A Fish Called Selma (S07, E19-147)

"Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius!"

Plot Summary
As the Simpsons are watching an old movie featuring Troy McClure (a Muppet movie this time), Homer and Marge talk about what's become of him, with Homer suggesting that Troy's career has been washed up ever since an 'incident' at the aquarium (later rumors passed along suggest that Troy has some kind of weird fish fetish).  At that same time, Troy is pulled over for reckless driving, and is told that he won't have to wear glasses like his license instructs him to do if he can pass an eye test at the DMV.

There, Selma becomes enamored with Troy, who picks up on that and makes a deal with her to give him a pass on the eye test in exchange for dinner.  The dinner goes uneventfully, but outside the restaurant a pack of reporters catch the two, realizing that Troy McClure is having relations with what appears to be a human.  News of the 'date' make it to papers, prompting Troy's agents, who hasn't spoken to him in eight years, to call and offer him new roles in entertainment, as Troy being with a woman is resurrecting a career that was derailed over his fetish.  Troy agrees to continue his relationship with Selma, eventually proposing to her.  Afterwards, Troy soon gets a good gig on Broadway: a Planet of the Apes musical with him as the star, pretty much bringing Troy's career to life again.

With the wedding approaching quickly, Troy and his soon-to-be brother in law Homer go out for some drinks.  There, Troy drunkenly whispers a secret to Homer regarding Selma and the marriage, but Homer doesn't bother to say anything during the wedding itself.  The night after, Homer casually reveals to Marge that Troy is only marrying Selma to further his career and that the marriage is a sham.  Marge brings it up to Selma, who then confronts Troy over it.  Troy, whose marriage now has him in consideration for the part of McBain's sidekick in a fourth McBain movie, readily reveals to Selma that the marriage is, in fact, a sham, but as long as Selma's living the good life, what does it matter?  Selma agrees with that notion, and the two carry on.

Things complicate when Troy's agent informs him that the McBain sidekick part will probably go to a family man, and that Troy needs to have a baby with Selma to greatly improve his chances.  With Troy's, er, romantic inclinations he finds this more difficult than it should be, but Selma is unwilling to bring a child into a sham relationship, and finally decides to leave Troy.  Later, Troy turns down the McBain sidekick part to direct and star in a FOX-funded project of his own: The Contrabulous Fabtraption of Professor Horatio Hufnagel.

Quick Review
This episode has its share of highs and lows.  The entire Planet of the Apes bit was well done and is the best part of the episode, and the Hufnagel joke at the end was nice as well.  The whole thing with Troy's fish fetish, a rather odd concept to introduce to the character, was done well in the episode as well.  The parts where Selma is the focus were the aforementioned lows, and given that she has a big part in this episode, it drags it down a bit which is a shame as an episode otherwise starring Troy McClure should've been much funnier, not that this episode isn't without its good graces.

Final Score: 8.6