirable and i'm always happy to see a new vid of yours!
I would also really like to hear his opinion on family guy in general. It’s a show that was clearly inspired by the Simpsons, then took the more cartoony route, then deviated from the Simpsons so much that it isn’t even recognizable as a Simpsons knock-off anymore.
I haven't got around to commenting as much lately, but another enjoyable "Seconds", TheRealJims. I'll probably echo what I already commented back on your original 60 Second review, but 'No Disgrace...' feels an odd episode even by s1 standards, what with Marge being the one who "disgraces" the family (would normally be Homer's role), and - shock! - Homer pawning the television set! (Had the story been made a season or two later, they still might have done these things but with pre-established "reasons" and circumstances to justify it). With these stark differences in mind, it's interesting that when the series was FINALLY aired on terrestrial TV here in the UK in 1996, it was this episode they chose to open with (they showed a very jumbled order of first and second, and occasional third, season eps until things settled down "in correct sequence" a year or so later). To the uninitiated, it might have been mistaken for the pilot, hence the notable character differences - so maybe surprising it's actually from halfway through the season, when 'correct' character traits had already established in previous episodes and even in the Tracey Ullman shorts beforehand. That aside, it's not a particularly bad episode, though I do agree that (from memory) act two does drag a bit, and feels like it needed something else thrown into the mix (maybe Homer suffering TV withdrawal symptoms would have been funny). As I've commented before though, I do like the early, rebellious Lisa, and in some ways actually miss this a bit. The third act with the shock therapy is the clear highlight of the episode, and early on in the show's life was often hailed as a classic sequence (possibly why the BBC chose it to air first in the UK?) Although the sequence has been maybe forgotten slightly over the years, it's still as funny now as it was back then, and set the stage for so many great things to come. Wonder what your next review will be, Jims ("Marge in Chains")? What with the pandemic and lockdown at the moment, I think I'll try and re-watch the first two seasons on DVD ... strange to think that, after they were regarded as so "anarchic" at the time, now the first two seasons seem somehow comforting with their 'gentle', satirical stories... (is that kinda like when "hard rock" somehow matures into being played on "soft rock" stations, I wonder).
I like the paradox at the end. The only way they could get family bliss was to get double their money back. But they get double their money back if and only if they don't get family bliss.
It’s episodes like this that solidify why I think S1 deserves to be included in the show’s “golden age;” not perfect in the slightest but intriguing and funny enough to hold up over 30 years later. It’s very foolish to overlook this season! Great video
If you showed me this episode without anything else, I would be able to automatically tell this was a season 1 episode. Just the characterization is very season 1, Lisa and Bart being interchangeable at times, Homer having some sense, and Marge reminding me of my grandma.
This has always been one if my favourate episodes of the entire series, despite being quite different to The Simpsons that people know. I'm really glad that you covered it.
Fun fact: when the Simpsons debuted on the BBC in November 1996 (when the majority of the UK had not seen it before unless they subscribed to Sky TV), this was the episode they chose to open with.
This really makes me miss old Simpsons. They were willing to go more places with everybody, because they were still exploring. I wish they explore again. Everybody on "The Simpsons" seemed more human back then.
I'd argue Lisa was dismissive and behaved poorly at the picnic simply because she's a kid. You could say it's because of her judgemental tendencies and "sticking it up to the man" with the man being Mr. Burns, but I'm not sure if that's already a trait of her in the early days.
This is one episode of season 1 that *especially* reeks of Early Installment Weirdness, but strangely enough, I don't really mean that in a bad way. It's hard to really break it down, but there's something about seeing a lot of familiar personalities and the series' general cynicism alongside a tone that's much more sitcomy than even season 2 would be. The odd parts, like the weird characterization and onslaught of random one-offs stand out much more when there's a lot of things that do genuinely hold up like, as you said, the therapy sequence and the fact they double their money rather than actually have a successful session is considered a victory for them. It's like looking at an alternate timeline and I appreciate episodes like this for really illustrating the place the Simpsons has in TV history by showing how sitcomy they had to be at times. I can't help but enjoy it, lack of polish and all
3:45 omg I've watched that episode so many times and never noticed that happy family sitting at the Marvin Monroe's office. It's for this kind of stuffs I watch all the videos on this channel.
