There's No Disgrace Like Home

"There's No Disgrace Like Home" is the fourth episode of The Simpsons' first season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 28, 1990.^[2] In the episode, Homer is ashamed of his family after a catastrophic company picnic. After seeing happy families all around him, he decides to enroll the family in therapy. The therapist tries hard to solve their problems but eventually gives up and gives the family their money in return. It was an early episode, showing early designs for a few recurring characters. The episode is inspired by the comedy of Laurel and Hardy and features cultural references to Citizen Kane, the Batman series, and Freaks. It was noted that the characters acted differently from how they would act in later seasons.

1 Plot
2 Production
3 Cultural references
4 Reception
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Plot

Homer takes his family to the company picnic at his boss' manor. A cruel and tyrannical employer, Mr. Burns fires any employee whose family members are not enjoying themselves. Homer sees that Burns is drawn towards a family that treats one another with love and respect and he wonders why he is cursed with his unloving and disrespectful family. The entire picnic is a catastrophe when Bart tortures the swans, Lisa drinks the fountain water, and Marge gets drunk and performs a musical number. Bart tries to win a race that was scheduled for Mr. Burns to win, but Homer is there to stop him.

The Simpsons observe other families on their street, peeking through windows, they see happy families sharing quality time together. Although things begin well, a man at the second house gets his gun after hearing something in the bushes. They are later reported to the police for disturbing the neighborhood. Convinced that both he and his family are pathetic, Homer stops by Moe's Tavern, where he sees a TV commercial for Dr. Marvin Monroe's Family Therapy Center. When he hears that Dr. Monroe guarantees "family bliss or double your money back", Homer spends the kids' college fund and pawns the TV set to enrol the family in the clinic; they are extremely angry with him for his recent actions.

When standard methods prove useless in civilizing the family, Dr. Monroe resorts to shock therapy and wires the Simpsons to electrodes. Soon the whole family is sending shocks to one another. This causes blackouts throughout the city. Resigned to the fact that the Simpsons are incurable, the doctor reluctantly gives them double their money back. With $500 in his pocket, Homer takes his blissful family to buy a new television set.

[edit] Production

The episode shows telltale signs of being one of the earliest shows of the season produced.^[3]^[4] The characters act slightly differently to how they do in later seasons: Lisa is a brat, Marge is a drunk and Homer is concerned that his family is going to make him look bad.^[5] It was an early episode for Mr. Burns, who was voiced by a different actor than in later seasons. Originally, the character was influenced by Ronald Reagan, a concept which was later dropped. The idea that he would greet his employees using index cards was inspired by how Reagan would greet people.^[5] The episode marks the first time Burns says "release the hounds".^[3] It is also the first time Smithers appears yellow, as in the previous episode he was mistakenly animated black, although his hair is still blue. The episode also marks the first appearance of Eddie and Lou, although Lou is yellow instead of black, as he would become later. Lou was named after Lou Whitaker - a former Major League Baseball player.^[3] It is also the first appearance of Dr. Marvin Monroe and the first series appearance of Itchy & Scratchy, who had previously appeared in the shorts.^[2]^[3]

The idea behind the scene in which the family takes turn to electrically shock each other was based on Laurel and Hardy throwing pies at each other, albeit played out more sadistically.^[4] The scene was rearranged in the editing room, because when it was first produced it played out differently. The edits made to the finished product were preliminary, however they were received well and remained unchanged.^[4]

[edit] Cultural references

The scene where the family goes to Burns's Manor holds two cultural references. The Manor resembles Charles Foster Kane's castle in Citizen Kane directed by Orson Welles from 1941.^[2] The family refer to it as "stately Burns Manor", a reference to the Batman TV series.^[3] In addition to that there is a reference to Freaks, the Tod Browning cult horror film about sideshow "freaks," in the repetition of the line "one of us".^[4] The family shocking scene is reminiscent of the 1971 film A Clockwork Orange.^[1]

[edit] Reception

The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, note: "It's very strange to see Homer pawning the TV set in an attempt to save the family; if this episode had come later Marge would surely have taken this stance." They continue, "A neat swipe at family counselling with some great set pieces; we're especially fond of the perfect version of the Simpsons and the electric-shock aversion therapy."^[2] In a DVD review of the first season, David B. Grelck gave the episode a rating of 2.0/5.0, placing it as one of the worst of the season.^[6] In its original broadcast it finished 45th in the Nielsen ratings for the week.^[7]

This episode was one of the first seen by British viewers.^[2] It was the first episode to be broadcast on terrestrial television by the BBC on 23 November 1996 on a Saturday at 5.30pm, because the episodes were shown out of order. The episode was screened with five million viewers that was slightly less than the show, Dad's Army, which previously held the timeslot. The episode also faced competition from ITV's screening of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.^[8]

The scene where the family takes turns electrically shocking each other later appeared in the movie Die Hard 2.^[3]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Richmond, Ray; Antonia Coffman (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers, p. 20. ISBN 0-00-638898-1.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). There's No Disgrace Like Home. BBC. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Jean, Al. (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "There's No Disgrace Like Home" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Groening, Matt. (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "There's No Disgrace Like Home" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
^ ^a ^b Reiss, Mike. (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "There's No Disgrace Like Home" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
^ Grelck, David B (2003). The Simpsons: The Complete First Season. WDBG Productions. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
^ AP. "Nielsens", Austin American-Statesman, February 4, 1990, p. 8. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
^ Williams, Steve; Ian Jones (March 2005). "THAT IS SO 1991!". Off The Telly. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.