This is a placeholder for a future jingle.
If anyone knows how to do them call me.
K bye.
Hey welcome everybody.
I'm back.
This is the mmm donuts podcast.
Officially episode one.
The first one I did was just practice.
Yes.
Practice.
Anyway.
So welcome.
Thanks so much for listening.
Wherever you are listening, Spotify, Apple Music or just behind me in my office without
me knowing, then I'm glad you're here and I appreciate you tuning in.
So I am a crazy stupid fan of The Simpsons.
I've been watching since it came out in 1989.
I grew up watching it and I haven't stopped.
I've very much loved the episodes and I really geek out at talking about them.
So the whole point of me doing this podcast.
So here's how it works.
I'm going to explain the episodes.
I'm going to go through what I think are maybe the best jokes, some fun trivia and then we'll
see how it evolves as the years move on.
So I plan on doing episodes once a week.
I'll release on Wednesdays and I look forward to seeing how things roll.
So for starters, I'm going to ask some trivia questions, which I will answer at the end.
So this first episode, we're not including the Tracy Ullman show episodes and I hope
I don't need to explain why.
I will not be reviewing the Tracy Ullman show episodes of The Simpsons.
If that's what you're looking for, this is not the right spot.
I barely have enough willpower to get through the first two seasons of what we know are
The Simpsons.
So just, there's going to be a lot of criticism for the first two and kind of in the third
season for me, but you know, get over it because it's my podcast.
Go create your own if you don't like it.
Anyway, so here's the trivia questions.
So the very beginning of the episode when they get to Springfield Elementary, there
are kids doing, you know, showing the traditions of Christmas around the world and the kid
gets up and she's representing Germany.
And according to a report, what is the name of Santa's servant in the German culture?
And a bonus question is, what does that servant give the parents of bad children?
Now obviously nothing's stopping you from Googling this, but for your own sanity and
for your own, I don't know, points of wisdom, if you're able to, I mean, if you know this
just off the top of your head, then kudos.
You are just amazing and I love you.
And if you had to Google it, then that's okay too, but I don't, I don't love you.
You are amazing, but I don't know.
I love you.
I do.
So I hope that as we go through these, you will watch the episode ahead of time.
So like next week when I review Bart the genius, I'm really hoping you watch it ahead of time
and can enjoy with me.
Okay.
Trivia question number two, where does Marge hide her jar of Christmas money?
Where does she hide her jar of Christmas money?
Okay.
Last trivia question in the closing credits when the Simpson family is singing Rudolph
the Red Nosed Reindeer, what words does Homer sing in his impromptu solo?
Marge says, take it Homer.
And he says, what?
All right.
Let us get to the episode.
So the, the air date was December 17th, 1989 and initial reactions were good.
There were definitely some criticisms about the crude animations, which is funny because
even at the time in 1989, people thought this isn't very good, but overall people really
liked the, the Simpsons.
It was, it was well enough enjoyed that, you know, it's evolved into 35 seasons.
So yeah.
Okay.
Let's go through the episode summary real quick and then we'll get to the really, really
good stuff.
So the episode starts with a chaotic Christmas pageant at Springfield Elementary and Bart
disrupts the carols as he's singing Jingle Bells, Batman Smells and is pulled off stage
and gives his first patented, huh sound.
Also at the end of the, the end credits at the end of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,
you hear the patented sound of why you little and Homer strangles Bart and Bart, which is
great.
So then back at home, the family prepares for Christmas with Bart asking for a tattoo
and Lisa wishing for a pony.
I'm sorry.
I skipped something.
Lisa shines in her role at the, at the show at the school.
And fun fact, there was, there was some criticism about how she looks, she looks naked.
Her character looks naked in that scene.
And the, the commentary from the DVD is where Matt Groening, Groening, Groening.
I should probably know that after 35 years, but anyway, he explains that she was in fact
wearing a leotard and definitely was not just naked.
So anyway.
Okay.
So onto the kids.
Lisa wishes for a pony and she, she writes on it, you know, 10 times.
It fills up the whole page.
And that's when we find out where Marge reveals her Christmas savings, which we will discuss
at the end of the episode.
All right.
So the family goes to the mall and decides to start looking around for Christmas presents
and disaster strikes.
It's funny how often we hear disaster strikes when Bart blank because you know, that's his,
that's his role and it's great.
When Bart gets a tattoo.
So many times at the Simpsons, these kids get into the things and, and there's the,
you know, the people who would normally stop a 10 year old from getting a tattoo.
That's part of the humor of the show is, you know, he shows a fake idea or he just shows
Homer's ID and you know, all right, time to get a tattoo.
So he has to get it removed and it's very costly and they have to use all of Marge's
savings, which she has hidden where?
Do you know yet?
They had to use all of her savings to have it laser removed and to make matters worse,
Homer when he's at the plant learns through the loudspeaker from Wayland Smithers, uh,
assumedly sounds like Wayland Smithers, but we don't actually see his character until
Homer's Odyssey, but he announces there will be no Christmas bonuses this year.
So Homer attempts to save Christmas.
