The Simpsons season 1 explained

Season Number:1
Bgcolour:
  1. b8cacf
Network:Fox
Num Episodes:13
Episode List:List of The Simpsons episodes (seasons 1–20)

The first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons premiered on the Fox network on December 17, 1989, with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", with the rest of the season airing from January 14 to May 13, 1990. The executive producers for the first production season were Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon. It was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television.

The series was originally set to debut in fall 1989 with the episode "Some Enchanted Evening" (which was meant to introduce the main characters), but during the first screening of the episode, the producers discovered that the animation was so poor that 70% of the episode needed to be redone.[1]

The producers considered aborting the series if the next episode turned out as bad, but it suffered from only easily fixable problems. The producers convinced Fox to move the debut to December 17, and aired "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" as the first episode of the series.[2] The first season won one Emmy Award, and received four additional nominations.[3] The DVD boxset was released on September 25, 2001, in Region 1 and September 24, 2001, in both Region 2 and Region 4.

With a total of 13 episodes, this is the shortest season of the show to date, and is the only season where Homer was halfway intelligent and at times was the voice of reason and where Dan Castellaneta voiced Homer in a loose Walter Matthau impression (as he had done in the shorts). Starting the next season, Homer would begin to adopt his more familiar voice and set a lower bar for intelligence.

This is also the only season to not have a Treehouse of Horror episode.

Voice cast & characters

See main article: List of The Simpsons characters.

Main cast

Recurring

Guest stars

Reception

Ratings

The Simpsons first season was Fox's first TV series to rank among a season's top 30 highest-rated shows.[4]

Critical response

The first season of The Simpsons received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a 100% approval rating based on 18 critical reviews with an average rating of 8.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "The Simpsons first season proves a quickly addictive introduction to America's animated first family with a run of entertaining episodes that set the stage for a groundbreaking series."[5] On Metacritic, a site which uses a weighted average, the season has a score of 79 out of 100 based on six critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". However, the show was controversial from its beginning. The rebellious lead character at the time, Bart, frequently received no punishment for his misbehavior, which led some parents to characterize him as a poor role model for children.[6] Several US public schools even banned The Simpsons merchandise and t-shirts, such as one featuring Bart and the caption "Underachiever ('And proud of it, man!')".[7] Despite the ban, The Simpsons merchandise sold well and generated US$2 billion in revenue during the first 14 months of sales.[7]

Awards and nominations

The season won an Emmy and received four additional nominations. Although television shows are limited to one episode per category, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" was considered a separate special and nominated alongside fellow episode "Life on the Fast Lane" for Outstanding Animated Program; "Life on the Fast Lane" won. "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" was also nominated for "Outstanding Editing in a Miniseries or Special", while "The Call of the Simpsons" was nominated for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special". The main theme song, composed by Danny Elfman, was nominated for "Outstanding Achievement in Main Title Theme Music".[3]

At the 6th annual Television Critics Association Awards, the first season of the show won 'Outstanding Achievement in Comedy', beating the likes of "Designing Women", "Murphy Brown", "Newhart" and "The Wonder Years". Additionally, it was nominated for 'Program of the Year' but lost to "Twin Peaks."

Episodes

See also: List of The Simpsons episodes.

Home media

The DVD boxset for season one was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in the United States and Canada on September 25, 2001, eleven years after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release features bonus material including deleted scenes, animatics, and commentaries for every episode. The commentaries were recorded in late 2000.[8] When the first season DVD was released in 2001, it quickly became the best-selling television DVD in history. It was later overtaken by the 2004 release of Chappelle's Show Season 1. As of October 19, 2004, the DVD boxset sold 1.9 million units.[9]

The Complete First Season
Set Details[10] [11] [12] Special Features
  • 13 episodes
  • 3-disc set
  • 1.33:1 aspect ratio
  • AUDIO
    • English 5.1 Dolby Digital
    • English 2.0 Dolby Surround
    • French 2.0 Dolby Surround
  • SUBTITLES
    • English SDH
    • Spanish
Release Dates
Region 1Region 2Region 4
September 25, 2001September 24, 2001September 24, 2001

See also

References

  1. Silverman, David . 2001 . The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Some Enchanted Evening" . DVD . 20th Century Fox.
  2. Groening, Matt . 2001 . The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Some Enchanted Evening" . DVD . 20th Century Fox.
  3. http://www.emmys.org/awards/awardsearch.php Emmy Awards official site
  4. Web site: TV Ratings: 1989–1990 . 2006-07-03 . ClassicTVHits.com.
  5. Web site: The Simpsons . .
  6. News: Is The Simpsons still subversive? . 2007-08-06 . 2007-06-29 . Rosenbaum, Martin . BBC News.
  7. News: Nick . Griffiths . America's First Family . The Times Magazine . 25, 27–28 . 2000-04-15.
  8. https://www.simpsonsarchive.com/other/interviews/groening00c.html The Simpsons Archive: Matt Groening Interview (October 2000)
  9. Web site: Chappelle's Show—S1 DVD Passes The Simpsons As #1 All-Time TV-DVD; Celebrates by Announcing Season 2! . July 3, 2006 . Lambert, David . September 19, 2004 . TVshowsonDVD.com . dead . http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20060704235733/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Chappelles/2338 . July 4, 2006 .
  10. Web site: Simpsons, The — The Complete 1st Season . 2008-03-08 . TV Shows on DVD.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070303010711/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/releaseinfo.cfm?releaseID=311 . 2007-03-03 .
  11. Web site: The Simpsons Season 1 DVD . 2008-03-08 . The Simpsons Shop . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071011163256/http://www.thesimpsonsshop.com/detail.php?p=12529&v=simfandvd . October 11, 2007.
  12. Web site: The Simpsons Make Their DVD Debut In Fox Home Entertainment's Worldwide Release Of The Simpsons Season One Collector's Edition DVD Box Set. https://web.archive.org/web/20010803071531/http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010711/2410.html. Business Wire. Yahoo.com. Berkshire Hathaway. August 3, 2001. July 11, 2001. June 5, 2019.
Bibliography