Kamp Krustier (S28, E16-612)

Krusty's oldest friend bails him out yet again.

Plot Summary
This episode acts as a direct sequel to Kamp Krusty, which took place 552 episodes ago but whatever.  You may recall from that episode that the kids were going crazy at the poorly managed camp until Bart led a rebellion and took it over before Krusty came in and made up for it by taking the kids to Mexico, and that with the kids gone Homer was becoming a better man in most ways until he learned of Bart's rise to camp despot then Homer returned to his old self.

The episodes picks up after Krusty returns (most) of the kids from the camp.  The kids are immediately go to therapy, and when signs of PTSD are met with days off from school, Lisa quickly declares she's fine while Bart insists he's as traumatized as they come.  Bart takes full advantage of this situation, for some reason using the opportunity to sleep with his parents in their bedroom.  Due to this, Homer can't continue getting any from Marge like he could before so he instead decides to go to work early.  Then, he slowly but surely relearns how to become a productive member of society, but for some reason must give up sex to continue this way of life.

A short time later, Bart's faked trauma turns real as he recalls a repressed memory from camp.  Forcing Lisa to remember as well, the two start to go nuts over that.  Meanwhile, Marge is becoming frustrated with Homer's new persona and the two get counseling, where they're told that returning the kids to the site of their trauma will fix things, somehow.

At the site of old Kamp Krusty, which Krusty has flipped into a modern adult spa for legal reasons, probably, Bart and Lisa fully remember their repressed memory: a kid named Charlie helped the two make an attempted escape from the camp via canoe but they capsized and Charlie was presumed lost and killed.  However they soon found out that Charlie survived, is an adult who worked as a spy for a magazine while at camp, and now works at the adult spa, who woulda thunk it!?  Meanwhile, Homer finally gives into Marge's wishes and shuts down his brain so that he can let Marge do him a bunch.

That's basically the episode.

Quick Review
This episode marks the second time in three seasons that an episode tries to piggyback off the success of a Season 4 episode.  The last time, when Season 26's The Kids are All Fight tried to act as a sequel to Lisa's First Word, it didn't work out so well.  The writers tried it again with this episode.  I don't know why they're doing this.  I think they're aware that Season 4 is well loved but I don't think they understand why, if these two continuation episodes are of any indication.

This episode ended miserably.  It had set itself up okay, though the Homer and Marge subplot was basically another dull marriage-themed episode in disguise, but once they reached "Klub Krusty", the episode didn't feel like trying anymore.  The resolutions were stupid and Krusty's two decent jokes were literally the only good things about the last few minutes.

If the writers to do a continuation of Marge vs the Monorail may our respective deities take pity on us.

Final Score: 6.5

Fatzcarraldo (S28, E14-610)

"We want the Family Guy audience." -these stupid writers

Plot Summary
After an aggravating night dealing with his sisters-in-law, Homer skips out to get a nice, calming, fattening meal.  However, the Krusty Burger as well as every other fast food place has since updated their menu with the latest food fads and Homer can't get his fix.  Homer has to leave town to find something that fits his palate, and finds a lone chili dog stand -Deuce's Caboose - with which he gorges to his heart's content.

Later, Homer learns from Grampa that, as a boy, Homer was left there while his parents underwent unsuccessful marriage counseling.  It was through Deuce that Homer gained his love for chili dogs and other fattening foods.  Though Deuce doesn't seem to remember Homer, Homer resumes eating at his stand, inviting his friends to eat there as well, causing Krusty Burger and similar outlets to lose sales.  Later, Homer decides to take Lisa (whose school radio program got shut down in a very brief sidestory) to the stand, only to find in horror it has been sold.

Deuce sold the stand to Krusty's food empire so he can retire, but as Homer sees the immediate price markup and likely loss of quality, Homer quickly latches the food caboose onto his car and takes off with it.  Lisa, doing one final radio bit, is able to convince several other fatasses to help Homer out in his chase, but the antics eventually lead to him and the caboose hanging on by a thread over a bridge.  Deuce runs up, having remembered Homer, and helps him back up with the caboose falling to its end.  The two reconcile, and that's that, I guess?

