There's No Disgrace Like Home

A memorable episode which explores the Simpsons' attitudes to each other in a funny and dysfunctional way. This episode had many firsts as well, for example, Bart says "don't have a cow", The Itchy and Scratchy Show and Mr Burns threatens to release the hounds. A very good episode with memorable moments and fantastic humour!

I think this is the funniest episode so far. There are glimmers of potential here hinting at how great the show will eventually become.

This time we examine the Simpsons family as a whole unit. I love the segments where perfect idealised families are contrasted to the Simpsons.

It's interesting that at this early stage it's actually Homer fighting to save the family by selling their TV. Very out of character for him.

Ultimately the message seems to be that it's them against the world. Although they are far from perfect, they bond and find common ground over the things that others would judge as being undesirable. Such as shovelling in food and overdosing on television while constantly bickering. I can definitely relate more to this reality, as I'm sure most families can which is why the show became so successful.

I particularly enjoyed Marge's post-punch bacchanal.

We also get a bunch of great Mr Burns moments. Even though he doesn't really conform to the character of Mr Burns that the show will later develop.

When the family misbehaves at the power plant picnic, Homer grows concerned that his family is too dysfunctional and proceeds to put everyone in to family therapy with shocking results (pun intended).

As mentioned, this first season episode is a tad jarring for modern Simpsons fans to watch. Almost the entire family (with the exception of Bart, who was really the only one with a defined personality by this point) is acting out of character. Homer's concern about his family's behavior seems more like something expected from Marge, especially seeing as he's willing to pawn the family's TV set to pay for the therapy sessions. Marge getting drunk at the picnic is more like something that Homer would do. And Lisa seems more like a female Bart and is almost as bratty as he is.

With this in mind, the therapy session is clearly the major highlight of the episode. It's also the first episode where Bart utters the immortal line, "Don't have a cow", Mr. Burns first says, "Release the hounds", and it's the first appearance of Itchy and Scratchy, so it features some significance in Simpsons history.

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.

It's always interested me how different the Simpsons were their first several episodes than they were for the number of seasons from season 2 or three onward until they hit their unfortunate 9th season when they first began their nosedive that they never recovered from when they hit that awful "Principal and the pauper" episode. Seasons 2-9 where they were the best and most familiar were the mainstream seasons.

In "There's no disgrace like home", there are a number of very interesting differences from the more familiar Simpsons we loved for years. First, there's Homer's red striped shirt that he wore only in this episode, then never again. I could immediately recognize this episode from seeing it on a TV for two seconds, 50 yards away because of that shirt. Then there's Homer's personality, the way he was the first season as the angry, short tempered stern disciplinarian that got so easily annoyed by the other members of his family, especially Bart. I like to call him here the " Bart!!" Homer and the "why you little..!" Homer, where in mainstream seasons he became the "mmm...donuts" Homer and the "D'oh" Homer. In this episode, Homer was the stern parent who got easily embarrassed by his family's antics at Mr.Burn's picnic and it was Homer who pawned the TV to get his family therapy. And it was Marge who got drunk at the picnic and it was Marge who was more la de da about how her family behaved. In the mainstream seasons, Homer and Marge's roles have totally been reversed. Just look at the episode "The mysterious voyage of Homer" where Marge makes Homer promise not to get drunk at the chili fest, and we see a flashback of Homer at their last event drunk and naked inside a cotton candy machine. That was the episode about the hallucinogenic peppers. Anyway, in "there's no disgrace", there are other differences too besides Homer and Marge. Lisa acts just as bratty as Bart here where she snaps at Homer " why can't we have a family meeting when you're watching TV"? Lisa hadn't become the moral, well behaved, brainy little bookworm yet. In mainstream episodes, Lisa and/ or Marge would be the ones always calling family meetings and trying to get everyone to act more civilized. There are other differences here too including the way other residents of Springfield look in this episode in comparison to mainstream episodes. Mo has black hair instead of blue, Barney has blonde hair instead of brown. And there are many other Springfield residents we've all gotten so familiar with that haven't even been introduced to the show yet, such as Chief Wiggum ( Eddie and Lou are here but no Wiggum), Lenny and Carl, Apu, Krusty, Side show Mel (He doesn't get introduced onto the show until after the first sideshow Bob episode later this season), Kent Brockman, Lionel Hutz, Dr Nick, Comic book guy, etc. Nevertheless, this episode was still entertaining. It, along with the other early eps, always made me laugh out loud when they first came out when I was around 14 years old. And the scenes in Dr. Marvin Monroe's office will always be classic. Oh, look out for the gag of the "perfect" family from the picnic now sitting in Dr. Monro's office all looking upset. Writing this review has now made me want to go out and get a frosty chocolate milkshake.