There's No Disgrace Like Home

"There's No Disgrace Like Home" is the fourth episode of The Simpsons' first season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 28, 1990. In the episode, Homer becomes ashamed of his family after a catastrophic company picnic and decides to enroll them in therapy. The therapist struggles to solve their problems but eventually gives up and refunds their payment.

It was an early episode, showing early designs for a few recurring characters. The episode is inspired by the comedy of Laurel and Hardy and features cultural references to films such as Citizen Kane and Freaks as well as the Batman and Twilight Zone television series. Critics noted that the characters acted differently from the way they would in later seasons. In November 1996, The BBC chose it as the first episode to be aired, when they started showing the series, later being beat in the ratings by Sabrina.

Homer takes his family to a company picnic organized by his boss, Mr. Burns, and hopes they will not embarrass him. After Bart, Lisa and Marge all misbehave, Homer is embarrassed by their behavior. Later on, he notices that Burns is drawn to a "normal" family that treats one another with respect and shows his blatant disgust for his own family. Homer wonders why he is cursed with a troubled family who misbehave and disrespects anyone, especially after the man from the normal perfect family admits he pities Homer.

Determined to improve his family's behavior, Homer attempts to get them to sit at the table properly, which goes awry as the family prefers to eat while watching TV. When Marge, Bart and Lisa claim there's nothing wrong with them, he decides to prove to them that there is something wrong. He takes them on a tour of the neighborhood, peeking through living room windows to observe how happy families spend time together. The rest of the Simpsons are unnerved by Homer's sudden rash behavior along with unnecessarily spying on their neighbors and retreat quickly back to the safety of their own home. Depressed by the outing, he stops by Moe's Tavern for a drink. After getting into a fight with Barney, Homer later sees a commercial for Dr. Marvin Monroe's Family Therapy Center. Dr. Monroe guarantees "family bliss or double your money back." This gives Homer an idea to improve his family's behavior.