Plot Summary
This episode serves as a good definition of Zombie Simpson "dull".  Too many references, not enough jokes.  Glen Close returns to voice past-Mona for a couple of lines, but she clearly phoned it in both literally and figuratively.  Lisa had a tiny little insignificant sidestory that really served no purpose and offered no laughs.  Although not entirely irredeemable, there isn't anything in this episode worth a watch.

Final Score: 5.3

The Nightmare After Krustmas (S28, E10-606)

Well, I was going to watch but not if I'm going to
hear treason!  Thanks for the warning, that was close!

Plot Summary
It's Christmas, which means Krusty gets his annual week to spend with Sophie, his daughter from that one episode.  Its also a distressing time for Reverend Lovejoy, who hasn't had much luck getting any converts and the pews are looking empty as well.  As evidence, Springfield is hosting a Pagan festival, one exhibit of which runs amok and injures Krusty.  Worried that his brief stay in the hospital will use up his time with his Christian daughter, Krusty accepts Marge's offer to spend Christmas Eve with the Simpson family.

Krusty, ever the opportunist, makes the visit a televised - and heavily sponsored - Christmas special.  Sophie has enough eventually and kicks Krusty and the TV crew - but especially Krusty - out of the house.

Meanwhile, Marge sets up for Maggie an Elf on th- er, Gnome in the Home, a mockup of a relatively recent (and subsequently odd) Christmas tradition where the, uh, Gnome, spies on kids to report back to Santa on their goodness.  Maggie gets freaked out by the Gnome, resulting in an odd nightmare where she hears Wayne Gretzky speak his one single line in the episode.  Waking up, Maggie is further frustrated when Marge reveals not just that the Gnome will stick around all year but that she got a female variant for Christmas as well.  Maggie just decides to decapitate the both of them to regain her sanity.

Lovejoy is out of luck converting anyone until he comes across a dejected Krusty, and uses the chance to convert him to Christianity, made easier by Krusty's desire to appease his Christian daughter.  For awhile all is good - even though Krusty turns his show into a full blown feel-good Christian hour - but Lovejoy is pressured by his deacon to baptize him as soon as possible with Krusty's condition that he'll do it at the lake.

Since it's still winter, the baptism is held at a frozen lake.  Krusty attempts to dunk his head into a hole but the ice underneath him collapses and he's forced under.  Drowning, Krusty has a vision where his father tells him religion doesn't matter when it comes to spending time with his daughter.  Lovejoy pulls off a minor miracle in rescuing Krusty.  In the end, Krusty reverts back to Judaism, but Sophie loves him all the same, while Lovejoy's heroics gets people back in church somehow.

Quick Review
This episode is a mess.  Bringing back a one time character from sixteen seasons ago was an odd and perhaps even desperate move (despite there already being precedence for such a move from NINE seasons ago, for crying out loud), and mixing of storylines with Lovejoy and Krusty was far, far from seamless.  The bit with Maggie was okay for awhile, but it ended early and the whole "lol Maggie is more ruthless than you think! XD" bit got tiring immediately for me.  The guest voices - of which there were several - were mostly wasted aside from Sophie's.  Gretzky had just one line in Maggie's dream, Jackie Mason voiced Rabbi Krustofski but only in a vision where Krusty imagined him as a knockoff Olaf, and I don't even know or care who the third guy was.

It just seemed like the "team" here wanted to make a Christmas episode, and had the budget to make a decent one (some of the animation in the episode looked pretty decent given what it is nowadays), but didn't really know what to do it about so they just slapped together some half-assed ideas and payed a bunch of celebrities money to voice singular lines to call it a holiday special.