I did after a few rewatches but just assumed it was an animation error. After Jim's analysis however it makes perfect sense, that they were just another dysfunctional family playing a fake happy charade for the dad's boss, just more successfully than the Simpson family.
For me this is the best season 1 episode. It's really interesting seeing one of the earliest episodes ever produced, everyone aside from Bart is out of character by today's standards, brings family teamwork (which is something I really like in the episodes that include it), self-acceptance (like you said), and of course the therapy scene was phenomenal! The episode as a whole is actually a fun one to watch, the family picnic, Homer's prayer, and again the therapy scene.
I do see shades of The Office and Bob's Burgers now that you've pointed it out, but you know what the shock therapy sequence with Dr. Monroe reminds me of? Animaniacs. Can't you just see the same scene with Yakko, Wakko and Dot somehow rigging all the electrocution buttons to zap Dr. Scratchensniff? Hell, when Monroe loses it, all I can think of is the "Vhat is on your mind?" "OH! My hair!" bit. As for Bob of Bob's Burgers, I could totally see an episode like that, but with Bob REALLY losing it near the end. I love how he's usually portrayed as the only sane man, but he's the one that has it the least together most of the time. He's VERY protective of his Burger Shop to the even any minor setback is a major catastrophe ("PIZZA DOESN'T GO GREAT WITH FRIES!!!"), he talks to objects and has them talk back quite frequently, and when he's got a new knife of fresh ingredients he's the damn happiest guy in the world. So it basically comes around to he's actually the least in control of the entire family, where as weird and quirky as they are, the fact they're that comfortable with their weirdness makes them far more together and sane than Bob will ever be. Also, nice to point out that the first season characterizations don't seem so odd. I love this episode, but I always have trouble watching it because of the serial escalation of Homer's eh... mental devolution and evolving cartoonish jerkassiness makes the episode feel dated. If this were made even a season later, Marge or Lisa would be the ones embarrassed of Homer and Bart's behavior. I kinda miss when Lisa was basically smarter Bart.
I never knew that perfect family was the same one in the therapy office until it was pointed out to me. Goes to that they are as perfect as they appear to be.
First season episodes don't get enough love. You young whippersnappers don't know what it was like watching the show at first run. Everybody was criticizing it. Homer was a chauvinist. Bart was going to corrupt the young generation. But for fans like me, I couldn't get enough. It was such a breath of fresh air compared to all the other stuff on tv at the time! I kept trying to convince everybody I knew to watch it, and eventually my whole family would sit around the tv Sunday nights to watch. So whatever these first season eps did wrong, they must have done something right
That reveal of the other plant family (for the sake of the fact that they never got name-dropped in the episode, we'll call them the Jones's here) being in the waiting room with frumpy faces at Dr. Marvin Monroe's office tells us that the Jones's were really only one or two steps ahead of the Simpsons in terms of being able to put on a good show for Mr. Burns at the picnic, or something caused Mr. Jones to snap shortly after they left the picnic. Either way, I love it!
Instead of the Christmas Episode or Bart the Genius, they chose this episode as the season premiere when it first aired in Germany. That's why it being my first glimpse into the Simpsons and having seen it over and over again, it holds a special place in my heart. If I myself had to pick a "the definite first Simpsons episode to watch", it would be either Some Enchanted Evening, or this one.
Oh my god! I had that exact same comparison to Bobs Burgers watching no disgrace!! I remember watching bob’s burgers and saying “this is like if Simpsons was season 1 all throughout”
I never can get into this "Bob's Burgers" you speak of. But I do like the latest animated family sitcom Fox has running now. Though I admit I forget its name. The new show where the Dad loves all this old rock and roll memorabilia.
Awesome review. Personally, I think this episode is good, but it would’ve worked later in a season where the show has found its footing. Things like having the Flandereses be the “perfect family” model and Marge being the one to threaten getting rid of the TV would’ve fit more.
If there were an Extra Seconds for each episode from Season One through Season Ten, I'd watch them all
I might miss out on the one for Old Money if there was one. And a few Season Nine and Ten. But I'd literally just watch the one for Treehouse of Horror IX to see if the couch gag was mentioned (that's the one where the Simpsons all die before it, and then we see Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees wondering why they haven't showed up (and Jason actually talks).
This channel is like watching the Simpsons for the first time again.
@@diggitydoo5836 its like a simpsons message board (pretty much referencing the best jokes in casual conversation) in audio form.
