Helter Shelter (S14, E05-296)

I'm not sure, but I don't think that contraption actually existed ever.

Plot Summary
Homer gets injured at work, so Mr. Burns works quickly to ensure Homer doesn't sue by giving Homer and his family skybox tickets, though the family is bummed to find out that its for a hockey game.  Even so, the family takes full advantage of their first class suites, and end up ignoring the game anyway.  All except for Lisa, who is disgusted with the family and goes down the ice level to watch the game.  There, she helps a Russian player score a goal and, in thanks, the player gives Lisa his stick.  It gets mounted to Lisa's wall when the family goes home, but overnight termites spring from the stick and quickly munch their way through the house.

A pest control man is brought in to handle the termites, but the fumigation will take six months and the Simpsons are left looking for a place to stay.  When Homer tries to have the family stay at Moe's, Barney suggests they try a new reality show which has people live in a Victorian house and live as though its 1895.  The Simpsons decide to try it out, and win the auditions after producers see how dysfunctional they can be.

At first the family has trouble getting adjusted to their new lives without technology or, well, most other things, which makes for great TV.  Homer rallies the family, though, and together they start getting accustomed to their new setting to the point where they're a relaxed, happy family.  This makes for bad TV.  The producers try a quick fix by shoving in a 70s star, but that doesn't help.  The producers instead lift up the house overnight into a river, which eventually crashes ashore.  The producers call it a wrap, and leave the Simpsons to whittle away while they get lunch.  Wandering about, the family comes across an old group of Survivor members who were abandoned after being voted off.  The two team up to take out the producers and go back home.  Six months have passed, apparently, and the Simpsons decide they're done with reality TV, though scripted TV is hardly any better.

Quick Review
This was the final episode to be done with traditional cel animation, with the series now permanently switching to digital animation.  Sure is a crappy way to say goodbye to it.  From its shaky beginning to its clumsy end, there was hardly anything to laugh about regarding this episode.  The overall plot doesn't leave much room for comedy (the Simpsons are going to live like its 1895!  Y-yeah!), and sure enough, there isn't anything really funny that happens throughout the episode.

(On a personal note, though the series had jumped for me back in Season 11, the joke that they and the rest of town find hockey so appalling was a head-shaker too, if I had any hope left for the series up to that point, it would've been lost then.)

Final Score: 5.0