History Recap / TheSimpsonsS1E4TheresNoDisgraceLikeHome

* ExactWords: When Dr Monroe gives up on the Simpsons, Homer forces him to make good on his "Problem solved or we'll refund you twice what you paid" claim.
* HypocriticalHumor: More in sync with his later characterization, the episode frequently notes a lot of the family woes Homer is embarrassed about are caused by ''him''.

* ImagineSpot: Homer picturing his family as a bunch of devils and a happier family as a bunch of angels, complete with their road home going up into Heaven and his road home going through Hell.

** ''In spades''. As noted in the commentary, ''everything'' about the episode is wrong compared to what the show soon became, with Homer being the one embarrassed by his family's antics being the most glaring (as usually this is a characteristic more appropriate for Marge or Lisa). Bart and Maggie (and maybe some of the ancillary characters, like Moe, Mr. Burns, Dr. Monroe, and the two cops, Eddie and Lou) are the only ones whose personalities aren't altered.

** In the most glaring instance of this, ''Homer Simpson sells the family's TV'' to pay for the session with Dr. Monroe, something he'd ''never'' do in later seasons.
** The below mentioned ImagineSpot was drawn before the show received a style guide specifically ruling out demonic faces on the Simpsons for anything but Treehouse episodes, as the family isn't ever supposed to be seen as malicious.

** Homer's most popular characterization as a crude, clumsy, lazy, ignorant man with alcoholic tendencies, makes this an ''extremely'' odd episode to watch, especially for those who have ''never'' seen the show in its early days. He is embarrassed by his family's boorish behavior, including Marge getting drunk at his boss's party, and takes them to family therapy. If this was written after the first season, the roles would undoubtedly be reversed. Adding to this, ''Homer sells the TV'' in order to pay for the therapy; again, something he'd never even ''contemplate'' doing post-season one. It should also be noted that Lisa is an uncontrollable brat like Bart in this episode, as opposed to the OnlySaneMan (well, little girl) she would soon become.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Homer's most popular characterization as a crude, clumsy, lazy, ignorant man with alcoholic tendencies, makes this an ''extremely'' odd episode to watch, especially for those who have ''never'' seen the show in its early days. He is embarrassed by his family's boorish behavior, including Marge getting drunk at his boss's party, and takes them to family therapy. If this was written after the first season, the roles would undoubtedly be reversed. Adding to this, ''Homer sells the TV'' in order to pay for the therapy; again, something he'd never even ''contemplate'' doing post-season one. It should also be noted that Lisa is an uncontrollable brat like Bart in this episode, as opposed to the OnlySaneMan (well, little girl) she would soon become.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''In spades''. As noted in the commentary, ''everything'' about the episode is wrong compared to what the show soon became, with Homer being the one embarrassed by his family's antics being the most glaring (as usually this is a characteristic more appropriate for Marge or Lisa). Bart and Maggie (and maybe some of the ancillary characters, like Moe, Mr. Burns, Dr. Monroe, and the two cops, Eddie and Lou) are the only ones whose personalities aren't altered.

* BrickJoke:
** The "perfect" family that Homer idolizes at the beginning of the episode is later seen at Dr. Marvin Monroe's center all angrily looking away from each other. Looks like they weren't as good a family as Homer thought they were.
** Homer insists on Marge making gelatin deserts for the picnic after they earned him his one earnest compliment from Burns last year. When he proudly shows Burns his gift of five gelatin desserts, Burns reacts in exasperation, noting ''every'' employee bought him the same.

* {{Malaproper}}: While saying grace, Homer complains to God about his kids' behavior.

* OutOfCharacterMoment: Marge gets drunk and actually embarrasses Homer, who wants their family to be normal and appreciated by the rest of society. Part of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, of course. Really, the only ones who act in character are Bart and Maggie.

Episode - 7G04\\
First Aired - 1/28/1990

** Homer insists on Marge making gelatine deserts for the picnic after they earned him his one earnest compliment from Burns last year. When he proudly shows Burns his gift of five gelatine desserts, Burns reacts in exasperation, noting ''every'' employee bought him the same.

** This episode is notably the ''last'' proper appearance of Homer's CatchPhrase "Let's all go out for some frosty chocolate milkshakes", a RunningGag from the ''[[Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow Tracey Ullman]]'' era. Every time the show has referenced the line since, it has been a CallBack to how [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness old and weird]] it is.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Homer's most popular characterization as a crude, clumsy, lazy, ignorant man with alcoholic tendencies, makes this an ''extremely'' odd episode to watch, especially for those who have ''never'' seen the show in its early days. He is embarrassed by his family's boorish behavior, including Marge getting drunk at his boss's party, and takes them to family therapy. If this was written after the first season, the roles would undoubtedly be reversed. Adding to this, ''Homer sells the TV'' in order to pay for the therapy; again, something he'd never even ''contemplate'' doing post-season one.