@@strawberrysoulforever8336 I don't think they died before getting there, they just suffered injuries. And Jason didn't talk Freddy did. I Know cause I love Robert Englund
@@fozziepringleton2883 I think the writers wanted us to think they died. That was the intention. And I know Jason never talks, but this was the exchange:
Freddy: I don't get it, they should be here by now.
Jason: Ah, what are you gonna do?
Jason does talk. And I already knew Robert Englund, the original Krueger, did Freddy's line. That must be the ninth time he's played Freddy, after the first six films, New Nightmare (where he also played himself) and Freddy vs Jason. The remake, of course, had Jackie Earle Haley, who actually auditioned to be in the first film and brought his friend Johnny Depp along. Haley didn't get in, but Depp played Glen in his first ever movie role. I know my trivia.
-This must be Brat
-Bart
-Don’t correct the man Brat!
Best line of season 1
"It's Kurns, stupid!"
I do love that one, but for me the best line is from Moaning Lisa, when Homer makes Bart do the vacuuming because he doesn’t know how to deal with Lisa. “In times of trouble, you gotta go with what you know!” I laughed so hard!
I actually think cutting away to Mr. Burns during the shock therapy scene makes it even funnier. It disrupts the flow, sure, but I think that was intentional, like it fakes you into letting your guard down. You assume that the joke is over and it'll jump to the family recovering afterwards, but instead it smash-cuts to a close-up of Homer screaming in your face and you realise, oh god, it's STILL going.
Too, it ties back into Burns' party in the first act.
I liked it because it felt like a joke they'd do in a later episode.
I'm pretty sure it was the shows FIRST cutaway joke (in airing order anyhow, I don't know about production order) which is just a cool fun fact that makes No Disgrace Like Home even more interesting to me
It also makes the joke much more insane. Like, they're wasting the towns electricity suprise.
I never noticed the B-I-N-G-O family from the picnic was at the family therapy clinic at the end. That's brilliant
Yeah I always wondered if it was just an animation error with them reusing character designs, but in hindsight it makes perfect sense as a gag.
I guess homer was right they were faking it
When I was a kid I used to think it was the true first episode of The Simpsons and that's the reason why everyone acts differently and I assumed the electric "therapy" changed their personalities.
I actually think its one of the earliest production ones maybe? the babysitter one is definitely the first one made, but it could be second. But I also always got the feeling that this episode was the "first" one. It actually seems odd to me that the christmas episode is the first one. In my head this was first and that was the season finale. But I wasn't born yet at the time ('94 was my birthday), and so I assuredly saw them out of order and my brain decided whatever order it wanted.
@@GBDupree This was the first episode to air in the UK, I guess some broadcasters chose this episode as a good introduction to the characters at the time.
@@hankhill7827 Interesting. That might explain why it also aired as the first episode in Germany.
Wow... interesting theory...
+GBDupree
I think this one was the third or fourth produced.
EDIT: 4th.
I was originally working on a "Marge in Chains" review due to all the memes about the pandemic and everything. But I quickly realized writing the review was becoming the least fun thing in the world, so I switched to this episode instead. Maybe I'll revisit it when I'm not stuck in my house. "There's No Disgrace Like Home" was the first episode I ever covered in a CZcams review (over 8 years ago!) and had always wanted to revisit it. Enjoy!
no need to explain just thank you for making the best Simpsons content on the internet
Thanks for your great content Jims
Didn't you said Marge in chains is a mediocre episode outside from everything Lionel Hutz related?
Marge in Chains in a boring episode with Lionel Hutz being the star
Nice! I was trying to find a Simpsons episode I definitely felt like watching, and someone I know (he also comments on your reviews) suggested Marge In Chains. But pandemic or healthy nation, it's not one of Season Four's stars. Marge vs The Monorail this ain't.
My question is, when was this written and recorded? It aired fourth, but Some Enchanted Evening was recorded first and aired last in the season. Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire was actually sixth recorded. If I had to guess, this would be earlier, because Homer was a lot angrier in early episodes. He always had a temper, but he was almost constantly angry early on.
The gag with the 'perfect' family actually being at the clinic is a fun twist, especially with how it reflects on their behaviour earlier. It almost looks like this offscreen subplot where they tried the same ruse as the Simpsons, were more successful, but then the father, refusing to indulge that lowly cynical stranger with his real self, just keeps it going on and on until they finally reach where they are later. It almost feels like something Homer would have done in this episode if he'd pulled it off, just wanting the ruse to last forever and it turning ugly.
