Catching up with The Simpsons

While so many others bailed on The Simpsons years ago, and the Internet is rife with debates over when people think it stopped being funny, I for one have stayed faithful to Homer and company through the good times and bad. I thought Season 18 represented an upswing in quality, I really enjoyed the movie, and what I’ve seen of Season 19 has been pretty great. Let’s take a look at the episodes that have aired so far in 2008.

“E Pluribus Wiggum”
When the first Presidential Primary moves from New Hampshire to Springfield’s state (which is not New Hampshire, apparently), everyone comes down with election fever. This is the kind of political humor I like, one that rips mercilessly on everybody, without the writers getting up on a soapbox of their own. This is a real rapid-fire episode, with jokes flying at viewers every few seconds. It ends kind of abruptly, though, making it feel like a “part one of two.”

“That ‘90s Show”
Thanks to some very suspicious-sounding mathematics, Bart and Lisa realize there’s been 10 years of Marge’s and Homer’s lives they know nothing about. This leads to an episode-long flashback to the mid-1990s, when Marge was in college and Homer was a struggling musician. It’s a fun idea to do another references-from-the-past story, but this one didn’t work for me as well as it should. Perhaps more time and perspective is needed before the ‘90s can be thoroughly savaged.

“Love, Springfieldian Style”
Valentine’s Day gets the Halloween treatment, with three love-themed out-of-continuity shorts. The first two, with Homer and Marge recast as Bonnie and Clyde and then as Lady and the Tramp, were OK, but the third must be seen to be believed. It’s a spoof of Sid and Nancy, with Nelson as Sid Vicious, Lisa as Nancy Spungen, and Bart as Johnny Rotten. Freakin’ brilliant. Give the Emmy to whoever came up with this one.

“The Debarted”
Scorcese’s Oscar winner gets the Simpsons treatment, as Bart tries to figure out which of his friends ratted him out to Principal Skinner. The writers do a great job with the plot twists and the shifting loyalties. That being said, the ostrich egg gag never had a payoff, and the subplot about Homer’s love of his temporarily loaned car seems like something more suited for Futurama than The Simpsons, but, hey, to each his own.

“Dial N for Nerder”
When one of Bart’s pranks causes school genius/sissy Martin to fall off a cliff, Bart and Lisa feel responsible for the death, but do their best to cover it up. If you’ve ever seen any suspense film, from Hitchcock’s classics to cheese like I Know What You Did Last Summer, then you know where the plot is headed. I found this one interesting because of its emphasis on Martin. When was the last time he figured directly into the plot instead of just floating in and out of an episode for a few laughs?

“Smoke on the Daughter”
Lisa takes ballet classes, and discovers that secondhand smoke from the other girls’ cigarettes makes her a better dancer. Meanwhile, Homer and Bart try to rid the Simpson basement of some pesky raccoons. I really enjoyed this one, simply because of its emphasis on the show’s core characters. It’s all about Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa, and the gigantic supporting cast barely appears. After thinking big in The Simpsons Movie, it’s refreshing to know the show’s creators can also think small, by giving us this character-based but still very witty episode.

There you have it. Upcoming episodes are rumored to be about Bart falling for a farm girl, and the return of country singer Lurleen Lumpkin. Looking forward to it.