So he tries to hide the bad news from Marge and he decides he's going to go buy cheap
gifts at a thrift store.
So this is where, in my opinion, the best joke of the episode is.
Okay.
So Homer is, is looking through getting, you know, junk crap gifts for his family and he
picks up a pork chop squeak toy and when he's holding it, he says, it says it's for dogs,
but she can't read and he's buying it for Maggie.
I, it's dumb.
The jokes definitely do get a lot better in the future, but you know, it's a, that's my
opinion.
What the best joke of the episode is.
What's your best joke?
What do you consider to be the best joke of the episode?
There's a lot of jokes.
Okay.
So feeling down, um, because as he walks out, he runs into Ned Flanders and Ned drops a
thousand presents and you know, Homer's got just a little bit.
And then you hear Todd, Todd or Rod.
I don't, it's just one of Ned's kids in a weird voice that, you know, doesn't stick.
Um, so anyway, he goes to most, and this is the first thing we see at most most Tavern
is definitely a different color scheme, but basically the same setup with the, you know,
the bar on the left.
If you're looking towards the entrance and exit and you see Homer on a stool talking
to dog and a mo.
And then Barney walks in and he's blonde and it is, it's his voice, but it's still, it's
still in production, I guess is a good way to say it.
It definitely evolves and gets much better.
But so Barney walks in and buys around for everybody, which is just Homer.
And, uh, and that's when Homer learns of Barney's success.
I'm using air quotes here as a mall Santa.
And that gives Homer the idea to become a Santa himself.
So after a very comical Santa training montage, Homer starts his job.
Now here is that here's where I'll insert an obscure reference.
In the montage, Homer's being quizzed by the leader of the mall Santa training and they're
practicing saying, ho ho ho.
So stupid.
So Homer's up front and he's, he's being quizzed and he gives the name of the eight reindeer
Donner Blitzen, whatever.
And the first step mess up that he does is he replaces Vixen with Nixon, which is funny,
President Nixon.
And then at the very end, instead of Donner and Blitzen, he says Donna Dixon and is told
to sit down, hangs his head in shame.
But this is the obscure reference.
So Donna Dixon, who's married to Dan Aykroyd, another famous actor.
She's an American actress and her most notable role was as Karen Boyer in Spies Like Us,
which had come out four years earlier.
And it was a big, big hit of a film.
So she was pretty big actress at the time.
So Homer starts his job and is discovered almost immediately by Bart, who rips off his beard.
And so his gig is a bust.
Or he's busted and then we find out that the gig is a bust because he goes to collect his
check and the lady at the front who's voiced by Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson,
in a very similar voice as Bart, hands him his check and it's $13 after all the many
deductions.
So that was a bummer.
Then we move on to the next stage of the show and Homer, who is desperate, follows Barney
because Barney is getting his check and is obviously he's excited about it.
And he says, Springfield Downs, here I come.
So they go to the dog track and Homer bets all his money on a long shot called Santa's
Little Helper.
And it's funny because Barney's there and he's obviously always drunk and he's putting
his money on a 10 to 1 odds dog.
And so stupid, he wins and then he's driving away in a Corvette with a beautiful woman
in the front seat.
He bet $13.
So he won $130.
It's dumb.
So, so they bet on Santa's Little Helper and he loses, comes in absolute last place.
And when the race finishes, this is where I think the runner up of the best joke the
episode was for me.
Alright, so the joke is, Homer says, I don't want to leave until our dog finishes.
And then he sits there for about three seconds and gives up.
Not a good joke, I think.
And again, jokes do get a lot better as the seasons move on and a lot more crude.
And that's my kind of humor.
I like it.
But these are these are less spirited.
And they're still they're still funny though.
So they decide, so they leave and they and then they see Santa's Little Helper gets kicked
out of the racetrack and they decide to keep him.
So this is when they get their dog.
So first episode of the show, not including the Tracy Oldman garbage nonsense bullcrap.
They take him home and of course, he's their dog for 35 years.
And it's, you know, he's living strong.
He's a good boy.
So yeah, the family goes home despite having no presents, and they're happy to have a new
pet finding the true meaning of Christmas in their own way.
So back when the episodes had a lot more depth and meaning when it came to that.
But again, got much funnier and better, in my opinion.
So it's a it's a funny episode.
It's heartwarming.
The story about family, it's got Christmas spirit and overcoming unexpected challenges.
So that's it.
So like we talked about, the animation was rough compared to later seasons, even though
it's miles ahead of, you know, the Tracy Oldman ones, which were just awful.
Some notable differences in character design.
One of the kids at the beginning of the show that's presenting on stage is the animation
of Ralph Wiggum.
Definitely not the voice of Ralph, Ralph Wiggum.
So that's something that we'll see again later and see him progress.
It's funny in a later episode, I think in this season, maybe season two, it shows when
Lisa gets a pony, Ralph in complete character animation wise is exactly the way he looks
now and a completely different voice.
And he's actually pretty intelligent, which is funny.
So yeah.
So now I'll go over a couple other trivia items that are fun and then I will answer
the trivia questions that I asked at the beginning.