* TherapyBackfire: The episode has Homer insist the family go to a therapy session. They all blame him (although this might have been annoyance at [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness him having sold their TV to pay for it]]). Even escalating to '''electroconvulsive aversion therapy''' can't stop the family from feuding with each other (if anything, they end up blowning out the clinic lights and several surrounding blocks' lights in the ensuing electroshock fight). Dr. Monroe gives up, refunds Homer's money, and begs them to never tell anybody that they visited the clinic.

* TherapyBackfire: The episode has Homer insist the family go to a therapy session. They all blame him (although this might have been annoyance at [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness him having sold their TV to pay for it]]). Even escalating to '''electroconvulsive aversion therapy''' can't stop the family from feuding with each other (if anything, they end up browning out the clinic and several surrounding blocks in the ensuing electroshock fight). Dr. Monroe gives up, refunds Homer's money, and begs them to never tell anybody that they visited the clinic.

** Homer's brief quotation of his mother made her out to be just as bitter and verbally abusive as his father (who hadn't even completely settled into that characterization yet). Later seasons (particularly the season seven episode "Mother Simpson") had Homer's mother as a loving, caring woman who abandoned him because she got swept up in the 1960s counterculture (which, to her, was world's better than being tied down to someone like Grandpa Simpson, who's more traditional and conservative).

** Homer's brief quotation of his mother made her out to be just as bitter and verbally abusive as his father (who hadn't even completely settled into that characterization yet) instead of the loving but [[ParentalNeglect neglectful]] CoolOldLady they will eventually introduce.

* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: Dr. Monroe, after Homer forces him to honor his "family bliss or double our money back" slogan.

* HypocriticalHumor: More in sync with his later characterisation, the episode frequently notes a lot of the family woes Homer is embarrassed about are caused by ''him''.

* ImagineSpot: Homer picturing his family as a bunch of devils and the Flanders family as a bunch of angels, complete with their road home going up into Heaven and his road home going through Hell.

** Then again, getting wasted isn't exactly out of character for Marge. For example, she aids a felon friend in Ruth Powers in the Season 5 episode "Marge on the Lam," and becomes a gambling addict later that season when Mr. Burns opens a casino. While she escapes charges in the former, the latter is much more depressing because she neglects her family.
** Despite the embarrassment, it would still be enviable that when Homer finds her drunk, she greets him enthusiastically and asks if he's tried the punch. Doubtful that many other Springfieldians would react to their spouses like that with their inhibitions lowered.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Homer's most popular characterization as a crude, clumsy, lazy, ignorant man, with alcoholic tendencies, makes this an ''extremely'' odd episode to watch, especially for those who have ''never'' seen the show in its early days. He is embarrassed by his family's boorish behavior, including Marge getting drunk at his boss's party, and takes them to family therapy. If this was written after the first season, the roles would undoubtedly be reversed. Adding to this, ''Homer sells the TV'' in order to pay for the therapy; again, something he'd never even ''contemplate'' doing post-season one. While Homer is somewhat called out on it later that episode, since most of the things he was ashamed of them doing were ''his'' fault in the first place, he shows a lot more devotion to his family here than in later seasons. Then again, Homer has yet to discover the joys of taking out the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc... mortgage which he does in later seasons.
** Regardless of how Homer turned out, he still proved that he loves his family despite his faults, in later seasons. For example, he is willing to work a 2nd job at the Kwik-E-Mart to afford shelter for "Lisa's Pony," suffer incredible pain while jumping Springfield Gorge in Bart's place, or filing for divorce just so he and Marge could have a proper wedding (the first one was a shotgun wedding in Vegas).

** Then again, getting wasted isn't exactly out of character for Marge. For example, she aids a felon friend in Ruth Powers in the Season 5 episode "Marge on the Lam," and becomes a gambling addict later that season when Mr. Burns opens a casino. While she escapes charges in the former, the latter is much more depressing because she neglects her family.

** Regardless of how Homer turned out, he still proved that he loves his family despite his faults, in later seasons. For example, he is willing to work a 2nd job at the Kwik-E-Mart to afford shelter for "Lisa's Pony," suffer incredible pain while jumping Springfield Gorge in Bart's place, or filing for divorce just so he and Marge could have a proper wedding (the first one was a shotgun wedding in Vegas.)