Season 1 - Episode 1 That's right, the very first episode of The Simpsons as we know them. Sure, they'd had their little clips on the Tracey Ullman show, but this was their big première as their own entity. Airing just before Christmas, 1989, the Christmas special ("Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire") was the episode that introduced Santa's Little Helper to the family, and the Simpsons to us. It was watched by 13.4 million viewers in the U.S. alone on its initial airing, received two Emmy nominations, launched the franchise... and today is barely mentioned. Why? Well, the series has gone a long way, and an episode from 25 years or so ago has just sort of become another early outing. There are viewers today who likely haven't even seen it, or couldn't identify that it was the pilot. Despite that, we have it to thank for the eventual success of the series. Had the episode flopped, we might not have seen The Simpsons at all. Fox certainly had reservations - they wanted the show to consist of three seven minute shorts per episode, rather than a single story. The producers, however, held firm.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
