It's quite something how different season 1 of the Simpsons is

Mekanos · Apr 21, 2021

Rewatching some of it on Disney+, it's really crazy to think that this show was a pop culture phenomenon pretty much from the word "go," yet season 1 might as well be a different show, from the looser animation, the sets looking completely different, the slower pace, and overall what feels like a bigger focus on a Peanuts/Calvin And Hobbes type of humor (think Bart The General and how it makes this showdown with the bullies feel larger than life). And of course there's Homer's voice... and the intro!

Really in many ways season 1 feels more like an extension of the Tracy Ullman shorts than what the show is known for today.

Season 2 brought the show to the recognizable style it would be known today for the most part, though Sam Simon was still showrunner and the humor wasn't quite at the "rapid fire pop culture reference bonanza" the show would be most known for today, moving away from the more overtly cynical and depressing tone the show started out with. Still, thinking about how the show is viewed today, it's difficult to imagine it all started with this season, and makes me wonder how the show might be today if it still kept this sort of style.

maxxpower · Apr 21, 2021

I have a really hard time watching season 1.

Altazor · Apr 21, 2021

I legit love how raw Season 1 looks. It has the same Rugrats-type uncanny animation (not surprising considering Klasky-Csupo were involved in both), very strange looking characters that look different to their "standard" models and I love how the whole season is filled with minor characters that will never be relevant again, or in the other hand, the absence of otherwise "classic" secondary characters (Willie, Dr. Hibbert, Lionel Hutz, and others) who wouldn't appear yet - it gives Springfield a very different flavor, this "hey, this is a big town populated by all sorts of people and some of them you won't even meet in your life" vibe that's very special, before it turned into this standardized cast of characters.

I also like (with caveats) how sitcom-ish it was - essentially functioning as a direct reply to the "80's sitcoms" bag tropes but, while subverting them, it still had time to pause and show that the family cared for each other. It had this very outward face of antiauthoritarianism and "traditional" insitutions but in its heart it was all "the main thing that matters is the very real bonds you share with people that love you and care for you".

Yeah, it looks like shit because of the stilted animation, the awful backgrounds and the glaring coloring errors, and the writing is not that good, but it's got plenty of heart and a very specific vibe the show definitely lost after only a couple of years, and I appreciate its early "weirdness" a looooot.

JLP101 · Apr 21, 2021

From what I remember, it was the first serious attempt from a cartoon show to tackle everyday family life issues. Cartoons prior to this were bugs bunny, transformers, gi joe so it was something unique to the average viewer.

Huey · Apr 21, 2021

Yeah s1 is interesting to watch from a historical perspective but you definitely gotta sign up for a much lower laugh ratio and an almost... aggressive? art style. There is to be fair a transition phase in early season 2 but the fact that they already get to absolute bangers like Lisa's Substitute (inarguably one of the great all time episodes) and Three Men and a Comic Book is a completely remarkable transformation from s1, as you note.

JLP101 said:
From what I remember, it was the first serious attempt from a cartoon show to tackle everyday family life issues. Cartoons prior to this were bugs bunny, transformers, gi joe so it was something unique to the average viewer.

Eh Flintstones probably would have fit the bill there, and that was the 60s. The Simpsons innovation was depicting a dysfunctional family, which was also why it netted controversy (ala the spat between the show and George and Barbara Bush)

Jimnymebob · Apr 21, 2021

I think there are some episodes where the characters are too off model from their well known designs, which kinda makes it look ugly and weird at times, but everything from There's No Disgrace Like Home is fantastic, and I'm always shocked by people who seem to ignore the first season when it comes to peak Simpsons.

This is still one of my favourite visual gags from the show.

Deleted member 6263 · Apr 21, 2021

Altazor said:
the main thing that matters is the very real bonds you share with people that love you and care for you

What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Nevermind.

Jeremy · Apr 21, 2021

Watch Tracy Ullman Show Simpsons and get back to me.

vypek · Apr 21, 2021

Yeah, its got some episodes that I like but in some ways it feels challenging to watch since it feels so weird compared to the upcoming seasons. Its still really great though

Jimnymebob said:
This is still one of my favourite visual gags from the show.

