There's No Disgrace Like Home

Mr. Burns picnic makes Homer realize that their family is messed up. After they are victimized by the evil employer, Home decides to fix the family. He turns to a television psychologist who guarantees success in improving family relationships. There are many great bits, but the shock therapy one is quite good. We also have the beginnings of some stuff that will become staples in the future. Itchy and Scratchy make their debuts as super-violent cartoon characters.

I like the bit where they zapped each other and drained all the power.

After a bad experience meeting Mr Burns, Homer insists the family goes into therapy.

This is a strong early episode that satirises the dysfunctional side of families and the influence of the television upon life.

There are plenty of memorable moments such as the awkward day spent at the Burns residence with Homer trying to avoid embarrassment, plus the entire family spying through the windows of other houses, and of course the famous shock therapy scene.

I can identify with a lot (not all) of the aspects of family interactions portrayed in this episode as there are a lot of home truths still to be found in it. I think for the twenty first century the hold of the TV has given way to general screen time but it is equally as relevant as what we see here.

One thing my girlfriend and I insisted on doing when we became parents was to eat together at the table away from the television with no phones or tablets in reach. This came from our own experiences growing up eating from trays on our laps in the sofa.

The message here for me is that you cannot pretend you or your family are something you are not, you either accept who you are or make the effort to really change.

The fourth episode of Season 1 in the Simpsons is a solid entry in the series. But I was comparing this episode to the modern Simpsons and this seems more....different. I think the creators were testing out different personalities for our favorite dysfunctional family. But nonetheless, this is still a fun episode that has some funny moments and by far my favorite moment is the actual shock therapy that takes place in the episode.

This episode, "There's No Disgrace Like Home", has Homer realizing at Mr. Burn's picnic that his family is not a very good family so he decides to sell the television in order to pay for therapy for him and his family.

Overall, this is a solid episode that has some funny moments. But this is a significant episode because we hear Burns say for the first time, "Release the hounds." Plus we get to meet Itchy and Scratchy for the first time. This is a pretty good and very watchable episode. I rate this episode 8/10.

I continue this string of reviews once again by repeating myself, this season of the Simpsons has a certain charm to it! It can only be the certain combination of animation style, strange yet recognisable voices and more wholesome plot lines, like this one that make for one amazing viewing experience.