I really liked your positive take on how out of character this episode is in retrospect. “Interesting” is how I would explain a lot of season 1. Not bad, just different.
Of course it is different. It is the very first season. Characters have not been developed to where they eventually turned out to be. I would agree with you if this was like season 8 or 9 being this different; now THAT would have been interesting.
I always put it down that ol season one whackiness
Hello I wanna use the word bad but you have they are clunky You talk about it like it's super Mario Bros 2 I think of it more like Super Mario land fun but pretty simple plan
i disagree with his take on marge..her passive apathetic look the other way uncaring role in no disgrace is very realistic to how most mothers act towards their family if they love them enough to accept them for their faults as they are and do not expect them to change much cause they have strong moral fiber and she was right to not worry they are who they are and homer is overreacting...he has no moral authority to change them and sometimes being yourself is ok to teach to kids especially if their parents raised them to make the right choices the way marge feels they have ..i get in other episodes this may not be the case but each episode is like a story and has to bee seen separate since they are written by different people and telling different morals and stories using the same characters so in the end that message stands true in theory.....perfection is overrated and opinion based from the eye of the beholder what is perfection its your perceived take on it...i actually like this marge more..the other seems like a t.v. sitcom stereotype always wanting to change her family and wag the finger at others without looking at herself first ..this one is not all high and mighty...cool...reminds me of my own mother in a lot of ways
Interesting is definitely what I call this episode. And different from normal, even further from normal than numerous other season 1 episodes. Marge getting so carefree and drunk is so different from her normal uptight "moral center of the family" character, and Homer pawning the TV and being so concerned about the family being so straight and well behaved is basically a total reversal of the 2 characters. Other season 1 episodes show them both a little off center from how they're established in subsequent seasons, but this is the only episode where Homer and Marge's characters are completely reversed. It almost seems like the writers deliberately made their characters reversed in this episode just because they wanted to try something. And it apparently didn't take too well, because we see how their characters were established in the long run after this.
7:50
"I think they are trying to evoke that this pawn shop is shady"
What gave it away, the tired looking worker doing his job or THE BAZOOKA IN THE BACK?
Haha, OK that is probably a giveaway too!
This was the episode that semented The Simpsons as a "anti sitcom" family on television. And what made The Simpsons so popular and relatable at the time.
I never even noticed the 'perfect' family from the picnic were at Monroe's clinic at the end. This adds a completely new dynamic to one of my favourite episodes!
Perfect episode if you’re stuck home with your parents for the quarantine
How topical
Yep still relevant/topical 30 years later
It's my favorite season 1 episode.
Layne Krusz they are all just copying me
What I really love about this episode is that they do feel like they are real people. In later Simpsons everything is way more cartoony and bombastic (and funnier), but here? Just watching a regular american family (or what I guess one looks like, I'm from spain I wouldn't know)
it feels like a very funny normal sitcom with the occasional cartoon moment but then stretches back to reality and everyone acts normal again...
la suspension de la incredulidad se hizo mas grande con el tiempo
@@fexzitfhydrinds7058 no sería al revés?
The Bob's Burgers and Office comparisons in this video were really smart. Keep up the good work!
7:40 Forget Herman, they should have used THIS lad in the Pulp Fiction parody
Judith Morgendorffer Bruh I love herman but u right
The pawnshop owner’s voice is really similar to Herman’s as well lol
Mac Monkeyhat Ikr? It’s like Simpson’s “creep” voice
I keep hear that people that are watching this series now skip season 1, saying the series gets good at season 2. I really like season one, it may be my favorite. I find it really sad when first timers don't watch the first season.
They should watch the babysitting episode
I think Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire is the perfect introductory episode. It really captures the heart of classic Simpsons before the show went down the drain.
Since when were there guidelines for good episodes? I mainly watch S1-18, and a few in the later seasons.
SharkandMinno personally, the show is still great to me. And I’ve watched every episode. But that’s a good way to describe Ep 1
seasons 1 is better than the end half of season 8 and most of season 9 10 and 11...people need to realize its solid man..its not super amazing but its very good
Season one still goes down as the best season for me. The rough animation, the dark scenes, how homer was really a caring parent. Just made it for a great season.