I can practically hear the "thump" that is coming up in the scene lol

Qikz · Apr 21, 2021

I love season 1 even now, it's one of my favourites. The episode with the therapist was amazing.

Mr. President · Apr 21, 2021

Season 1 is pre-golden era but Krusty Gets Busted and Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire are great episodes.

Deleted member 6263 · Apr 21, 2021

Jeremy said:
Watch Tracy Ullman Show Simpsons and get back to me.

Altazor · Apr 21, 2021

Stiltzkin said:
What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Nevermind.

I love that short hahaha

Later Homer wouldn't be so witty as to give such a reply

nekkid · Apr 21, 2021

Try watching the first and last Fast and the Furious in succession without the progression in between...

lunarworks · Apr 21, 2021

Mekanos said:
Really in many ways season 1 feels more like an extension of the Tracy Ullman shorts than what the show is known for today.

Which is exactly what people wanted at the time. The "Bart Shorts" were a breakout hit and cultural phenomenon. That the show evolved beyond that once the writers figured out the characters is no surprise, either.

Mandos · Apr 21, 2021

You know I've never watched the Simpsons

Dark Knight · Apr 21, 2021

maxxpower said:
I have a really hard time watching season 1.

Yeah same. It's not painful, just kinda boring and predictable, and the voices are mostly meh due to inexperience and not totally grasping the characterizations yet.

valuv · Apr 21, 2021

Season 1 is brilliant in its own regard. It's obvious it took them a bit to get their footing but the show still totally holds up. The Crepes of Wrath is masterful, Homer's Odyssey feels right in line with the later seasons, Krusty Gets Busted too. People are weird about Season 1 since the presentation was a bit off but the writing quality was incredible out the gate.

The weirder thing for me is how people act like season 1 is so different from the main show but don't acknowledge the sharp turn it took in season 8. While season 8 has mostly good episodes, it's so clearly a much sharper turn in themes and execution.

mopinks · Apr 21, 2021

season 1 bart won america over with his famous catch phrase

OneTrickJeffrey · Apr 21, 2021

It's so weird to go back to Season 1 and see Homer trying to kill himself by the third episode without any semblance of dark humor or irony.

Sign My Guestbook! · Apr 21, 2021

I actually really like season 1. Simpsons has some really good family drama if you peel away the top-layer of comedy.

Blader · Apr 21, 2021

I like it for what it is just fine, but yeah it's pretty far off the mark of the S3-8 run.

It was funny how massive the S1 dvd boxset was, considering how vastly different it is from what most people know The Simpsons as.

UberTag · Apr 21, 2021

Stiltzkin said:
What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Nevermind.

This short aired for the first time on FOX 34 years ago as of Monday.

Jimnymebob said:
This is still one of my favourite visual gags from the show.

It's a hilarious gag... sadly, it's just about the only good thing about this episode.

Incidentally, my fave Season 1 episode is none other than Bart the General. I find new details to appreciate about it on every rewatch. And Herman was fantastic in it.

The Real Abed · Apr 21, 2021

Season 1 was animated by Klasky-Csupo as was mentioned so it has a really different feel to it. It's crazy how much of a different show it is.

sir_crocodile · Apr 21, 2021

Here we sit, enjoying the shade.
Hey, brother, pour the wine!
Drink the drink that I have made.
Hey, brother, pour the wine!
He's here at last, my one and only, Goodbye, friends, and don't be lonely.
Hey, brother, pour the wine!

HustleBun · Apr 21, 2021

The jokes that land are few and far between but I still have a soft spot for it. I also like how much heart those earlier seasons used to have.

Season 1 and 2 were also the initial height of Simpsons mania, with most of the focus on Bart being a bad boy. The Bart merch was everywhere, Bart was all over the news, teachers and politicians were complaining about Bart. It was Bart-mania and the show often leaned into it. I was way into it.

