The Simpsons, The Christmas Special.

In 1989 the Fox Network was attempting to compete with the Big Three, CBS, NBC and ABC, however they only ran original programming on weekends and let the local networks fill in the rest of the time. They decided to take a chance on an a new show, The Simpsons, a spin off from a series of animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show.  However there hadn't been a successful animated sitcom in 15 years so they decided to do a test run with a Christmas Special. On December 17, 1989 The Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire premiered. The gamble paid off and it was the launch of the longest running sitcom in TV history.

The plot was pretty straight forward, Christmas is about to roll around and the Simpson's find themselves in a crisis when Homer doesn't get his bonus at work and Marge has to spend her Christmas stash getting rid of Bart's tattoo. Homer takes a job as a mall Santa in hopes of getting some quick cash but finds out that it only pays $13. His friend Barney convinces him to go to the dog track and bet on a sure winner, Whirlwind. However they add a new dog Santa's Little Helper Homer takes it as a sign, the dog loses. As Homer and Bart are leaving the track the owner of the dog is chasing it off and it runs into Homer's arms. He takes it home and it turns out to be the best Christmas present ever. 

The Tracey Ullman show had introduced us to the original characters who were named after Matt Groening's family, his father Homer, mother Marge, his sisters Lisa and Maggie and featured a character named Bart that in no way resembles Diane Arbus's Child With A Toy Hand Grenade In Central Park NYC, to guarantee the photographer's estate wouldn't sue for copyright infringement.

The show also introduced a collection of other side characters. The first is Seymout Skinner, the principal of Springfield Elementary as he emcees the Christmas pageant. Secondly we meet Selma and Patty, Marge's twin sisters. They hate Homer and he hates them back. Next we meet is Ned Flanders, Homers overachieving neighbor and one of his sons, Todd. We don't learn about Flanders religious habits in the first episode, we just see him as he over decorates his house showing up Homer and later runs into Homer with a bundle of Christmas presents for his family. Next we hear the voice of Mr. Smithers over the companies PA but we don't see him. There is a scene with Mr. Burns but all we learn is that he's the boss of the plant. When Homer learns about the families financial problems he drops in to Moe's bar where we meet the bartender and Barney, we don't get much of a back story on these characters but we learn more as time goes along.

Originally the creators of the show considered giving Homer a secret second identity, Krusty The Clown however they dropped that storyline. Instead we learn that Homer works at the nuclear power plant. They don't go into details about his exact job and at the time he wasn't seen as stupid, this would change over time. 

There also wasn't an opening credit sequence so there was no chalkboard gag.

A month later The Simpsons made it's regular premiere on Sunday, January 14th. between America's Most Wanted and Married With Children, and it's still on the air. Thus launches my odyssey into the complete Simpsons. Wish me luck.