Final Score: 5.8

Trust But Clarify (S28, E05-601)

Why do the writers make Artie so antagonistic towards Kent?

Plot Summary
Krusty releases a new brand of snacks, which Lisa finds suspicious.  Meanwhile, Kent Brockman gets caught lying about an experience of his and is fired from his job as a result.  While this is all happening, Homer's latent ambition surfaces and its first order of business is to get Homer dressed for success.

Lisa and Bart come to realize that Krusty's new snack is composed primarily of formaldehyde, which is basically poison.  Lisa tries to take the story to the news, but as Krusty is a big donor to big news, they won't take the story.  Meanwhile, Kent tries to latch onto Buzz- er, "Bizzfad", but it goes bankrupt before he has a chance to screw up.  Lisa finds Kent to try and have him break the story, but he's too depressed about his failed career to take it up.

Homer's attempt to dress for success fails when Mr. Burns finds Homer's appearance comical still, and although Homer doesn't regret the attempt, Homer's ambition is kicked out of his head for its failure.

Kent gets advice from Dan Rather to take up Lisa's story because its the ethical thing to do, I guess.  Motivated, Kent and Lisa expose Krusty, which is enough to get Kent his old job back at the station, and Lisa receives unpaid credit for his return, the highest honor.

Quick Review
This was a dull, boring episode.  Homer's sidestory was short and pointless, and the media storyline wasn't any better.  It, again, references events that most people already forgot, and tries to go with a "the current media is pretty bad, except maybe its not?" theme that is rushed and just falls flat.

Perhaps the episode's lone good moment was at the beginning: Bart and Lisa were watching an Itchy & Scratchy cartoon and although it seemed like the cartoon was going to be another artsy reference-fest, it ended up being a quick violence gag like how Itchy & Scratchy should be.  It got a good chuckle out of me, the only time the episode was able to do so.

Final Score: 5.9

Clown in the Dumps (S26, E01-553)

Another new gimmick for Season 26: in-episode hashtags.
Surely, #thesimpsons enriches this "emotional" moment.

Plot Summary
Krusty is the target of a comedy roast, but he is completely unprepared to be the one that's roasted.  After the likes of Sarah Silverman and especially Jeff Ross tear into Krusty for being "unfunny", Krusty takes the words, for some reason, to heart.  After a quick attempt to prove he's funny fails, Bart finds him and advises him to seek counsel from his father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofski.  Krusty goes to his father to learn how funny he is.  The Rabbi starts by noting his favorite comedian, Rabbi Rudenstein,  then telling Krusty that he's always felt his son's comedy has been kinda "eh", immediately becoming motionless.  Krusty quickly realizes that his father died while calling him an "eh" comedian.

A grieving Krusty finds himself unable to cope with his father's death, nor with his last remarks.  Soon, Krusty decides to retire as he no longer finds himself funny.  Bart, desperate to save his hero (again), goes to Krusty's mansion and shows him multiple Krusty episodes at once to show the clown how funny he is.  Krusty, though, quickly notices how often he reuses his simple jokes and gags, and becomes even more depressed, going into a drinking binge as a result.  In the aftermath, a sleeping Krusty dreams about being in Jewish Heaven, with Rodney Dangerfield touting its strengths, but Krusty's father appears to remind him Jewish Heaven isn't actually a thing, and that if he wants to make a difference, Krusty should devote his life to helping people.

Meanwhile, the Rabbi's death has Lisa gravely concerned for his own father's health, and begins constantly watching and keeping an eye on Homer to ensure his safety.  Soon, Lisa wraps a sleeping Homer completely with bubble wrap, and ironically it does help as it saves Homer from a bus crashing into him - validating Lisa's fears.

Krusty helps with the construction of an animal shelter, but he feels no accomplishment for the feat.  Bart finds him again and takes him to a nearby temple, where Rabbi Rudenstein is giving service.  Rudenstein includes comedy in his routine, and Krusty realizes that Rudenstein's jokes are no better than his.  More notably, though, if his father found Rudenstein funny, then by extension he had to of found Krusty funny as well.  Relieved, Krusty has another dream where he and his father enjoy their time in the Jewish Heaven that shouldn't be.

