Marge Be Not Proud

It originally aired on Fox in the United States on December 17, 1995, exactly six years after the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".

As Christmas approaches, Bart wants the new video game Bonestorm, but Marge refuses to buy it because it is too violent, expensive, and distracts children from their school work.

Bart rushes home and successfully intercepts the message by switching out the answering machine tape with Allan Sherman's "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah."

There, Bart is spotted by Detective Brodka, who shows Homer, Marge and the rest of the store the security footage of their son shoplifting.

Concerned she may be mothering Bart too much, Marge leaves him out from family activities, such as making snow statues and decorating the Christmas tree.

Thinking he has shoplifted again, Marge confronts Bart, who reveals he bought a Christmas present for her: a photo of himself smiling (paid in full).

Overjoyed at getting this early Christmas gift, Marge forgives Bart and gives him his present: the golf simulator video game Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge.

In addition to yelling at and intimidating employees of the show, Tierney made requests they considered unreasonable, such as abandoning his distinctive voice to do the part in a Southern accent and refusing to perform lines if he did not "get the jokes".

The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote: "A Christmas special in all but name, and a touching look at the relationship between Marge and her growing Bart.

Jacobson commented that he "absolutely lost it when Homer’s drawing of a robot grilling a hot dog was seen – it’s funnier if you see it – and Lawrence Tierney’s guest turn as the store detective adds hilarious grit to the show."

[13] Jennifer Malkowski of DVD Verdict considered the best part of the episode to be when a depressed Bart makes a snowman from the dirty, leftover snow under the car.

[14] In 2011, Richard Lawson of The Atlantic Wire cited it as the best Christmas episode of The Simpsons, noting that "it's very sweet and there are some funny videogame jokes".

Club, Zack Handlen writes of the ending "there's a second or two when it seems like Bart's going to get everything he wanted; not just his mom back, but that stupid video game that started the whole mess.

But it's interesting that an episode that's all about valuing what you have as a kid, that parental love that is at once utterly uncool and the entire foundation of your life, ends on such an adult moment.