The start of what has been considered the best television show ever. All 13 episodes of the series contain at least one commentary track per episode, all provide a great amount of insight into the show.

Ryan

Nice insight.

When they talk.

The first few episodes have a little too much dead space for such a largely populated track, with the standout "best" track beeing Krusty gets busted (Mostly due to the particiaption of Director Brad Bird)

Interesting commentaries on all 13 episodes, with Matt Groening, the writers, producers, and directors commenting. Interesting insight as well as self-deprecating humor.

All the commentary have the same info in them. They say the same stuff over again and again.

Having heard them all, they are mostly different from track to track, and not a lot of dead space. These are creators seeing their huge success 13 years later, many of whom worked on it for several seasons later, or currently when they record this. So it is a refreshing look for them about where it all started.

Some tracks are more informative than others, and few have huge laughs. There is not even a lot of praising of each other, like I would have expected, but instead a lot more stories about what it was like to have been working on this first season, 6 months before it really aired, and what the responses were versus the expectations.

They say have not seen this episode in at least ten years, and are still impressed that it got made and ended up on prime time. They laugh at how some of the characters looked in the early years. And how the actors initially wanted to hide their identities. And point out how the voice of Homer was originally an impression of Walter Matthau. Some animation is so sloppy in scenes it surprises them. Little things like the size of the eyeballs. And how flat the backgrounds look. The most interesting moment (even for them) is the fact that the last scene they were worried about, so they actually had the animators shoot coverage, like a real film might, which means they had it all done repeatedly in closeups, wide shots, different angles, etc., and then cut it together. They all said, it was a really dumb thing to do, and they never did it again.

One of the best commentaries here, and definitely in the top two most informative. They talk about how after they did the Christmas special they kept hearing from strangers and friends how much they liked it, and knew it was going to be big. Talked about why the theme is as long as it first was, because they thought the episodes would be shorter that way, but would throw audience a bone by tossing in two little jokes with the couch and blackboard. They talk about all sorts of inspirations for the characters, several of whom appeared for the first time here. And how a lot of things were still being tested, as they did not get to see the results before the shows aired. And where various catch phrases came from, when they disappeared, and how they never even had Bart say several quotes that ended up on the best selling t-shirts. They added bullies because Fox said those toys always sell better. Matt Groenig cannot get over the fact that his scribbles were moving around on the tv. He never imagined his cartoons as moving, but as stills. Also embarrassed that they had kids playing with marbles, like that ever happened even in their lifetimes. They point out that the animation was really sloppy in places, but were amazed that they made shadows in the scene in the backyard at night. Noticed during the credits that it was a blast from the past to actually be able to read them. Not only were they not squished, but they were slow enough to read.

Not so bad. All of the commentaries, really, are pretty good. This one suffers though because of the lack of participation of Wes Archer. Now, the man, in my opinion is a wizard. He was among the first generation of Simpsons "founding fathers" and helped design many of the characters--just as he did with King Of The Hill. Unfortunately, he is a very quite person. So he says about two or three things during the commentary, and it only goes down hill for the rest.

Still, check 'em all out. They are worth the time.

Some funny mentions. All seemed shocked to remember that Smithers was originally black. And how it was only the 3rd episode, and they dared to show Homer getting fired, stealing from Barts piggy bank, and attempting suicide. They were really pushing everything early on.

Rare appearance of the reclusive Al Jean on this track. They are all shocked by all the little things taken out of the opening credits a few seasons later. They point out that everything in this episode is wrong for what the characters became later. Homer worried about family embarrasing him, Marge is a drunk, Lisa is a brat too, Homer pawns the TV, Marge offers to pawn her engagement ring instead of the tv, etc.. They also found it funny that conservatives tended to praise the show, as for years they were the only family you saw regularly attend church, and the God in this show was a real old testament type vengeful god. And how the shock clip from this episode was the first time a clip appeared in a big movie, Die Hard 2.

The writers have fun talking about it, but it still is not that funny of a listen. They seemed amazed at how weird some of the animation in this episode was, but in a good way, where they learned they could go more surreal. It is a pretty informative track, but mostly just for this show, pointing out the various new elements here. And some directions these characters were supposed to go in, but none ever seemed to. A lot of pointing out things they could not have done ten years later. And also thinking about how sweet the episodes play now, but back then they got lots of criticism for being a bad influence by parents groups.