Yeah I love the Early Installment Weirdness of the first season. Homer seems less obviously dumb than he would in subsequent seasons.
They feel more like real people instead of just hilarious cartoon characters. I’ve got a soft spot for the early episodes even if they’re not the funniest
Funny you feel that because even as a kid, this episode always kind of got under my skin. This may be because season 5 was sort of my primer for how I interpret the show (I think I got the season 5 DVD as a Christmas present when I was about 8 or 9). It not only seemed really out of character for Homer, but it also made him seem kind of self righteous and hypocritical. Or it may just be that I've always had a weird pet peeve with "we need to get our shit together as a family" stories.
Oooh I ‘member!!!
a shame its the shortest.
Frosty chocolate milkshakes
I always had a soft spot for this one, though maybe because it's my first proper experience with the Simpsons as it was the first episode that aired on terrestrial TV in the UK all those years back. I always kinda equated this sort of looseness of the episode, both in narrative and animation to what the Simpsons should have been like (I mean it is yellow people with bug eyes, it kinda fits a bit surreal). Your comparison to Bob's Burgers is interesting as it has that similar aesthetic, almost like how The Simpsons might have evolved if they had kept that Season One weirdness rather than trying to make it a more polished sitcom.
This version of Homer didn't bug me as much at first view, since I got the point Homer was meant to be this nemesis dad for Bart early on, this strict self righteous hot head who went against his antics. Him trying to make a stand against his dysfunctional family but being hypocritical and buffoonish about it that you could sympathise with both sides felt fitting. It's ironic that this seems more and more like a role reversal of later Season Five onwards-ish episodes however, when Marge or Lisa would criticise the family's lack of tact, but the show by that point would often be willing to undermine them a bit and point out their narcissistic elements about it. There's an alternate universe somewhere which followed episodes like this and Homer's Odyssey where town hall meetings everyone would be expecting HOMER to butt in with some sanctimonious killjoy complaint.
Actually this episode if anything feels the most like a straight adaptation of the Tracey Ullman Simpsons dynamic to a full episode. Have you ever considered doing some videos concerning the shorts? The primordial days of the Simpsons would be interesting to study.
Same though for me it was getting this on vhs along with Bart the General back when buying a couple of episodes on on a plastic brick seemed like a neat idea.
Yes, the Bob-Rake scene is a good comparison point. Much like that scene, the pacing & framing is what sells the laughs. It knows just where to change views, where to change it to, and how to escalate from one moment to the next.
When other shows attempt something similar, I find they miss that most of the time.
I always disliked that rake scene. Never found it funny.
Simpson’s mystery’s on the pawn broker???
That's right. Mr. Burns was actually shot by the creepy pawn broker.
YEAH
What if he were the Simpson’s version of Zed that was referenced in 22 Short Films? He’s the only character I can think of that matched the tone of every scene Herman is in, especially that parody
Simpsons Mysteries: how many bodies does the pawn broker have buried in his basement?
Bart: "They'd work much better without the padding Doc"
Dr. Monroe: "no no that's not true"
***Thunk***
Ahhh!
Bart: see
... one of the funniest moments ever in any simpsons episode ever
I love the Early Installment Weirdness of the first season. Homer seems less dumb compared to subsequent seasons.
I think Homer gets stupider every year
Homer in the early seasons was often portrayed as being Dim yet loveable ,and not the full on Peter Griffin esque dumb asshole he'd become in the mid-Scully/Jean years.
@@unscenegamers That's not a question.
mankytoes but we'll let the viewers judge for themselves.
It should be called "There's No Disgrace Like Homer"
That's what they would call it from like, season 7 onwards
@@TWISSTR ye absolutely spot on
Bart No Dismarge Lisa Homer
That sounds like a really interesting idea that wouldmake a fun video, rewriting this episode to fit with later characterization or just in a later season
It would just be a bad episode at that point.
The episode was used in the Robin Williams movie "one hour photo".
That's... almost _Being There_ levels of strategic use of TV clips.
the shocking scene was also in Die Hard 2 was it not?
Simpsons Mysteries - How will the show end?
at least 20 years too late!
