Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Simpsons season 36’s special “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful.”
While The Simpsons season 36’s Christmas special “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful” is an entirely original effort, the double-sized special features a slew of clever references to the show’s earlier holiday specials. The Simpsons season 37’s renewal may not have been announced yet, but the series isn’t resting on its laurels by any metric. Despite its longevity, the show has managed to effectively reinvent itself since its critical nadir around season 33 with character-focused storylines that prioritize emotional resonance over zany comedy. This has resulted in viewers and critics arguing that The Simpsons is enjoying a renaissance.
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After over 770 episodes, The Simpsons season 36’s big changes prove that the show is still making creative leaps. Season 36, episode 6, “Women in Shorts,” was an anthology outing that focused on over a dozen underrated female characters from throughout Springfield, while the next episode was a Treehouse of Horror Presents special that adapted the works of Ray Bradbury to the world of the series. These inventive experiments prove that The Simpsons season 36’s changes are a welcome break from the norm, but the show’s double-sized holiday special still referenced many earlier classic outings.
9 The Ending Of “C’Mon Ye Faithful’ Recreates The Simpsons’ First Episode
The Simpsons Revisits The Closing Tableau From Its Pilot
Although The Simpsons season 36’s special “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful” featured an original story, it also included many clever nods to the show’s long history. One of the best of these homages arrives at the very end of the special, as Marge and Homer cuddle beneath the tree while Lisa and Bart keep an eye out for Santa on Christmas Eve. The tableau at the end of the special owes an obvious debt to the ending of the show’s pilot, “Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire.” Like “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful,” that outing ended with a similarly sweet image.
Seeing the Simpsons together on Christmas again 35 years after their pilot aired, it is tough to make the argument that the show’s consistency is a bad thing.
The Simpson family were gathered around the Christmas tree in both episodes, although Grampa was present in the earlier outing. A lot has changed since the early seasons of The Simpsons, but while the show’s tone might be less cynical and grounded nowadays, the closing scene of “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful” proves some things never change in Springfield. The Simpsons has been criticized for its stagnant status quo before but, seeing the Simpsons together on Christmas 35 years after their pilot aired, it is tough to make the argument that the show’s consistency is a bad thing.
8 Homer Has Been Santa Before
Homer Played Santa When He Saved Springfield From Funzo
The premise of “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful” centers on British mentalist Derren Brown’s attempts, alongside a documentary crew, to instill Christmas spirit in the surly populace of Springfield. This results in a few mishaps, such as Homer becoming convinced that he is Santa Claus after Brown inadvertently implants this idea in his mind. Although Homer is eventually disabused of the notion, it is worth noting that this isn’t the first time the character has played Santa in The Simpsons. In season 11, episode 9, “The Grift of the Magi,” Homer dressed as Santa to steal Springfield’s many Funzo Dolls.
This bizarre fusion of How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Santa’s usual mission was caused by a duplicitous toy company releasing Funzo even though they knew the toy was designed to destroy other toys once activated. To save The Simpsons’ Barbie parody Malibu Stacy and the rest of the town’s toys, Homer donned the famous red suit and squeezed down the town’s chimneys, stealing their Funzos while Bart and Lisa distracted the homeowners with carols. One of the show’s strongest festive specials, “The Grift of the Magi” doubled as both a sharp satirical effort and a sweet festive adventure.
7 Bart Tries To Connect With Marge Over The Christmas Spirit
Marge and Bart’s Relationship Framed The Show’s Best Christmas Special
In “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful,” Marge’s relationship with Bart is put to the test when he torments the Flanders family by pretending to be the spirit of Christmas and haunting their home. Marge is initially annoyed, but she is heartened to learn that Bart only did this so they would believe in God again after Ned’s crisis of faith. The Simpsons’ most moving Christmas episode, season 7, episode 11, “Marge Be Not Proud,” also centered on a disagreement between the mother and son duo. However, Bart’s earlier infraction was more serious as far as Marge was concerned.
It was Marge and Bart’s struggle in this outing that made “Marge Be Not Proud” stand out as a classic.
Marge and Bart’s bond was put to the test in “Marge Be Not Proud” when Bart shoplifted a video game that Marge refused to buy him. Marge felt distanced from Bart in “Marge Be Not Proud” while Bart felt abandoned by his mother, but the pair patched things up when he gifted her a framed family photo at Christmas. Although the show relied on Bart’s antics and their subsequent fallout to anchor another, lesser Christmas episode of The Simpsons in season 9, episode 10, “Miracle on Evergreen Terrace,” it was Marge and Bart’s struggle in this outing that made “Marge Be Not Proud” stand out as a classic.