It's amazing when you realize that most Simpsons merch hit halfway through Season 1, including the Konami arcade game.

Also, I had that tape as a kid and loved it.

I also remember these music videos causing controversy haha

DIE BART DIE · Apr 21, 2021

I have a lot of time for Bart the Genius.

I like Season 1, it fills me with nostalgia.

Jave · Apr 21, 2021

I saw Season 1 when it was new, so even these days I have a very soft spot for it. While it certain wasn't as humor-focused as it became later on, the show was still pretty amusing to watch due to its unique look. One favorite visual gag of mine is from "Bart the General" where Lisa is seen eating ice cream in front of the house and suddenly a trash can rolls into view, and Bart comes out and coughs up his hat.

Also, I've always like the part of the intro where we see Lisa riding her bike home and she's the first to arrive at the house. Kinda wish they kept that in the second intro.

sibarraz · Apr 21, 2021

HustleBun said:
The jokes that land are few and far between but I still have a soft spot for it. I also like how much heart those earlier seasons used to have.

Season 1 and 2 were also the initial height of Simpsons mania, with most of the focus on Bart being a bad boy. The Bart merch was everywhere, Bart was all over the news, teachers and politicians were complaining about Bart. It was Bart-mania and the show often leaned into it. I was way into it.

It's amazing when you realize that most Simpsons merch hit halfway through Season 1, including the Konami arcade game.

Also, I had that tape as a kid and loved it.

I also remember these music videos causing controversy haha

Is weird to grasp how cool was Bart Simpson as an anti authority teenager icon, Im sure that some kid who only watched modern Simpsons will be shocked with that

aidangs · Apr 21, 2021

Please, please kids! Maybe Lisa's right about America being a land of opportunity, and maybe Adil has a point about the machinery of capitalism being oiled with the blood of the workers.

Season 1 rules.

bananab · Apr 21, 2021

I love it so much. I like the very first episode of King of the Hill the same way. Just a lot rougher looking and very unexpected delivery, lol. I think that's the one where CPS gets called for Bobby and Peggy has this way of staring off into space that cracks me up every time.

UberTag · Apr 21, 2021

HustleBun said:
The jokes that land are few and far between but I still have a soft spot for it. I also like how much heart those earlier seasons used to have.

Incidentally, for those of you who have reverence for old school Seasons 1 & 2 Simpsons, I strongly encourage you to scope out The Way of the Dog on Disney+. It's pretty much a de facto old school Simpsons episode in a modern wrapper. Not to mention serving as a pseudo sequel to Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.

HustleBun said:
Season 1 and 2 were also the initial height of Simpsons mania, with most of the focus on Bart being a bad boy. The Bart merch was everywhere, Bart was all over the news, teachers and politicians were complaining about Bart. It was Bart-mania and the show often leaned into it. I was way into it.

It didn't hurt that the franchise leaned heavily into its marketing/merchandising prior to its debut episode even airing. Bart was shilling Butterfingers back in 1988 - which is where Milhouse made his first appearance, incidentally.

Also, let's give Jims some love in this thread...

Korigama · Apr 21, 2021

I still enjoy S1, I'd say because of those differences rather than in spite of them including its tone, while still ultimately liking later classic seasons where they've figured out the setting and cast just as much.

One thing I can't stand about modern Simpsons is how overproduced the art is. Most comedy cartoon series have improved production values if they stay around for long enough, but there's just something so gratingly vexing and off-putting about how inauthentic the excessive polish its look has now makes it seem.

KtotheRoc · Apr 21, 2021

Sometimes it takes a while for a production team to figure out what their show really is. Simpsons Season 1 is a lot like Parks & Rec Season 1 in that regard.

HustleBun · Apr 21, 2021

UberTag said:
Incidentally, for those of you who have reverence for old school Seasons 1 & 2 Simpsons, I strongly encourage you to scope out The Way of the Dog on Disney+. It's pretty much a de facto old school Simpsons episode in a modern wrapper. Not to mention serving as a pseudo sequel to Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.