So this is the the only full length episode that aired in 1989 or in the 80s at all.
When they get to the school for the performance, Marge leaves her car door open.
And this is the first episode that does not start with any kind of a show opening.
It just, there's a bit of a sound coming to a decrescendo and it's there.
The Simpsons are driving along the street and credits are rolling like, you know, as
if the opening had already happened.
So there's no title sequence.
Yeah, it just shows the Simpsons and boom, it's gone.
Interesting.
The episode was nominated for but did not win a Pride Time Emmy Award.
There were no guest stars in this episode.
The DVD commentary from season one said that the creators got letters of praise for heightening
the awareness of the abandonment of racing dogs who were often thrown out onto the streets
when their owners decided the dogs were no longer profitable.
Even though that they didn't know it was a serious problem when they created the episode.
So that was cool.
So I think I already mentioned that Barney in this episode is blonde.
So that changes obviously and Moe's hair is a lot darker so it just grays out.
But there's another animation, well, interesting thing about animation really I guess is the
best way to say it.
There's a man that looks like Lou, the police officer, except he's got yellow skin and blue
hair talking to his son at the track.
So towards the end of the episode.
So appears to have the same character design as Lou but his skin's yellow and he's got
a similar voice just a bit higher.
So then last bit of fun trivia is that this episode was re-aired in 2012.
April 22nd 2012 as part of Fox's 25th anniversary.
17 years and four months since the episode first airing.
So after one page of ending credits in the show's repeat there was a sign that appeared
that came up that says, congratulations Fox on 25 years, we still love you with an asterisk.
And then underneath it is the asterisk, this does not include Fox News.
It's a great, great joke.
But it doesn't count as this episode because it was on a re-airing.
So you know, but if, if it could count, that would have been my favorite joke.
But hey, I don't make the rules.
Even though it's my podcast.
What?
So anyway, a couple of fun background jokes that I saw or that that can be seen rather.
Not many in this episode and they get a lot better, they're a lot more prominent in future
episodes.
But I will tell you, as you're watching these episodes with me, pay very close attention
to any signs.
So billboards, whether they're just pictures or also have words, marquees for businesses,
the sign out front of the church.
It's always got something on there.
The sign, the marquee out in front of the school.
Always look at the signs.
I think that every single sign that's put in every episode has some kind of a reference
or a joke on it.
It's definitely worth noting.
So in the parlor shop, the tattoo parlor, you can see the happy sailor tattoo parlor
features a knife piercing a heart, which I think is silly.
And when Homer's looking for trees and the pricing, you can see it's quite shocking.
But even the slightly irregular Christmas trees cost 45 bucks.
As that's going along, you almost would think it'd be a lot cheaper.
So there it is.
So let's answer those trivia questions, shall we?
I'll play the scenes while I'm doing that and we can enjoy it together.
So the first question I asked, a child shares the traditions of Germany according to a report,
what is the name of Santa's servant in the German culture?
And the bonus question, what does he give the parents of bad children?
So if you got it already, congratulations.
If not, here's the answer.
That's German for Merry Christmas.
In Germany, Santa's servant, Ruprecht, gives presents to good children and ripping rods
to the parents of bad ones.
That's a good joke too.
So it is Ruprecht.
Ruprecht is the, and that's an actual thing.
He's the servant of Santa and he gives presents to, Santa gives presents to the good kids
and they give parents of bad children whipping rods, which is awesome.
Okay.
Where does Marge hide her jar of Christmas money?
There's no point in sharing an audio clip of this because it's visual.
So but the answer is in her hair.
She makes Homer turn and she reaches up, bends her neck forward and her head and she pulls
it out of her hair about two inches above her head.
I don't think there are a lot of jokes about her hiding stuff in her hair.
Maybe it's just, it's too easy because I mean, her hair is, it's three feet tall through
the entire show.
So yeah, I thought that was funny, but I'm glad that over the years they didn't make,
they didn't take too many shots at that easy one.
So okay.
Now for the last question.
In the closing credits, when the family is singing Rudolph the Red-Eye's Reindeer, what
words does Homer sing it as a prompt to solo?
So here it is.
Oh boy.
Well, hey, listen, I hope you enjoyed this.
I even if you didn't, it's fine.
I'm okay with that because I enjoyed it.
I really love the Simpsons.
I am excited to be doing this every week.
Here we are in October of 2024.
I've been, I guess you could say I've been researching the Simpsons since 1989.
So it's about darn time that I come out and share my knowledge.
But honestly, this is not new knowledge.
You can find, there's multiple Simpsons, Wiki pages.
There's probably a bunch of other podcasts that go over episodes, but you know what?
This one's going to be different or it'll be the same.
I don't know.
I don't, I don't listen to other Simpsons podcasts, but I hope that you enjoy it and
that you join me next week for Bart the Genius, which will be another, another good episode.
It'll be, it'll be okay.
You know how I've already told you how I feel about the first couple of seasons.
We'll get through it and we'll, we'll point out the fun parts and the, the good jokes
and then we'll hold hands and get on to the next seasons and then really get into some
awesome stuff.
So thanks for listening and I will see you next week.