6 Lisa’s Conversion To Buddishm Is A Simpsons Holiday Tradition
Lisa First Questioned Her Faith At Christmas
In “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful,” Ned struggles with his faith when Homer realizes he isn’t really Santa, leaving his neighbor unable to believe in any faith-based divine authority figure. Lisa discusses her faith in Buddhism with Ned and reassures him with a metaphorical parable about a sea turtle and an ox’s yoke. This is fitting considering the fact that she originally converted to the faith in season 13, episode 6, ”She Of Little Faith.” While some of the sadder revelations in The Simpsons season 36 threaten to change the show’s status quo, Lisa’s consistent faith remains solid.
5 Gil Gets A Christmas Redemption
Gil Was The Focus Of An Earlier Simpsons Christmas Special
Gil is arguably the saddest character in the history of The Simpsons, and he is never sadder than at Christmas. Based on the terminally tragic desperate salesman played by Jack Lemmon in Glengarry Glen Ross, Gil was the focus of season 18, episode 9, “Kill Gil, Parts 1 and 2.” In that festive special, Gil moved in with the Simpson family and refused to leave when their hospitality ran dry. In “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful,” Gil receives a more hopeful holiday surprise when Brown’s documentary team makes him look like a hero, improving his woeful self-image.
4 “C’Mon Ye Faithful” Even References Non-Christmas Episodes
The Simpsons Christmas Special Features A Nod To One Season 1 Outing
Early on in “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful,” Homer insists to both himself and Marge that he is a terrible gift giver and Brown decides to hypnotize him out of this mindset. However, Homer does have some historical evidence to back up his claim. He directly references getting Marge a bowling ball as a gift, which was the impetus for her near affair with Jacques, the bowling instructor, in season 1, episode 9, “Life on the Fast Lane.” This isn’t the only non-Christmas episode to receive a clever nod in “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful” thanks to a more divisive later outing.
3 The Simpsons Fixes An Infamous Non-Christmas Plot With One Twist
Homer’s Hypnosis Goes A Lot Better The Second Time Around
While Brown hypnotizing Homer doesn’t go perfectly, considering he spends days thinking he is Santa, it also could have gone a lot worse. In season 13, episode 5, “The Blunder Years,” an encounter with a hypnotist led Homer to uncover a repressed memory of discovering the corpse of Waylon Smithers Sr during his teen years. The Bob’s Burgers Movie revived this Simpsons story and managed to make it funnier and less morbid than the divisive original episode, so it is fun to see “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful” revisit Homer going under hypnosis and providing a less traumatic ending to this plot.
2 Moe’s Darkest Holiday Tradition Returns In “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful”
The Simpsons Season 36’s Holiday Special Proves Moe Has Found Meaning
Several holiday episodes of The Simpsons include bleak jokes about Moe taking his own life, including “The Grift of the Magi” and season 17, episode 9, “Simpsons Christmas Stories.” However, “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful” offers a more hopeful spin on this as Moe admits that, although he typically considers ending everything on the holidays, Homer acting as Santa has reignited his zeal for life this Christmas. The Simpsons season 36’s change to this recurring joke is a clever one that both references and subverts the recurring gag’s usual execution, surprising longtime viewers with a new twist.
1 Homer & Flanders’ Differences Have Fueled Simpsons Christmas Specials Before
Homer and Flanders Were Contrasted Throughout Two Christmas Episodes
In season 15, episode 7, “’Tis the Fifteenth Season,” the divergent personalities of Homer and Ned Flanders are central to the holiday special’s story. The same is true in “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful,” wherein Homer stands in for Santa while Ned is busy losing faith in God. The pair couldn’t be more opposed than they are in both of these holiday specials, but a third Christmas episode of The Simpsons saw the duo work together and make an unexpectedly hilarious pairing. Ned and Homer’s Christmas Simpsons adventure is a classic outing that mostly centers around their children.
In season 12, episode 8, “Skinner’s Sense of Snow,” Bart, Lisa, and the rest of Springfield Elementary’s students are trapped in school at Christmas due to a blizzard. As the kids rebel, Homer and Ned attempt to save them in the episode’s B-story. Naturally, the pair of poorly prepared fathers almost get themselves killed in the process, but they eventually work together and free their children. Similarly, the ending of “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful” sees Ned regain his faith while a lucky accident convinces Brown that Homer really is Santa in The Simpsons season 36’s sweet holiday special ending.
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