It didn't hurt that the franchise leaned heavily into its marketing/merchandising prior to its debut episode even airing. Bart was shilling Butterfingers back in 1988 - which is where Milhouse made his first appearance, incidentally.

Also, let's give Jims some love in this thread...

Thanks for the suggestion. I deeply appreciate people who can suggest modern era Simpsons episodes worth watching (it also looks like a Lisa/SLH episode which is a huge win for me).

And anyone with even a mild interest in The Simpsons should check out TheRealJims on YouTube.

Nocturnowl · Apr 21, 2021

Huh, I was tempted to make a thread about season 1 when I rewatched it last month, which was the first time I'd seen most of those episodes in well over a decade.

There's a certain enjoyment to this version of Homer that gets changed later on, the gruffer voiced father who may not be the brightest spark but he doesn't fall into the same (enjoyably) cartoonish idiocy he later would, it's almost grounded you could say.

Lisa is actually something of a brat herself, not in the same way as Bart but she's got her own smug streak that comes with her being smarter than Bart, it to is also kinda enjoyable in how it feels like a more accurate reflection of the functional yet dysfunctional family that the Simpsons invoked back in its early goings.

And as an odd aside, having the episode where Marge is dangerously close to committing infidelity immediately followed by the one where Homer being dragged hard for a rather out of context photo with a belly dancer (and how very negatively Marge views the idea of a Bachelor party, early nineties were a different time huh!) sure made me feel bad for Homer in these "marriage in peril" tropes for a change.
Heck and then you get the opening setup for some enchanted evening to cap things off, It makes me wonder if Marge was initially written to be constantly teetering on ending things.

Anyway, for years I'd sort of written the season off with my personal golden era of the show being from 2 to 9 (yeah I said 9!), but it still holds up for the most part with an interesting glimpse at a different tone, though I will say the Crepes of Wrath and Call of the Simpsons are a bit weak.

Altazor · Apr 21, 2021

HustleBun said:
It's amazing when you realize that most Simpsons merch hit halfway through Season 1, including the Konami arcade game.

the arcade game is a perfect encapsulation in my mind of that "early installment weirdness" in my mind - it clearly looks like early Simpsons, from the random NPCs to the off-colored models (blue hair Smithers, Skinner with brown jacket, brown hair Sherri and Terri, and so on). I love how "of its time" it looks, clearly different from Golden Era Simpsons (and post-GE even more so).

It's fun as fuck to play, too.

lunarworks · Apr 21, 2021

HustleBun said:
Season 1 and 2 were also the initial height of Simpsons mania, with most of the focus on Bart being a bad boy. The Bart merch was everywhere, Bart was all over the news, teachers and politicians were complaining about Bart. It was Bart-mania and the show often leaned into it. I was way into it.

Yup, at the time everyone was expecting Bart to be the runaway star of the show. Homer gradually becoming the most popular character, even if by a small margin, was something no one expected.

Altazor · Apr 21, 2021

Nocturnowl said:
And as an odd aside, having the episode where Marge is dangerously close to committing infidelity immediately followed by the one where Homer being dragged hard for a rather out of context photo with a belly dancer (and how very negatively Marge views the idea of a Bachelor party, early nineties were a different time huh!) sure made me feel bad for Homer in these "marriage in peril" tropes for a change.
Heck and then you get the opening setup for some enchanted evening to cap things off, It makes me wonder if Marge was initially written to be constantly teetering on ending things.

IIRC (and I might be wrong, so correct me freely if you know more) yes, being a deeply frustrated housewife who, despite loving her kids, was on the edge of showing how borderline unhappy she was with her marriage was the starting point of early Marge. Like, I'm reminded of her deeply upsetting advice to Lisa on Moaning Lisa, the one about hiding her sadness behind a fake smile, not showing the world how sad she was, and have her bottle everything up inside... that said a lot. Obviously it's framed as evidently wrong in that same episode (immediately debunked in the very next moment), but you get a glimpse of what she has done for a long time in her life.

Especially when you remember she was, in high school, an outspoken feminist who didn't want to end up as a housewife.