Quick Review
Where to start?

First of all, the couch gag.  It went on for way too long.  Its become a thing in recent years where the producers of the show will allow other creators to make their own couch gag, but they gotta start enforcing some kind of time limit on these, or put them on social media by themselves, or something.  This one, created by Don Hertzfeldt, which features what the Simpsons would be like tens of thousands of years from now (under the correct premise that the show is still airing then), went on for almost two minutes, whereas the "joke" was understood in well under half the time.  It really seems like filler for the episode as it just dragged on and on, it seemed.  That said, its just as well the episode got filler at the beginning, because the episode wasn't that good.

Now, the death.  News of a character's death had been circulating for awhile, and hype was building up.  Clues as to who would be the one to perish popped up, and the news that the character would die in a Krusty-focused episode, rumors were rampant on who it would be.  The episode itself even references the buildup in the chalkboard gag.  I figured, in a previous writing that is no longer, that the character that dies would be unrelated to the plot and they would die in a stupid way.  Well, I was half-right, the character was related to the episode's plot, but he died in a stupid way, which I guess is par for the course for the show at this point.  Rabbi Krustofski, who originally was Krusty's estranged father before they made up, helped Krusty finally go through his bar mitzvah, and has appeared in a couple of cameos since, is not the "big, important" character producers made it out to be.  Oh, sure, he's an important piece of Krusty's character and he's voiced by Jackie Mason, but as a standalone character he's not much.  To compare, there was little to no buildup for Mona Simpson's death, and she's both voiced by a well-known celebrity and important to Homer's history.  So why now?  It troubles me that, in what seems to be a very gimmicky season, they would build that death up.

How about all of those guest voices?  Silverman, Ross, Mason, David Hyde Pierce, Kelsey Grammer for a Sideshow Bob cameo, lot going on there.  While not as many celebrity guests as in Season 25's premiere, they were overall better used than in that episode, with each providing a good line or two (well, except Pierce, I guess).

That all aside, the episode was okay.  There were a few good jokes throughout, and the sideplot with Homer and Lisa had its moments, but the episode's multiple missteps really hurt it and at the end of the day, another "Krusty quits, oh wait-" episode just doesn't work out.

Final Score: 6.6

Yellow Subterfuge (S25, E07-537)

Nothing is more fun for a mother than making her son believe she's dead!

Plot Summary
Principal Skinner, dreaming himself to be some kind of big shot, announces to the school that he will be hosting a special field trip: on board a nuclear submarine.  However, the field trip is forcibly limited to just a few students, whom Skinner will decide on based on students' behavior from this point forward.  Essentially on a clean slate, Bart decides to be on his best behavior so that he can get on that sub, despite both his family not believing in him and Skinner being very strict with taking students off "the list" for things as simple as letting gum fall on the floor.

Bart's determination hits a snag when the bus stalls on the way to school.  Fearing he'll be late and thus scratched off the list, Bart gets out and makes a mad dash to school.  He arrives just in time, but unfortunately runs in with muddy feet, giving Skinner enough reason to scratch Bart off his list.  Bart tries to get on the sub in other ways, first via a prank and later by good ol' fashioned sucking up, but Skinner leaves Bart off the field trip list regardless, leaving Bart to watch the submarine sink into the ocean depths.

