Why ‘The Simpsons’ Avoided Making Christmas Episodes for So Long

While Disney hasn’t been able to copyright Christmas (yet), they are filling their streaming service with a ton of holiday content, not all of which involves the murderous exploits of Tim Allen. Next week, Disney+ is exclusively releasing a brand new Simpsons Christmas special, O C’Mon All Ye Faithful.

According to Al Jean, the new double-sized episode will find Homer becoming “convinced that he is Santa Claus and the town of Springfield is better for it.” So kind of like Miracle on 34th Street but with more car crashes and taserings. 

This month also marks the 35th anniversary of “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire,” the 1989 Christmas special that served as The Simpsons’ series premiere after the original premiere’s animation was deemed too be “horrendous” to launch the show. Perhaps not coincidentally, like O C’Mon All Ye Faithful, the special involved Homer taking on the role of Santa Claus, albeit not so convincingly.

While the show was a success, it wasn’t until several years later that it revisited the Christmas holidays. Season Seven’s “Marge Be Not Proud” found Bart shoplifting a copy of a hot new video game from the local Try-N-Save, only to get caught. This incident creates a rift between him and his mother, with Marge grappling with the realization that her son’s childhood is fading. 

The story was inspired by a “traumatic” incident from writer Mike Scully’s childhood — although in real life, he swiped a crappy 45 novelty record, not Bonestorm. 

So why did The Simpsons not produce a Christmas episode any sooner? Well, as the show’s producers revealed on the episode’s DVD commentary, it was partly because of the success of the series premiere. ”Nobody wanted to tread on Christmas because it was so famous as being that first episode,” Bill Oakley recalled. 

Producer Josh Weinstein also pointed out that seasonal shows were less ideal to make because they were less rerun-friendly: “Programmers are like, ‘Well, you don’t want to have a Christmas episode because then you can’t air it when it’s not Christmas.’”

But Oakley also noted that “Marge Be Not Proud” wasn’t quite as overtly holiday-centric as the pilot episode; it was its own unique story that just happened to be set against a “backdrop of Christmas.” Which is mostly true, except for the fact that the episode’s final moments do end up taking place on Christmas morning, when Marge gives Bart the video game that “every boy wants”: Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge.

Incidentally, that game is now totally real. A Christmas miracle!