Explosively
Oh that's easy. Just get in your cryogenic tube for and we'll unfreeze you in a few decades when Matt Groaning the 3rd's evil empire has been toppled and The Simpsons are finally cancelled.
it won't
It will end Salma and moe falling in love at least that how I would end it
This episode was beautiful. It's a true depiction of family. We've all been there, envious of other families, thinking that somehow they don't have the same problems we do. Then the way that despite their dysfunction, they are a family unit and they still have each other. That's true family. You drive each other crazy but at the end of the day, you still have each other
Such a classic episode and season that brings back this warm feeling of nostalgia
Session 1 for me is special, for Christmas my auntie got me a couple of tapes of Session 1 episodes and I watched them over and over again, so it always brings me back to good time's and memories, it just has that special place in my heart I love them.
I feel like I saw Mr. Burns teddy bear Bobo in The Simpsons house living room.
Homer: sometimes I feel like we’re the worst family on the block
Marge: maybe we should move to a larger community
These kind of jokes are why I still watch season 1
Funny enough, the bit at the picnic is one of my partner's and mine biggest hits. We never tire of quoting the dialogue, Marge's song, the German version of this is really really funny too. They were super experimental with the translation in the first season and it totally shows.
I know that I'm extremely weird, but I think this is one of my favorite Simpsons episodes of all time.
this is consistently my fav youtube channel ever. your dedication to this amazing show is genuinely so admirable and i'm always happy to see a new vid of yours!
One day I hope you review the Simpsons and Family Guy crossover episode, I wanna here your opinion on it.
Bisexual Ichigo oh my Gosh! Heck ya! He’s gotta do it!
I would also really like to hear his opinion on family guy in general. It’s a show that was clearly inspired by the Simpsons, then took the more cartoony route, then deviated from the Simpsons so much that it isn’t even recognizable as a Simpsons knock-off anymore.
Don’t torture the poor man
haha 😅
I’d like to see reviews and analysis of the characterization in episodes from seasons 11 - 31.
8:29 wtf happened to barts head there lmao
Rambi haha
Didn’t Homer say that his mother told him that he was a big disappointment? Yeah, Mona clearly wasn’t planned out in any way shape or form yet.
You should do an extra seconds on Homer's enemy
"oops my finger slipped"
"so did mine"
A great The Office episode throwback in a Simpsons review? What a time to be alive!
This was my favourite episode as a kid. had it on a big ol' yellow VHS. keep up the good work jimmy boy
Interestingly, this was the first episode I ever saw and it feels like a good series opener.
Season 1 analysis is always fun. I have a soft spot for the very early episodes even if I didn’t watch them when they were new
This video made me appreciate this episode more.
I haven't got around to commenting as much lately, but another enjoyable "Seconds", TheRealJims. I'll probably echo what I already commented back on your original 60 Second review, but 'No Disgrace...' feels an odd episode even by s1 standards, what with Marge being the one who "disgraces" the family (would normally be Homer's role), and - shock! - Homer pawning the television set! (Had the story been made a season or two later, they still might have done these things but with pre-established "reasons" and circumstances to justify it).
With these stark differences in mind, it's interesting that when the series was FINALLY aired on terrestrial TV here in the UK in 1996, it was this episode they chose to open with (they showed a very jumbled order of first and second, and occasional third, season eps until things settled down "in correct sequence" a year or so later). To the uninitiated, it might have been mistaken for the pilot, hence the notable character differences - so maybe surprising it's actually from halfway through the season, when 'correct' character traits had already established in previous episodes and even in the Tracey Ullman shorts beforehand.
That aside, it's not a particularly bad episode, though I do agree that (from memory) act two does drag a bit, and feels like it needed something else thrown into the mix (maybe Homer suffering TV withdrawal symptoms would have been funny). As I've commented before though, I do like the early, rebellious Lisa, and in some ways actually miss this a bit. The third act with the shock therapy is the clear highlight of the episode, and early on in the show's life was often hailed as a classic sequence (possibly why the BBC chose it to air first in the UK?) Although the sequence has been maybe forgotten slightly over the years, it's still as funny now as it was back then, and set the stage for so many great things to come.
Wonder what your next review will be, Jims ("Marge in Chains")? What with the pandemic and lockdown at the moment, I think I'll try and re-watch the first two seasons on DVD ... strange to think that, after they were regarded as so "anarchic" at the time, now the first two seasons seem somehow comforting with their 'gentle', satirical stories... (is that kinda like when "hard rock" somehow matures into being played on "soft rock" stations, I wonder).