Nocturnowl · Apr 21, 2021

Another few completely random details I had on my mind going through season 1 again

- When you think of characters that would get phased out of the show shortly after season 2, generally most jump to Marvin Monroe (especially with the 138th spectacular reference) and Herman, but I'd forgotten that the school counsellor had a few early showings before mostly vanishing into the void.
Also Nelson's mooks, but nothing of value was lost there.

- In "There's no Disgrace Like Home" I had a good laugh at finally noticing that the perfect family Homer interacts with at the end of Burn's party are later also at Monroe's clinic looking absolutely hateful, such a great background gag.

- I caught Al Brooks as the RV salesman, but it still caught me off guard realising he was Jacques.
also from that episode "and I won't be back for ten minutes!", a joke that flew right over my young head.

- General background characters are so much more cartoonish looking, you know it's much more like Groening's doodle style I guess before the art direction got a bit more standardised.

Altazor said:
IIRC (and I might be wrong, so correct me freely if you know more) yes, being a deeply frustrated housewife who, despite loving her kids, was on the edge of showing how borderline unhappy she was with her marriage was the starting point of early Marge. Like, I'm reminded of her deeply upsetting advice to Lisa on Moaning Lisa, the one about hiding her sadness behind a fake smile, not showing the world how sad she was, and have her bottle everything up inside... that said a lot. Obviously it's framed as evidently wrong in that same episode (immediately debunked in the very next moment), but you get a glimpse of what she has done for a long time in her life.

Especially when you remember she was, in college, an outspoken feminist who didn't want up as a housewife.

It would make a lot of sense with some of these episodes, stretching a bit into season 2 as well.
On that note, our early glimpses of Marge's mom in the first couple of series paint a much bleaker parenting picture for Marge than I remembered.

Altazor · Apr 21, 2021

Nocturnowl said:
- General background characters are so much more cartoonish looking, you know it's much more like Groening's doodle style I guess before the art direction got a bit more standardised.

bless you, TheRealJims, for drawing (heh) my attention to that goofy looking mofo under the pine tree

Uncle Squingis · Apr 21, 2021

Stiltzkin said:

Sordid Plebeian · Apr 21, 2021

never really cared for it much, though I've been thinking about rewatching up through S8 at least so I'll give it another go

Sixfortyfive · Apr 21, 2021

Season 1 is an incredible deconstruction of and response to 1980s American sitcom TV. That old article about "Zombie Simpsons" does a good job of conveying why the show was a runaway success from the very beginning.

The hysteria was due at least in part to the way The Simpsons deliberately attacked the sacred cows of American television. Unlike all those shows where things always work out and kids learn lessons, in Springfield there isn't a single institution that's run by an honest and caring public servant. The local government is presided over by a corrupt womanizer modeled on the worst aspects of the Kennedys. The police force is staffed by morons and commanded by a man whose incompetence is matched only by his corpulence. The school is run by a principal who is ramrod straight in public but who doesn't particularly care that most of the kids in his charge aren't going anywhere in life. Likewise, the teachers and the staff go through the motions but are contemptuous and comprehensively apathetic toward the children they are theoretically educating.

Generations of television shows had treated these institutions with deference and respect; The Simpsons mocked them harshly and relentlessly. The mayor's adultery wasn't a scandal; it was taken for granted. The same was true of the indifference of the teachers and the incompetence of the police. There weren't any crusading journalists or hero cops. There weren't any reforming politicians, caring teachers, or righteous lawyers who locked away the guilty and kept the innocent from prison. Every person with authority or responsibility was resigned to the crappiness of the system.

You just didn't really see this sort of stuff on network TV, and especially not in cartoons, which were the domain of oh-so-impressionable children. Springfield was devoid of any standard TV role models and Bart was a foul-mouthed rebel. The show looks so tame in retrospect, but when you put it in its context it's easy to see why it was controversial. That so many characters were outwardly flawed (but at least cared enough about each other to keep things from getting too mean-spirited) also went a long way toward making the show ironically feel more grounded and real than a lot of sitcoms that preceded it. It was a very unique appeal.

