If you follow Mike Amato's review of the Simpsons here, you will see that he believes that Season one is much like a giant experiment for the Simpsons writers to find what their characters are going to be like. If we were to believe that, we can explain Homer's questionable ability to lead such a large protest in the last episode Homer's Odyssey. Similarly, we can also use that excuse to say that Homer feeling embarrassed by the others and Marge acting poorly in public in this episode are also part of the writer's big experiment in finding exactly what characters should be like.
Granted that both cases of slight off characterisations will lead to losing marks in the characterisation department, for some reason here it doesn't bother me as much. Either way, this episode is still credited with its further assertion of independence and of uniqueness compared to the other family TV shows that came before it.
Right when the episode begins we see something that TV shows that came before the Simpsons would have never done: the children arguing that the other one loves the father more. Then, we see Homer trying to get his family act properly in his boss' party. However to his dismay, during the party Marge gets drunk and dances on the railings while Bart and Lisa runs around causing havoc. When Homer sees another angelic family with the son kissing his father and the siblings not fighting over seats seemingly drives into "heaven", Homer (in a stunning brilliant scene) imagines his family as devils drives into the depth of "hell".
With Homer believing that his family is absolutely horrible and attempting to prove Lisa's theory that every family is like the Simpsons wrong, he beings the family out to go spy on other families. To their horror, the Simpsons find that their neighbours are literally exact duplicates of the Waltons (If you don't know what I am talking about, watch this). The father is always wearing a nice shirt with a tie; the family is always smiling, and the family actually enjoys talking to each other and enjoys each others company.
Believing that the Simpsons need professional help, Homer finds his solution on a cheap TV commercial with Dr.Monroe. To pay for the session, Homer pawns the TV that the family loves. At the session, Dr.Monroe is horrified to find that his electric shock treatment not only doesn't bring the family together, but causes the family to shock each other so much that Springfield almost loses power. When Dr.Monroe claims the Simpsons to be untreatable, Homer manages to get five hundred dollars out of the doctor's pocket. With this money, the Simpsons get a brand new TV. And for the first time, they are unified and walks peacefully into the night.
This episode is really a brilliant satire of old TV shows like the Waltons and the Cosby Show. Whereas those two shows may depict a perfect family with the kids kissing their father and the family never fighting, the Simpsons depict a much more realistic family that as Lisa said, is like every other family out there. While it is true that the Simpsons, just like most of our families, may fight every so often or always carry big smiles on our faces and the dad may not exactly always wear a nice shirt at the dinner table, the Simpsons will always stick together and is still a loving family. George Bush may be right in that America would be better off if every family were like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons, but every family, at its core, is still much more like the Simpsons than the Waltons.
Characterization: 4.5/5
Plot: 3/3
Subjective: 1.5/2
Overall: 9/10
There's a great subtle dig in this episode at the 'perfect' family at the picnic where they are later seen in the waiting room of the family therapy centre. Much more like the Simpsons indeed and, it seems by this little joke, that was the writers' message.
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