Started to watch The Simpsons, from season 1 episode 1. Decided to write some review/thoughts so I can prove to myself, down the road, that I actually watched every episode. Can’t believe the Simpsons started in the 80s, before Soviet Union fell, before the Internet was mainstream. Not even sure they used computers to animate this, seems like it was drawn.
Spoilers after this:
Christmas is coming, kids were asking for presents after a “boring” show at the school. Gifts were planned using Marge’s secret stash of savings and Homer Christmas bonus. However, Bart tried to get a tattoo (of a Heart with “mother”) and Marge paid for the laser removal; Mr. Burns decided to not give anyone savings. Homer did not want to disappoint his family, and worked as mall Santa, but was discovered by Bart when he tried to prank the Santa. Homer received $13, and they wanted a Christmas miracle, so headed to the greyhound race track they went. Homer’s colleague mentioned about betting on a dog but a late addition of “Santa’s Little Helper” with 99-1 odds made Homer changed his mind. Helper did not even finish the race when Homer and Bart headed home, but ran into Helper when the owner was made at it. Helper ran into Homer, and they brought it home. Everyone thought it was a real Christmas Miracle, including Marge’s two sisters who never approve of Bart.
Overall, don’t think it was extremely funny, but I can’t believe the number of stories they squeezed into 20 minutes. Great way to introduce all the characters, including a back story of Snowball II (because the previous cat died). I am going to watch the other 700 episodes so the pilot didn’t have to be good, but I can see how this was different compared to all the other “adult” cartoons back in the day. Animation is a bit “rough” at some parts, but mostly resembles what I think the Simpsons look like. Onto episode 2!