Since its inception in 1989, The Simpsons has been a beloved ongoing series with over 780 episodes. With its iconic couch-gag openings and strange infamy of predicting future events, the series has covered such a wide range of plot points to the point of both audiences and other television series coining the catchphrase “The Simpsons Did It” to point out any ideas already used by the series. But despite amassing a milestone legacy adored by fans everywhere, The Simpsons actually began with modest, messy origins.
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With the series on its 36th season, The Simpsons’ animation and storylines have come a long way from its humble beginnings. Even with its inconsistent background character designs and messy episodes, the first season has its charms – warts and all. After all, it does well in setting the scene of the Simpsons family as dysfunctional-though-dedicated to one another, even in their most trialing times. With each eccentric family member having their own unique mannerisms and interactions with others, the family as a whole has stood the test of time through their unified bonds.
Here are the best episodes to watch in The Simpsons Season 1.
Episode 7: “The Call of the Simpsons”
After envying the neighbor Flander’s RV, Homer decides to purchase his own dilapidated RV via credit and treat his family to a vacation camping. But when the RV falls off a cliff, the Simpsons are left to fend for themselves in the middle of the woods. The family eventually gets separated, with Marge and Lisa looking after their campsite and eventually finding civilization, Maggie being taken in by a family of bears, and Homer and Bart ending up stranded in mud with leaves as the only thing to cover their nakedness. When Homer becomes covered in mud to the point of being unrecognizable, he gets mistaken for Bigfoot.
Just the average family vacation in the great outdoors. The Simpsons’ various misadventures seem pretty par for the course for each of the family members’ eccentricities: of course, Marge and Lisa would be the first ones to use their brains to find their way out of the sticky situation; of course, Bart and Homer would follow their “manhood” to folly, and end up being mistaken for woodland miscreants. And Maggie… well, Maggie is more than capable of compelling others, even bears, to tend to her infantile needs.
Episode 4: “There’s No Disgrace Like Home”
After attending Homer’s boss Mr. Burns’s company picnic, Homer deems his family dysfunctional after witnessing how his coworkers’ families acted at the picnic in comparison. So, Homer decides to take action to improve his family and their shortcomings. But when even a famous TV therapist can’t help the family, they somehow come out with more appreciation for each other, oddly because of their dysfunctionality.
As dysfunctional as the Simpson family is, they each have their own quirks that they each secretly cherish about each other. Although they tend to fight and contend with each other on the regular, deep down they know that they’re able to rely on one another as a unified family when things get tough and that their own brand of dysfunctionality is what makes them special.
Episode 8: “The Telltale Head”
When Bart and Homer are chased by an angry mob, Bart recounts his tale of being led morally astray. Bart makes friends with a group of local bullies, who persuade him to try and prove how “cool” he is by stealing the head of the town’s statue of founder Jebediah Springfield. When the townspeople become enraged, even Bart’s new “friends” condemn the act of vandalism, making Bart rethink his actions.
The episode begins with Homer comforting his son trying to reconcile his wrongdoing with the hilariously outdated line “Y’know, Bart, when I was your age, I pulled a few boners,” and Bart telling the angry mob that, with much self-awareness, he’ll explain himself in the exact time length of the episode. As much as Bart typically contends with his family and is a troublemaker himself, this episode shows his good heart and personal growth – and when he finds himself in a real predicament, how he truly does trust and rely on his parents for help.
Episode 3: “Homer’s Odyssey”
After Homer causes an accident at work at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, he finds himself out of a job and struggling to support his family. Growing depressed, he even considers suicide until he finds a reason for living: advocating for the town’s safety. In an ironic twist of fate and stupid luck, Homer is able to find a win-win resolution in being rehired as the plant’s safety inspector.
Perhaps the darkest episode in Season 1, Homer faces opposition somewhat akin to the plights of George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life. Although Homer does show love for his family and wishes them well in his odd way, his priorities definitely seem a bit backward. Unlike George Bailey, it’s not his beloved family that gives him the reason for living, but the ironic worry that others could face similar danger after he’s almost run over by a car on the way to kill himself.
Episode 12: “Krusty Gets Busted”
When Homer runs an errand at the Kwik-E-Mart, he ends up being a prime witness to a robbery leading to the conviction of beloved children’s TV show host Krusty the Clown. But as Krusty’s assistant Sideshow Bob takes center stage as the new host, Bart does some investigating, believing that Krusty is innocent. With the help of his sister Lisa, they discover that Krusty has indeed been framed.
It’s an unusual sight to see Krusty without his clown makeup, making him look oddly similar to Homer – even in later seasons. This is due to the scrapped original concept of Krusty, Bart’s beloved clown idol, actually being the father Bart tends to look down upon. But what has lasted is Sideshow Bob’s grudge against Bart for thwarting his framing of Krusty. Like the longevity of the show itself, Sideshow Bob still seeks revenge after all these years against the child who exposed and imprisoned him.
What’s your favorite episode of the first season of The Simpsons? Let us know down in the comments!