4:57 I mean for crying out loud, in the same episode he gets the idea to look through other peoples windows.
Did this episode make anyone else want to go out for frosty chocolate milkshakes?
Bobs Burgers is The Simpson’s if Homer was self aware and Marge was eccentric.
I like the paradox at the end. The only way they could get family bliss was to get double their money back. But they get double their money back if and only if they don't get family bliss.
It’s episodes like this that solidify why I think S1 deserves to be included in the show’s “golden age;” not perfect in the slightest but intriguing and funny enough to hold up over 30 years later. It’s very foolish to overlook this season! Great video
Love your vids man!
it's funny how Homer is the one embarrassed as now it would either be Lisa or Marge
That’s definitely how you know, this was when the show was in its peach fuzz era.
This episode is what I think of when the term "Early Installment Weirdness" is mentioned.
If you showed me this episode without anything else, I would be able to automatically tell this was a season 1 episode. Just the characterization is very season 1, Lisa and Bart being interchangeable at times, Homer having some sense, and Marge reminding me of my grandma.
This has always been one if my favourate episodes of the entire series, despite being quite different to The Simpsons that people know. I'm really glad that you covered it.
Fun fact: when the Simpsons debuted on the BBC in November 1996 (when the majority of the UK had not seen it before unless they subscribed to Sky TV), this was the episode they chose to open with.
They need to bring this kind of episode back.
Receptionist turned her head 180 degrees at 09:43 creepy.
I laughed out loud so hard the first time I saw the Shock Therapy scene. Caught me totally off guard.
Sick. A game top 5 and Shock therapy extra seconds? You the goat
This really makes me miss old Simpsons. They were willing to go more places with everybody, because they were still exploring. I wish they explore again. Everybody on "The Simpsons" seemed more human back then.
I'd argue Lisa was dismissive and behaved poorly at the picnic simply because she's a kid. You could say it's because of her judgemental tendencies and "sticking it up to the man" with the man being Mr. Burns, but I'm not sure if that's already a trait of her in the early days.
I had this on video as a child. It had this and the Army episode with Nelson.
This is one episode of season 1 that *especially* reeks of Early Installment Weirdness, but strangely enough, I don't really mean that in a bad way.
It's hard to really break it down, but there's something about seeing a lot of familiar personalities and the series' general cynicism alongside a tone that's much more sitcomy than even season 2 would be. The odd parts, like the weird characterization and onslaught of random one-offs stand out much more when there's a lot of things that do genuinely hold up like, as you said, the therapy sequence and the fact they double their money rather than actually have a successful session is considered a victory for them.
It's like looking at an alternate timeline and I appreciate episodes like this for really illustrating the place the Simpsons has in TV history by showing how sitcomy they had to be at times. I can't help but enjoy it, lack of polish and all
This was one of the ones we had on VHS, this was such a nostalgia trip
I love your work! I think youre one of the best analysis youtubers out there, and not to be weird but your videos brighten up my day
I always wondered what those jellies tasted like i was so curious when I was young probably just me
Maybe bingeing with banish will do an epsiode on it 🤔
8:07 that bottom right frame is the Klaskiest Simpsons frame to ever Csupo.
I use Bart's version of grace all the time.
I love the rawness of the first series.
I remember watching this when it first aired. we were all partying and high as f*ck on LSD.. we laughed hysterically at this
Hey I really liked the collab you did with Phantom Strider it was a pleasant surprise!
3:45 omg I've watched that episode so many times and never noticed that happy family sitting at the Marvin Monroe's office. It's for this kind of stuffs I watch all the videos on this channel.
I did after a few rewatches but just assumed it was an animation error. After Jim's analysis however it makes perfect sense, that they were just another dysfunctional family playing a fake happy charade for the dad's boss, just more successfully than the Simpson family.
This was my dad's favorite episode purely because of the shocking sequence.
For me this is the best season 1 episode. It's really interesting seeing one of the earliest episodes ever produced, everyone aside from Bart is out of character by today's standards, brings family teamwork (which is something I really like in the episodes that include it), self-acceptance (like you said), and of course the therapy scene was phenomenal! The episode as a whole is actually a fun one to watch, the family picnic, Homer's prayer, and again the therapy scene.
10:39 I want to believe that this is Lester and Eliza's family before the two kids changed hairstyles.
