This Was The Sitcom Episode That Best Understood The Spirit of Christmas

Nothing says “Season’s Greetings!” like a middle-class family, ravaged by corporate greed, throwing away their last chance for a Christmas miracle at the dog track.

On December 17, 1989, Fox aired the first-ever episode of an animated sitcom spun off from a series of shorts on The Tracy Ullman Show. In a daring move of festive creation, The Simpsons began its decades-long run as the most beloved adult animated show of all time with a special Christmas episode, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire,” which thrust the audience into the world of the iconic nuclear family by putting the patriarch through the all-too-common trial of trying to make Christmas magical for his family with extremely limited funds.

“Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” didn’t just jump-start the greatest animated comedy of all time – it also captured the essence of an American Christmas in a way that no other sitcom ever has, before or since.

In “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire,” Bart's rash decision to lie about his age and get a tattoo causes the Simpsons family to lose its entire Christmas present budget. When Mr. Burns greedily cancels his company's Christmas bonuses, Homer is stuck trying to figure out how to put presents under the tree and food on the table simultaneously. 

On Barney's advice, Homer becomes a mall Santa, a role that Bart quickly exploits for his first canonical prank on his old man. Then, on a second ill-fated recommendation from his drinking buddy, Homer bets all of his meager earnings as Santa on a longshot at the dog track, fittingly putting his family's Christmas on the legs of Santa's Little Helper.

Of course, since Santa's Little Helper was always destined to become a Simpson, the dog comes in last place, and his original owner dumps him on the side of the road. Thus, the Christmas miracle – the Simpson family found a new member.

With “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire,” The Simpsons captured the essence of a middle-class Christmas, full of the financial strain, the demeaning lengths to which parents will go to make their kids happy on Christmas morning, and the unintentional discovery of the fact that no stocking-stuffer will ever beat out familial love for the title of the perfect Christmas present.

Plus, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” was, itself, a Christmas miracle, as it blessed viewers with the gift that keeps on giving – The Simpsons.