Weird early episode stuff

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>one early episode begins with homer attempting to kill himself

>After losing his job, Homer attempts suicide, finds a purpose in public safety and protests his way back into a job at the plant
>Now he gets a wacky job of the week with a celebrity boss before going back

>>93843769
Hey I remember that one! It also revolved around Lisa believing in God & Hell.

>>93843769
The early season are all about money problems.
Back then they tried to be relatable.

In all fairness, cable is actually pretty damn cheap today thanks to inflation. A $30 cable bill in 1985 was the equivalent of a $70 cable bill today. Doesn't sound like much, but gasoline was $1.20 a gallon, and a gallon of milk was $2.26 back then. Kinda hard to justify that sort of expense unless you had money to spare. These days you spend $50 to $60 and get cable, phone service, and internet. It comes with the stuff you need. This isn't so much weirdness as it is something that dates that episode.

A better example would be the first Sonic SatAM episode where Sally is bright pink due to a coloring error, which is conveniently ignored for the rest of the series.

>>93844981
That brings up another issue though. The simpsons don't age but yet the world around them changes. Bart and Lisa have been through 5 different elections and are still the same age.

Don't they have a flat screen now too?

>>93844981
>These days you spend $50 to $60 and get cable, phone service, and internet.
I fucking wish. Best deal I can get on that is $125.

>>93843769
And computers were strange and exotic things.
A website for a school was extremely fancy.
Lisa and Marge were extremely by the book christian.

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>>93843769
>Edd was the one with the crush on Sarah
>Ed's voice
>Eddy seems legitimately interested in helping the kids find who stole their stuff, rather than being 100% motivated by only money and/or attention
>Jawbreakers were only a nickel
>They actually get their jawbreakers at the end

>>93844981
Thing is, that ain't what it's like in Canada- We have to pay closer to $150-170 just for phone and internet.

>>93845227

It makes going back and watching that season 2 episode where Bart almost repeats the 4th grade lose most of its weight.

I remember seeing it as a kid when it first aired and, being Bart's age, relating with his attitude and really feeling the ending when he breaks down crying because he isn't good enough. It made the idea of having to repeat a grade seem really fucking scary.

Now Bart has been repeating the 4th grade for 30 fucking years, so who the hell cares anymore.

>>93845407
It's not a story show. Despite the few blips of continuity most of the episodes can be taken on their own.

Also, to me, the main focus of that last scene wasn't just repeating the grade. It was about trying your best at something and still failing. To realize without a doubt that you have flaws and that "putting your mind to it" and all that only tips the scales, it doesn't mean success. And that it doesn't apply to everyone.
It's a terrible outcome for a person's self worth when there isn't a teacher responsible enough to bend the rules to avoid crushing someone's soul.

>>93845254
And a desktop computer, a laptop, and several MyPads and MyPhones (clever parody, eh?). The Simpsons haven't had financial issues for well over a decade now.

Unless its funny and relevant to the plot.

>>93845941
Does Marge have a job yet?

>>93846021

Only for one episode at a time.

Other times, they joke that Homer makes 500 bucks a year.

>>93843947
Not to mention he doesn't take his safety inspector job seriously and routinely puts everyone in danger

In 1989 it was believable that a lower-middle class family with a suburban house, two cars, and three kids could exist with one person having a single steady job.

>complaining about the Simpsons unrealistic finances
Homer only goes to work when he feels like it and they live in a huge 4 bedroom house, Frank Grimes lampshaded this almost 20 years ago lads

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>>93843769

I miss early psychotic Brock where he was always resorting to violence. Put your hand on his shoulder even though you're talking to him gets you an ass beating.

He's become a more well rounded character since he's mellowed out but he's not as extreme as he used to be.

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>>93844981
>A better example would be the first Sonic SatAM episode where Sally is bright pink due to a coloring error, which is conveniently ignored for the rest of the series.
Funny, the comic made the same coloring error too, even made her blond at one point, but they did address it.

>>93844012
sadly a warped version of christianity that was 30% catholicism and 70% hollywood, like it usually is.
Of course you can just write that off as Lovejoy being incompetent and intentionally hiring ignorant sunday school teachers who get their doctrine from newspaper cartoons

>>93848701
I liked his arc though. If you watch it all in a row, you can just see him slowly beginning to object to the crazy shit Rusty does, culminating in Venturestein.. seeing someone he killed brought back to life and then made into a slave kinda fucked with him. So Brock does that crazy vision quest thing, almost has a big cliche revelation, then Hunter Gathers appears in his vision and reminds him he has a fuckin job to do
so he compromises and just decides to give Venturestein a good time
I loved seeing him acting competently as part of a team with Sphinx and OSI for a while, but it's good he's back guarding the kids, because deep down he's a family man.. and the fact that he's been a player for so many years is finally catching up with him in his middle age, a la John Redcorn.. so now we get this hilarious Not-Wonder-Woman thing where he has finally found a woman that can reliably kick his ass (without resorting to poisoned heel spikes like some kind of fucking one-eyed russian platypus), and he likes it.

>>93848728
Shit like that is hilarious. I love how Grey Hulk became an actual character, as did Black Beast

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It's really sad how Brian was treated after season 4. Seasons 2 and 3 show his arc of
>never got over his mother abandoning him
>failed to find his footing in life, only managing to survive by Peter's goodwill
>wants to work in showbiz but just doesn't have what it takes, so he drinks and acts cynical to hide it
>falls in love with his best friend's wife
>travels to California to find himself
>ends up coming to terms with his misfortunes and accepting who he is
but ever since the show came back the second time he's just been "Insufferable Liberal: The Character".

>>93844981
>>93848728
I don't think Sally's fur being pink was an error more than it was an early design that they later decided to change.

The comic's explanation is bullshit they made up because back then, they felt that every single little nuance needed an explanation that made less sense and confused people further.

>>93851925
Wasn't it just a gag? The footnote certainly makes it seem that way.

>>93852348
The tv show never acknowledged the change and it was only in the pilot episode.

The comic was just being stupid. The panel about her scrubbing chemicals from her fur was from an issue made years later.

>>93845227
>That brings up another issue though. The simpsons don't age but yet the world around them changes. Bart and Lisa have been through 5 different elections and are still the same age.
they would have been better off having time pass in the show, not at a 1:1 ratio of course, but maybe something like 1 year every 2-3 seasons or so

>>93850490
agreed, it all went down hill once he and Jillian broke up, since it opened him up to a whole bunch of skeevy "Brian tries to date women" plots

>>93843769
Can you even steal cable now? I would gladly do so without any sense of guilt.

>>93843937
that felt so out of place

I felt bad for Homer

>>93843769
cable was a big deal in the 80s.

>>93845388
>Edd was the one with the crush on Sarah

Hold the fuck up. I don't remember this shit.

>>93849235
The Simpsons are Protestant, not Catholic. hell, there's even an entire episode where Homer and Bart becomes Catholics.

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>>93843769
Futurama > Simpsons

>>93852890
it was originally going to be a plot point that Edd would get a crush on any girl over the tiniest of things, in the first episode it was with Sarah because she was missing her doll just like how he was missing his magnifying glass

>>93843769
Homer won a million dollars from the lottery in one episode. He said he used it to pay all the money the family owes.