Customer Reviews

The Best of The Simpsons, Vol. 1 - No Disgrace Like Home/ Life On The Fast Lane [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm sort of a Simpsons fan by default; my boyfriend is a fanatic, which means I've seen every episode multiple times. These are two of the best episodes from Season 1. The first, "No Disgrace Like Home," is the first regular episode to be shown (following the original Christmas special). After a disasterous family outing, the Simpsons visit a family therapist for "shock" treatment. True Simpsons fans will notice that Homer acts quite out of character in this episode: he is the one who is embarrassed by his family's behavior and who decides to hock the TV in order to afford therapy. However, there are definitely some laughs in this first show. In "Life on the Fast Lane," Homer buys Marge a bowling ball for her birthday--the fact that this is really a gift for himself is even more obvious given that he's already had the ball engraved with his name! Hurt and angry, Marge takes the ball and decides she will learn to bowl after all. At the local lanes, she meets up with a french bowling instructor and is tempted to have an affair--you have to watch the episode to see how it turns out! When my boyfriend and I made a list of our top 25 episodes, this one was #5, so you're guarenteed to enjoy these two classic shows.

When I saw Season I of theSimpsons for sale, I bought it immediately. The first episode, "There's No Disgrace Like Home" was absolutely hilarious, and had me rolling on the floor. However, the second episode, "Life on the Fast Lane," seemed more like a cliched daytime soap opera than a comedy animated show. I still recommend it, however.

There's no disgrace like home: After an embarrassing experience at his company picnic, Homer begins to wonder if his family is too dysfunctional. Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie attend family therapy sessions with Dr. Marvin Monroe, an unorthodox psychotherapist who uses shock therapy to "cure" them.
Life on the fast lane: Homer buys Marge a bowling ball for her birthday, prompting her to take up bowling lessons with a suave, French bowling instructor named Jacques. As her game improves, Marge and Jacques grow closer and closer until they're spending every night of the week at the bowling alley and sharing brunch. Realizing that he may be losing Marge, Homer tries to tell her how he feels and remind her of her loyalty to the family

Just rating the item, not reviewing it.

I'd be loathe to call either of these classics, but I would buy this tape all the same, especially for the one scene where the family are wired in with the ability to shock each other. The way even Maggie jubilantly plays with the buttons is ingenious. Overall this episode has some other good moments but is no classic. I believe it was originally intended as the first ever episode, but the Christmas one got shown first. As for Life On the Fast Line, we see the first time the Simpsons family unit gets threatened, as a tenpin bowler called Jacques has nine fo the pins of his heart knocked over by Marge. In the end she decides not to go for the spare, but not before some tantilising moments. This one is amusing but doesn't have the spark and invention of the later episodes. More of a D'Oh than a Woo-Hoo. A good video to get but it shouldn't be top of your list.

This tape definitely shows the time when the writers of the show had no idea where they wanted to go with their storylines. Still, There's No Disgrace Like Home provides some cheap laughs, but it short on anything meaningful and Life On The Fast Lane is very meaningful, yet short on anything funny. (After Act 1) If you're a new Simpsons fan I recommend a later edition of the series, but if you're a hardcore fan of the show, this movie won't disapoint.

Sure it was funny back then, but this is the year 2000 and we have a much better sense of humor. However, the family theropy scean is worth giving this one 3 stars!