I also love the characterizations of this time period. Homer feels like a real person with actual responsibilities and relatable stressors (long before the series devolves into giving him some random job of the week and barely making note of the power plant). Lisa comes across as an actual kid who occasionally partakes in Bart's mischief.

I don't fuck with people who exclude season 1 from "golden age" discussion.

Qikz said:
I love season 1 even now, it's one of my favourites. The episode with the therapist was amazing.

One of my earliest TV memories is my mom laughing until she was out of breath while watching the scene where the family electrocutes each other so much that they completely sap the city's power grid. You just didn't see that kind of stuff on TV elsewhere.

mattiewheels · Apr 21, 2021

S1 was nearly unwatchable to me aside from the emotional core that followed it into S2. That's what was so great about S2-5, such a strong emotional core and heart alongside the comedy, then Conan O'Brien-type episodes that just went too far over the line for the sake of being loopy that really changed the show for the worse.

Nocturnowl · Apr 21, 2021

Altazor said:
bless you, TheRealJims, for drawing (heh) my attention to that goofy looking mofo under the pine tree

Looool, look at that mug

And now I'm watching Jims vid and pretty much everything I've said in this thread is already there and in greater detail, I feel like I've been hit by "Simpson's did it" albeit in a different way.

Jeff Albertson · Apr 21, 2021

I just always hated the weird sideways mouth thing they would sometimes do mid sentence

Anyway I've decided thanks to this thread I'm starting from series 1 again as background noise whilst working from home

UberTag · Apr 22, 2021

Altazor said:
IIRC (and I might be wrong, so correct me freely if you know more) yes, being a deeply frustrated housewife who, despite loving her kids, was on the edge of showing how borderline unhappy she was with her marriage was the starting point of early Marge. Like, I'm reminded of her deeply upsetting advice to Lisa on Moaning Lisa, the one about hiding her sadness behind a fake smile, not showing the world how sad she was, and have her bottle everything up inside... that said a lot. Obviously it's framed as evidently wrong in that same episode (immediately debunked in the very next moment), but you get a glimpse of what she has done for a long time in her life.

Especially when you remember she was, in high school, an outspoken feminist who didn't want to end up as a housewife.

Repression is something that's innately ingrained in Marge's character.

She blocked out the memory that her father was a steward and that manifested itself in a fear of flying. She subconsciously ignored the realization that her sister Patty was a lesbian despite the signs being obvious to anyone else paying attention (well, aside from Principal Skinner that one time). She pushes back against anyone that dares to suggest that Homer isn't a changed man thanks to her persistent work to improve his character through their marriage (she did improve his penmanship, I'll give her that much credit).

She has a tendency to put the people close to her into very specific buckets of how they should act and what they should be motivated by and she doesn't react well to those assumptions being challenged. So it's only natural that she would impart this coping mechanism onto her depressed daughter as well-intentioned advice in Moaning Lisa's final act. It's only when she is presented with the immediate reality of the consequences of said advice that she reacted so decisively to reverse course on it.

Marge may have "settled" but she doesn't wish for her bright and spirited daughter to do the same... although there's an episode about to air in a few weeks that may put that mindset to the test.

Incidentally for those of you bemoaning the show's lost emotional core (which was definitely a thing partway through the Classic era and most assuredly during the Scully years), here's the scene that capped off the show's most recent episode that just aired on Sunday...

That emotional core is back, baby! In pog form!

Shane · Apr 22, 2021

Season 1 has a lot of great moments.

Also Homer's scream and immediate back to sleep after his boxing nightmare always has me laughing.

Aprikurt · Apr 22, 2021

Someone on Era said you could skip pre S4 Simpsons

Somebody lied

It's quite something how different season 1 of the Simpsons is

▲ Legend ▲

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account

User requested account closure

User requested account closure

One Winged Slayer

Prophet of Regret - One Winged Slayer

One Winged Slayer

▲ Legend ▲