Groenig reminds that the main titles having small changes were based off Mickey Mouse Club and Donald Duck having different gong gags. James Brooks pushed this episode to be made because he wanted to do a similar episode on Taxi that he never got to. The writer laughed because he assures the listeners that it is true that if you unplug a video game during a climactic moment, grown men will whimper. And the characters were drawn yellow because it made it look like nothing else on TV - But they worried people would adjust their set to make them pink. They all cannot believe that they got away with making the Jazz club named The Jazz Hole. And wonder if the Fox censors only now get it, if they listened to the commentary.

Not a lot of talking in the beginning. Talk about Albert Brooks doing a guest voice but not having his name in credits because early on celebrities did not want to be associated with animation. Point out how surreal some of the secondary characters were drawn, and now much more realistic. One odd point was that the original story had Homer being carried off by an Eagle and raised as a baby in the nest. They mention that the table reading was so good, and they loved it so much there was talk of making it a 2 parter. But in the end they went so big for the first 80%, and than it just sort of peters out.

Point out a lot of other characters that appeared for the first time. And how they made it told in flashback because they were not getting big laughs in the beginning. And how actually, a lot of the jokes did not do well during the table reads, which worried them, but enough people seemed to really like the episode that they wondered if they had just gotten jaded already at this point. They did mention Apu, and how he is supposed to be Pakistani, not Indian, which is interesting considering the controversy that took place in 2018, the fact this recording was made in 2003, and the episode aired in 1990.

A lot of quiet in the beginning, as they mostly talk about Albert Brooks work which was mostly adlibbed, which no other character really did. And how this episode was rated #3 for the week in ratings, the highest the show ever got. They point out how well it was directed, as if it were cinematic, in various scenes. And the editing and coloring was unusually good. They felt they really did deserve the Emmy for this one. And are in wonderment that a tv sitcom, much less an animated one, had an episode where the wife considers having an affair.

They all laughed about little things, like thinking about why would a scale have 239 on the dial. And the copy machine says 5 cents on the front, but 10 cents where you put in the money. They were impressed with fancy camera angles they used. And how R-rated some of the lines felt at the time, but ten years later were tame. Feel this was the first real appearance of Burns, and afterwards every writer wanted to use him. Barneys apartment was based on a terrible space the animator used to live.

Animator talks about a lot of tough angles, and how this was the last episode animated, which is likely why it looks the best. Point out candlelight halos, and running ink in the rain, that are both particularly good. The writer points out a lot of wordy scenes. And that for the series, James Brooks encouraged more scenes of Marge and Homer lying in bed talking for exposition, and feel he was right.

Brad Bird directed this?? (And this was likely the first use of A113 stuck into everything Bird did.) Like the other people seeing these early shows for the first time in a decade, they are surprised by how different some of the characters looked and sounded. And are really surprised by how they did not expect the Simpsons to make Groenig so rich from merchandise, as they just happened to accidentally put so many toys into the show. And characters to make into toys. Believe this the episode when they decided to make Lisa be really smart, whereas before she was just normal. Of note is some actually rather impressively directed scenes they point out.

Groenig says Marvin Monroe has a backstory where he was named Marilyn Monroe, and this mentally scarred him so bad that he became a therapist. And that Hank Azaria did not appear for the first few episodes so he was always thought of as the new guy.

This was the last episode to air but one of the first to be made, so a lot of the animation was old with different hair colors, different shapes, but was cleaned up in scenes by other animators. About 70 percent was redone as this was the one that came back first from Korea, and it looked so bad that they felt it would have killed the show if they aired it. Everyone was very rubbery in a non realistic way. They point out how the babysitter moves in the last scenes as an example that did not get fixed. The mess up is why the show did not premiere in September, but in December with the Christmas episode (Which was the 8th episode made).

In the Happy Little Elves cartoon in the background, originally the bear tore the head off of an elf and drank the blood from the neck. A lot of talk about how far reality in the show was allowed to be unreal.

Overall, they like the story of the show, but still have vietnam-like flashbacks to how bad it first looked, and the fear the show wouldnt last long enough to play all the episodes.

There is an extra commentary for this episode in the extras section, showing five minutes of the original animation talked about above. It is terrible, and around 4 min in, Brooks has to leave the room. It is weird to see how different it was, and the animators are truly pained watching it again for the first time in 13 years.

A lot of swear words and comments like it looks worse than they remembered, as they point out how smug Homer looked, how Marge looked like a frog, and how the characters sort of change size and weight as they move.