"
Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", also known as "
The Simpsons Christmas Special", is the
series premiere episode of
The Simpsons. It was the first episode to air despite originally being the eighth episode produced for
season one. It is the only full-length episode to air during the 1980s. It originally aired on the
Fox network in the United States on December 17, 1989. In the episode,
Homer Simpson discovers that he will not be getting a Christmas bonus and thus his family has no money to buy Christmas presents after they had to waste money on getting his son
Bart's tattoo removed. He decides to keep their financial troubles a secret and gets a job as a shopping mall
Santa, but later discovers that the job does not pay enough. Desperate for a miracle, Homer and Bart go to the dog racing track on
Christmas Eve in hopes of earning some money but end up adopting an abandoned greyhound, Santa's Little Helper.