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"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", also known as "The Simpsons Christmas Special", was the first half-hour length episode of The Simpsons to air, though it was the eighth episode produced in season one.

The series was originally planned to premiere in the fall of 1989, but due to major problems with the animation of "Some Enchanted Evening", which aired as the season finale in May 1990, the series instead began on December 17, 1989 with this episode.

The episode deals with the Simpson family's efforts to celebrate Christmas on a constricted budget.

This episode was released on VHS by FOX Home Video in 1991. The VHS release was titled "The Simpsons Christmas Special", the episode's on-screen title.

Synopsis

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As the episode begins, Homer, Marge, and Maggie attend a Christmas pageant at Springfield Elementary. There, they see Lisa and her class doing a production on Santa's from different lands. She is proforming strange cultural dance and Bart being yanked off stage by Principal Skinner for singing fake lyrics to "Jingle Bells." Later on, Marge asks the kids for their Christmas lists and discovers that Lisa wants a pony and that Bart is asking for a tattoo. She angrily forbids him from getting one, but the next day, Bart sneaks away from Marge at the mall and gets a "mother" tattoo without her permission.

She bursts in when it is only halfway completed, and drags him to a tattoo removal clinic where she spends the family's Christmas shopping money on the surgery. Meanwhile, at the power plant, Homer learns that he will not be getting a Christmas bonus this year. When he returns home to learn that the shopping money is gone, he realizes that Christmas is ruined. Not able to break the bad news to Marge, he asks if he can do the shopping instead. He goes to a dollar store and buys ridiculous presents for the family, like a six-pack of panty hose for Marge, a pad of paper for Bart and a squeak toy for dogs for Maggie. (He forgets to get a gift for Lisa, and in a book adaption, he buys breath mints for himself.) However, when he leaves the store and bumps into Ned Flanders carrying massive boxes full of gifts for his family, Homer realizes that his effort is not good enough.

At Moe's Tavern, Homer drinks his sorrows away and sucks on a candy cane offered by Moe when he sees Barney walk in dressed in a Santa outfit. Desperate, he takes Barney's advice and gets a part-time job as a mall Santa. Ashamed, he tries to hide this from his family, but his cover is blown when Bart rips off his beard on a dare made by Milhouse. Things get even worse when he receives his check from the mall and discovers that it only amounts to $13. Coincidently, Barney also gets $13 and plans to use his money to bet on a greyhound race.

With encouragement from Bart in the form of a speech inspired by television Christmas miracles, Homer resorts to gambling at the dog track and he sets off with Bart on a hot tip from Barney to bet on a dog named Whirlwind, but when he hears of a late entry named Santa's Little Helper, he takes it as an omen and puts his money on that dog instead. The odds on the dog are 99-1, but to his dismay, Santa's Little Helper comes in dead last, and Bart realises that not everything ends with a miracle. However, as Homer and Bart leave the track, they see Santa's Little Helper's owner giving him the boot.

The dog follows Bart and Homer, and they decide to keep him as a pet. They return home, and just as Homer is about to tell his family that Christmas is cancelled, they assume that he has brought the dog home as a present. Template:Endspoiler

Trivia

• The Springfield Elementary School Christmas show receives 3½ stars in a recent review, advertised in front of the building.
• Marge pulls her car into parking area "ZZ" at the Springfield Mall.
• Next door to the tattoo parlor is Dr. Zitsofsky Dermatology Clinic. A sign in the window reads, "Tattoos removed by laser."
• The little boy in the play at the beginning appears to be Ralph Wiggum, but his voice is completely different.
• The second grade class, Lisa's class, presents "Santas of Many Lands". In Germany, Santa gives the parents of bad children whipping rods for Christmas. Lisa's costume as a tribal Santa shows that she is only wearing a very thin grass skirt on her lower half, looking very unusual. (The commentary on the DVD release explains that she is actually wearing a body suit.)
• There are 28 children in Bart's 4th Grade class on stage during the Christmas concert.
• Marge hides the Christmas jar in her hair.
• Mr. Burns does not give Christmas bonuses to "semi-skilled workers" that year.
• Moe has black hair and Barney has blonde hair in the first episode.
• Dogs in the race against Santa's Little Helper:
  • Quadruped
  • Whirlwind
  • Fido
  • Dog O' War
  • Chew My Shoe
• If Santa's Little Helper had won, Homer would receive $1287 (99 x $13) for the win, plus his original $13 back.
• In Mexico, this aired on Christmas, while Some Enchanted Evening became the first episode.
• This episode is also known by it's on-screen title, The Simpsons Christmas Special.

Cultural References

• All in the Family: A similar storyline, in which Archie does not get his Christmas bonus and puts off telling his family the news, was used in the classic sitcom's 1971 Christmas episode, "Christmas Day at the Bunkers."
• National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation also has a similar storyline, where Clark doesn't get a Christmas bonus and has to hide it from his entire family visiting for Christmas.
• "The Christmas Song": The episode title is taken from the lyrics of this classic Christmas song, written by Mel Torme and Bob Wells.
• Christmas specials/movies: Bart references various yuletide specials - A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Smurfs Christmas Special, and A Christmas Carol - when he insists that a Christmas miracle will happen, despite the family's heretofore misfortune.
• Discount stores: The Circus of Values store where the Simpsons shop is Springfield's deep-discount store, a la Dollar General and Family Dollar, which were becoming popular during the mid- to late-1980s.
• Donna Dixon and Richard Nixon: Homer mentions the names of the actress and the former U.S. President when trying to name the reindeer.
• "Jingle Bells": Bart adds alternative lyrics to the melody of "Jingle Bells." While singing the song Bart mentions Batman, Robin, the Batmobile, and the Joker.
• Miracle on 34th Street: The Christmas movie is homaged in the scene where Bart visits with "Santa" (Homer) and - just like the boy who is rude to Santa in the movie - makes the disrespectful remark, "I'm Bart Simpson; who the hell are you?" (because he suspects Homer is not the real Santa).
• Bart and Barney sing "We're in the Money" while entering the dog track. The song was written by Al Dubin and Harry Warren for Gold Diggers of 1933.
• "Dog-o-War" is a pun on the name of champion race horse Man O'War, and also a likely reference to the famous line "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" from William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.
• A Christmas Carol is mentioned as having a scene portrayed at the Christmas Pageant. Tiny Tim is mentioned as well.
• "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer": The song is given new lyrics by both Bart and Lisa (as well as Homer in a solo). Bart refers to strip poker and Attila the Hun, while Lisa mentions pergolas.
• Goldfinger: James Bond is strapped down to a metal desk and has a high powered laser going towards him, like what happens to Bart.

Goofs

• While Homer and Marge are in closeup, the background behind them is upside down, as Bart's portrait and the lamp on the ceiling shows.
• Debatable goof: When the photo of the kid sitting on Homer/Santas lap is taken merry is spelt merrie. However, this could likely be intentional, with it being a 'cartoony' spelling. (Also bear in mind the 'Merrie Melodies' cartoons, to which it could even be a slight nod).
• One of Bart's friends turns from black to white during a scene.

External Links

• "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.
• "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" at IMDb

• The Simpsons episodes, season 1
• Christmas television specials
• Television specials
• Animated television specials
• Television pilots