Review of Simpsons, The: Christmas With The Simpsons

Introduction

The Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire:
After the Christmas present fund is blown on surgically removing Bart’s tattoo, Homer is forced to become a Santa-impersonator in order to provide his family with the necessary material Seasonal cheer. A disappointing pay-cheque and a disastrous night at the dogs bode ill for yet another Simpson’s Noel, but a last-minute miracle in the shape of a boisterous, useless, painfully stupid mutt proffers up a heart-warming conclusion.

Plow King:
Homer’s seasonal stint plowing driveways is cut short by Barney’s entrepreneurial interference, a conflict of interest that causes the rifts in their long-standing relationship to be exposed. However, when Homer sends Barney’s plow to certain death, those Act 3 pangs of guilt force him to take action.

Miracle on Evergreen Terrace:
After Bart burns down the Christmas tree, as well as all of the family’s gifts, he concocts a scheme in order to dredge out the Seasonal sympathy (and open the abyssal wallets) of the townsfolk. However, after the Simpsons blow their charity on a foolish possession, they are unable to repay their benefactors when Bart’s shameful myth-making is revealed.

She of Little Faith:
After Homer and Bart’s misguided launch of a home-made rocket results in the widespread destruction of the church, Mr. Burns and corporate parasite Lindsey Nagel step up to fund the repairs. Much to Lisa’s horror however, they turn the church from House of God to House of a Thousand square feet of Ad-Space. Seeking a less ethically corrupt faith-based institution, Lisa turns to fashion-savvy Buddhism (with some moral guidance from Richard Gere). The rampant gift-getting of Christmas rather than the melancholic ravings of the “2000 page sleeping pill” offer Marge and Homer their final hope in bringing Lisa back to the winning team.

Grift of the Magi:
It’s time for yet another financial crises for Springfield Elementary, this time monetary aid comes from a sinister corporation who, Bart and Lisa come to discover, are simply plundering the students’ consciousness in order to create the ideal Christmas toy. Corporate ice-queen Ms. Nagel makes another welcome reappearance as well as psychopathic robot teddy-bear Funzo and mentally/vertically defective security guard Gary Coleman in this wacky, tenuously Seasonal episode.

Video

The animation of course varies dramatically, but the transfers are good but not great throughout. Not a lot to complain about.

Audio

Again, middling to good. Respectable stereo all round, with the sound design considerably crisper in the newer episodes.

Features

A brief, quite funny ‘Best of Burns’ clip-show. Static menus.

Conclusion

It’s interesting that this set begins with the first ever Simpson’s episode ‘Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire’, which, it should be noted, most ‘Simpson’s fans will already own and disparage in a rather nostalgic way, as it appears on the Season 1 DVD. Why is this interesting you ask? Well, just try watching this alongside another episode on the set, ‘The Grift of Magi’, an anarchic, esoteric offering that would be bizarre if it weren’t so typical of latter ‘Simpson’s episodes. Whilst ‘Simpson’s Roasting On An Open Fire’ has vague traces of the ironic disdain and sharp visual humor that would later consume the series whole, it’s technically and spiritually simply a different show. Early episodes coated their sentimental heart in a mask of grim realism and black humor, whilst latter shows abandon such soulful message-making in favour of relentless self-referential gags and idiosyncratic cultural references.

The show’s transference from humanist, cockle-warming nuclear-family sitcom to the most acerbic satire in the history of American network television is illustrated with glee, in these drastic separations, but only ‘Mr. Plow’ offers a faint glimpse at the show’s most creatively inspired period. Faint, as ‘Mr. Plow’ is one of the weakest episodes on the disc. That said, ‘She of Little Faith’ is a damn near perfect episode that manages to blend bitterly complex humor with quite a bit of genuine human engagement, as old-soul Lisa charts a spiritual quest against the back-drop of a hilarious religious/corporate lampoon.

These 5-episode collections are always a bit flimsy, and, whilst robots will probably have taken over the planet before some of these episodes ever appear on full series DVDs, I’d definitely suggest the serious ‘Simpson’s fan to bite their tongue and wait. However, for what it is, this is a good illustration not simply of why ‘The Simpsons’ is a funny, unique show, but why it is an important one. In these 5 episodes we see not only the growth of the show’s intellectual and emotional integrity, but its subtle development of a counter-consumer consciousness. ‘Christmas With the Simpsons’, a harmless goodwill season cash-in? Pah!!