For over 30 years, The Simpsons has entertained families, adults and children alike. The Simpsons is a TV show about a family of 6: Homer (dad), Marge (mom), Bart (son), Lisa (daughter), Maggie (baby daughter) and Abe (grandpa). The first episode of the show aired on December 17, 1989.
Now you might think that I know all these details about The Simpsons because I, like audiences around the world, have enjoyed watching and rewatching episode after episode over the years. Well, you’d be wrong.
Confession time: I have never watched an episode of The Simpsons.
Not during a high school class, or even briefly while flipping through the channels when cable TV was still a thing.
So, why did I choose to live-tweet me watching my first episode of The Simpsons? As we learned in last week’s lesson, a good story is a relatable story. And what’s more relatable than the antics of a lovable (but slightly dysfunctional) family living in the suburbs of a town named Springfield?
A Christmas Special in 8 Parts
To help tell my story and recount the events that took place during the episode to my Twitterverse audience, I used the 8-Point Story Arc:
The stasis of the story takes place on a snowy night in December in The Simpson’s in Springfield. After getting home from a Christmas pageant, the family is gathered around the living room planning their holidays. Patriarch, Homer, is excited to plan a special Christmas for his family with some Christmas savings and an expected work bonus.
The trigger occurs when Homer’s boss informs staff that no bonuses will be given out. To make matters worse, Marge has to spend their Christmas savings on removing a tattoo that Bart had done.
Without telling his family about his bonus, Homer begins a quest to make the best Christmas.
The surprise occurs when Homer decides to make up the money for Christmas by becoming a Santa.
After learning that being a Santa only earns $13, Homer makes a critical choice to try betting his earnings at a dog racetrack in hopes of a Christmas miracle.
His quest reaches a climax as he chooses to bet his earnings on Santa’s Little Helper, a dog with a 99-1 odds of winning.
Homer loses his earnings, but a reversal occurs when he sees that Santa’s Little Helper is also down on his luck after being cast away following the dog race loss.
We reach a resolution as Homer decides to return home and confess to his family that he didn’t receive a bonus. After introducing Santa’s Little Helper to his family, Homer learns that the perfect Christmas isn’t filled with expensive gifts, but with love.
Painting A Yellow Picture
I knew I couldn’t group-watch the episode with everyone on Twitter, but I wanted to at least try and give audiences an idea of the world I was encountering on the TV screen.
According to Eric Goldschein in The Non-Writers’ Guide To Writing Better Social Media Copy, “to keep readers engaged with your content, add photos – as well as graphs, charts, videos, GIFs, and other visual media”.
Using gifs inserted throughout the thread, I shared with the audience some of my feelings and snippets of the episode to build a sense of community.
A Happy Ending or Beginning
Now, if every good story has a beginning, middle, and end, what is the end to this story of a girl who watched her first episode of The Simpsons? Well reader(s), I think I now understand what you see in the TV show. So check back on my Twitter to see if I catch a few other episodes along the way.
EXSM 3989 - Digital Storytelling Class Blog 