A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
My favorite episode from season 1 Thanks for this
Forget that creepy pawn shop guy, We're gonna need an explanation on that pale family at 7:58. Those are some scary looking Springfieldians!
Can’t beat Barney at a fight , to be fair Barney knows how to fight
LORD! PALMERSTON!!!
i love the animation in season 1. it's rough, but i like it.
I forgot about the Mr. Burns part in the shock therapy scene; It was always cut in syndication.
Two doses of Jim in one day? Aw hell yeah!
this episode probably has my favorite dvd audio commentary.
I do see shades of The Office and Bob's Burgers now that you've pointed it out, but you know what the shock therapy sequence with Dr. Monroe reminds me of? Animaniacs. Can't you just see the same scene with Yakko, Wakko and Dot somehow rigging all the electrocution buttons to zap Dr. Scratchensniff? Hell, when Monroe loses it, all I can think of is the "Vhat is on your mind?" "OH! My hair!" bit. As for Bob of Bob's Burgers, I could totally see an episode like that, but with Bob REALLY losing it near the end. I love how he's usually portrayed as the only sane man, but he's the one that has it the least together most of the time. He's VERY protective of his Burger Shop to the even any minor setback is a major catastrophe ("PIZZA DOESN'T GO GREAT WITH FRIES!!!"), he talks to objects and has them talk back quite frequently, and when he's got a new knife of fresh ingredients he's the damn happiest guy in the world. So it basically comes around to he's actually the least in control of the entire family, where as weird and quirky as they are, the fact they're that comfortable with their weirdness makes them far more together and sane than Bob will ever be.
Also, nice to point out that the first season characterizations don't seem so odd. I love this episode, but I always have trouble watching it because of the serial escalation of Homer's eh... mental devolution and evolving cartoonish jerkassiness makes the episode feel dated. If this were made even a season later, Marge or Lisa would be the ones embarrassed of Homer and Bart's behavior. I kinda miss when Lisa was basically smarter Bart.
I never knew that perfect family was the same one in the therapy office until it was pointed out to me. Goes to that they are as perfect as they appear to be.
Wait what? This episode is not called "No disgrace like homer"? I've been making a fool out of myself
First season episodes don't get enough love. You young whippersnappers don't know what it was like watching the show at first run. Everybody was criticizing it. Homer was a chauvinist. Bart was going to corrupt the young generation. But for fans like me, I couldn't get enough. It was such a breath of fresh air compared to all the other stuff on tv at the time! I kept trying to convince everybody I knew to watch it, and eventually my whole family would sit around the tv Sunday nights to watch. So whatever these first season eps did wrong, they must have done something right
The blimpsons
What a fascinating look at a rather curious episode :) Thanks :)
I remember this being the first episode I remember when I was a kid in 1993.
I love these vids! But what's the music called?
That reveal of the other plant family (for the sake of the fact that they never got name-dropped in the episode, we'll call them the Jones's here) being in the waiting room with frumpy faces at Dr. Marvin Monroe's office tells us that the Jones's were really only one or two steps ahead of the Simpsons in terms of being able to put on a good show for Mr. Burns at the picnic, or something caused Mr. Jones to snap shortly after they left the picnic. Either way, I love it!
Instead of the Christmas Episode or Bart the Genius, they chose this episode as the season premiere when it first aired in Germany. That's why it being my first glimpse into the Simpsons and having seen it over and over again, it holds a special place in my heart. If I myself had to pick a "the definite first Simpsons episode to watch", it would be either Some Enchanted Evening, or this one.
Oh my god! I had that exact same comparison to Bobs Burgers watching no disgrace!! I remember watching bob’s burgers and saying “this is like if Simpsons was season 1 all throughout”
♥TheRealJims
XimerTracks - Sub To Me bra you really gona scam him?
I never can get into this "Bob's Burgers" you speak of. But I do like the latest animated family sitcom Fox has running now. Though I admit I forget its name. The new show where the Dad loves all this old rock and roll memorabilia.
This episode basically mocked all the other "happy family sitcoms" and it made sense how the simpsons looked so unique
Awesome review. Personally, I think this episode is good, but it would’ve worked later in a season where the show has found its footing. Things like having the Flandereses be the “perfect family” model and Marge being the one to threaten getting rid of the TV would’ve fit more.