It's always interested me how different the Simpsons were their first several episodes than they were for the number of seasons from season 2 or three onward until they hit their unfortunate 9th season when they first began their nosedive that they never recovered from when they hit that awful "Principal and the pauper" episode. Seasons 2-9 where they were the best and most familiar were the mainstream seasons.
In "There's no disgrace like home", there are a number of very interesting differences from the more familiar Simpsons we loved for years. First, there's Homer's red striped shirt that he wore only in this episode, then never again. I could immediately recognize this episode from seeing it on a TV for two seconds, 50 yards away because of that shirt. Then there's Homer's personality, the way he was the first season as the angry, short tempered stern disciplinarian that got so easily annoyed by the other members of his family, especially Bart. I like to call him here the " Bart!!" Homer and the "why you little..!" Homer, where in mainstream seasons he became the "mmm...donuts" Homer and the "D'oh" Homer. In this episode, Homer was the stern parent who got easily embarrassed by his family's antics at Mr.Burn's picnic and it was Homer who pawned the TV to get his family therapy. And it was Marge who got drunk at the picnic and it was Marge who was more la de da about how her family behaved. In the mainstream seasons, Homer and Marge's roles have totally been reversed. Just look at the episode "The mysterious voyage of Homer" where Marge makes Homer promise not to get drunk at the chili fest, and we see a flashback of Homer at their last event drunk and naked inside a cotton candy machine. That was the episode about the hallucinogenic peppers. Anyway, in "there's no disgrace", there are other differences too besides Homer and Marge. Lisa acts just as bratty as Bart here where she snaps at Homer " why can't we have a family meeting when you're watching TV"? Lisa hadn't become the moral, well behaved, brainy little bookworm yet. In mainstream episodes, Lisa and/ or Marge would be the ones always calling family meetings and trying to get everyone to act more civilized. There are other differences here too including the way other residents of Springfield look in this episode in comparison to mainstream episodes. Mo has black hair instead of blue, Barney has blonde hair instead of brown. And there are many other Springfield residents we've all gotten so familiar with that haven't even been introduced to the show yet, such as Chief Wiggum ( Eddie and Lou are here but no Wiggum), Lenny and Carl, Apu, Krusty, Side show Mel (He doesn't get introduced onto the show until after the first sideshow Bob episode later this season), Kent Brockman, Lionel Hutz, Dr Nick, Comic book guy, etc. Nevertheless, this episode was still entertaining. It, along with the other early eps, always made me laugh out loud when they first came out when I was around 14 years old. And the scenes in Dr. Marvin Monroe's office will always be classic. Oh, look out for the gag of the "perfect" family from the picnic now sitting in Dr. Monro's office all looking upset. Writing this review has now made me want to go out and get a frosty chocolate milkshake.
In "There's no disgrace like home", there are a number of very interesting differences from the more familiar Simpsons we loved for years. First, there's Homer's red striped shirt that he wore only in this episode, then never again. I could immediately recognize this episode from seeing it on a TV for two seconds, 50 yards away because of that shirt. Then there's Homer's personality, the way he was the first season as the angry, short tempered stern disciplinarian that got so easily annoyed by the other members of his family, especially Bart. I like to call him here the " Bart!!" Homer and the "why you little..!" Homer, where in mainstream seasons he became the "mmm...donuts" Homer and the "D'oh" Homer. In this episode, Homer was the stern parent who got easily embarrassed by his family's antics at Mr.Burn's picnic and it was Homer who pawned the TV to get his family therapy. And it was Marge who got drunk at the picnic and it was Marge who was more la de da about how her family behaved. In the mainstream seasons, Homer and Marge's roles have totally been reversed. Just look at the episode "The mysterious voyage of Homer" where Marge makes Homer promise not to get drunk at the chili fest, and we see a flashback of Homer at their last event drunk and naked inside a cotton candy machine. That was the episode about the hallucinogenic peppers. Anyway, in "there's no disgrace", there are other differences too besides Homer and Marge. Lisa acts just as bratty as Bart here where she snaps at Homer " why can't we have a family meeting when you're watching TV"? Lisa hadn't become the moral, well behaved, brainy little bookworm yet. In mainstream episodes, Lisa and/ or Marge would be the ones always calling family meetings and trying to get everyone to act more civilized. There are other differences here too including the way other residents of Springfield look in this episode in comparison to mainstream episodes. Mo has black hair instead of blue, Barney has blonde hair instead of brown. And there are many other Springfield residents we've all gotten so familiar with that haven't even been introduced to the show yet, such as Chief Wiggum ( Eddie and Lou are here but no Wiggum), Lenny and Carl, Apu, Krusty, Side show Mel (He doesn't get introduced onto the show until after the first sideshow Bob episode later this season), Kent Brockman, Lionel Hutz, Dr Nick, Comic book guy, etc. Nevertheless, this episode was still entertaining. It, along with the other early eps, always made me laugh out loud when they first came out when I was around 14 years old. And the scenes in Dr. Marvin Monroe's office will always be classic. Oh, look out for the gag of the "perfect" family from the picnic now sitting in Dr. Monro's office all looking upset. Writing this review has now made me want to go out and get a frosty chocolate milkshake.