The Simpsons: Season 1 (1989)

After 20 years, these first-run episodes remain memorable and The Simpsons endure as America's most lovable dysfunctional family. The humor is layered and irreverent yet values-driven. (Bart gets in trouble or Homer screws up but they learn a lesson.) Episode 1: Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (Homer gets no Christmas bonus but manages to adopt the family dog), 2: Bart the Genius (Bart cheats on an IQ test and briefly attends the gifted children's school), 3: Homer's Odyssey (Fired from the nuclear plant for repeated safety violations, Homer launches a civic safety campaign before the plant rehires him), 4: There's No Disgrace Like Home (The Simpsons prove to be so dysfunctional, even during family therapy, they get "double money back" and buy a new TV to promote togetherness), 5: Bart the General (Bart enlists his classmates in a retaliatory battle and truce with the schoolyard bully), 6: Moaning Lisa (Fighting the blues, sax-loving Lisa finds inspiration in fading jazzman Bleeding Gums Murphy), 7: The Call of the Simpsons (An RV excursion goes horribly wrong and Homer is mistaken for Bigfoot), 8: The Telltale Head (Bart saws off the founding father's statue's head and talks down an angry mob of townspeople), 9: Life on the Fast Lane (A shiftless bowling instructor tries to seduce Marge but she chooses Homer), 10: Homer's Night Out (Homer gets into trouble at a coworker's stag party but wins Marge back with a sincere speech), 11: The Crepes of Wrath (After the exasperated principal enrolls him in a foreign-exchange program, Bart is enslaved by crooks but saves the French wine industry), 12: Krusty Gets Busted (Bart proves his TV idol, Krusty the Clown, is innocent of robbery, instead fingering Sideshow Bob), 13: Some Enchanted Evening (As Homer and Marge head for a motel to rejuvenate their marriage, the Babysitter Bandit begins to empty their house before the Simpson kids overpower her). 5 stars.