Some Enchanted Evening
The very first episode of the Simpsons (by production that is) – how does it hold up after almost 35 years?
Story
In an effort to spice up their marriage for the zillionth time, Marge and Homer decide to have a night out, leaving Bart, Maggie, and Lisa with Lucille Botzcowski – unaware that she is wanted by the police, forcing Bart and his sisters to save their house from Botzcowski’s raid.
Random Facts
The late Penny Marshall voices Botzcowski. For anyone questioning the excess amount of guest stars in newer seasons, keep in mind that the Simpsons had always had a lot of guest stars each season.
Botzcowski would appear as a boss in Bart vs. the Space Mutants – a really bad game for the NES and even for the Sega Genesis (which coincidentally often had the better of the ports along with the Sega Master System initially).
Often deemed either the weakest or the best of the first season. I.E. Mr. Dipshit Enter ranks this as an atrocity.
Homer should give up shaving. His beard comes back immediately, and this happens again in the blowfish episode.
Random Opinions
Like Bart vs. Thanksgiving, Homer didn’t really do anything wrong. He wasn’t aware of the babysitter bandit, so cut him some slack.
If you don’t like the animation in this episode, then you’re not going to want to see how it originally was supposed to look. You can see this on the Season 1 DVD box set.
Botzcowski sounds like a female Chief Wiggum and looks like someone you’d see on Rick and Morty with how her limbs move. Wubba Lubba Dub Dub.
Scorecard
| Visuals | Writing | Tolerance | Audio | Characters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bad (3/10) | Decent (6/10) | Good (7/10) | Great (8/10) | Good (7/10) |
| Disregarding the attempts to rework the animation, this looks like an eyesore (Remember: These ratings are dependent on the series.) | Writing isn’t up to par like later episodes. | The episode isn’t terribly stupid like some other episodes of this season. | Voice acting by Penny Marshall is good. | Homer set the bandit free, however he wasn’t aware of it until it was too late. |
Rating: 31/50 – Decent (6/10)
Decent episode, but this one should’ve been delayed a season or two to iron out the animation even further or just shelved until Film Roman came in and gave the show a more livid look.
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