Homer arrives in time to see Bart in distress and decides to help the boy enact some revenge.  The next morning, Skinner wakes up in his home to find his mother seemingly stabbed dead on the kitchen floor.  Homer and Bart conveniently arrive at his house to 'see' the scene and the two 'promise' to help Skinner out, though its obviously a ploy devised by Homer and Bart, with Agnes gladly helping out.  The two convince Skinner that letting the likes of Chief Wiggum figure the scene out is tantamount to suicide, and that leaving town is the only option, dressing him up as the disguised "Dick Fiddler" and seeing Skinner off on a bus.  Homer and Bart return home, mission accomplished, however Skinner is there, finding himself unable to flee so easily.  He's ready to take the blame for his 'crime', even admitting that deep down inside he wanted his mother to die anyway.  Marge has enough, and blows Bart's scheme, and Agnes comes in to reveal to Skinner that not only is she still alive, but she heard his admission and plans on being even meaner to him as a punishment.

Meanwhile, Krusty is broke (again), and Lisa witnesses repo men take his stuff away.  Lisa convinces Krusty to license his show globally so that other people can act like Krusty in their respective countries, and Krusty can earn some of each show's profits.  Krusty agrees to do so, and is able to get 75% of each international show's profits for each person to act like a regional Krusty.  Soon, though, each Krusty gains their share of fame, so much so that the original Krusty becomes the least popular of them all.  Those regional Krustys demand the original let them keep more of their earnings, but Krusty tries to appease them instead by promising to appear on each of their shows, which due to Krusty's lack of popularity, only drives them to chase him out away from wherever he is.

Quick Review
This was a pretty good episode, all things considered.  The couch gag wasn't stupidly long, the focus on Principal Skinner (and Krusty, less so) worked well for the most part, and I enjoyed Homer and Bart's role in the episode.  The only downer I felt the episode produced was the Jamaican Krusty bit, complete with a Jamaican "Itchum and Scratchum" thing that wasn't all that good, but that's a minor complaint for what was otherwise a decent episode.

Final Score: 7.6

The Spy Who Learned Me (S23, E20-506)

For a figment of Homer's concussion, this guy can sure be creepy.

Plot Summary
Homer ruins another night out with Marge by blurting out puns during a Stradivarius Cain spy movie.  Marge remains mad at Homer the next day, and Homer tries to call Marge while at work to apologize.  Mr. Burns can't control his personal cart, and drives right into the ladder Homer is standing on, causing him to fall and hit his head.  As Homer comes to, he learns he suffered a concussion, and with recent concussion awareness, Mr. Burns is forced to give Homer eight weeks worth of paid vacation to recover.  He goes home to tell everybody, but everybody is cranky for one reason or another, so Homer decides to keep the news to himself.

Bart is cranky because Nelson's been going on a lunch money crusade as of late.  Some time later, though, Bart sees a documentary where Declan Desmond eats nothing but Krusty Burger for a full month, eventually turning into a fat sack of lard.  Bart realizes that can happen to Nelson as well, and the next day instead of giving Nelson lunch money, Bart gives Nelson actual lunch: tons of Krusty Burger food, and a book full of Krusty Burger coupons to blow.  Soon enough, Nelson becomes fat and feeble.  Lisa catches on to Bart's scheme and decides to help Nelson.  She confronts Krusty over Nelson's problem, and Krusty eventually relents and lets his personal trainer get Nelson back in shape.

Homer goes to the bar on his first day off, somewhat upset that he can't tell his angry wife about his vacation time.  Just then, Stradivarius Cain appears next to Homer.  Revealing himself to be a figment of Homer's imagination induced by his concussion, Cain promises to help Homer improve his marriage anyway.  After some time, Cain sends Homer out into 'the field' to test his new courting skill.  After Cain basically tells Homer what to say, Homer is able to woo an attractive woman... with a murderous drug lord as her husband.  Homer is able to subdue the man with lime juice and he and Cain make their escape.

Marge tries to visit Homer at work, apparently no longer upset at him, but Lenny tells her Homer hasn't been around because of his paid time off.  Marge angrily goes home, ready to confront Homer.  When she does so, Cain skillfully gets Homer to calm Marge down by basically telling the truth: that he did get time off but he's been using it to become a better husband.  Homer takes Marge to some kind of ball or dance and the two are having a lot of fun... but the drug lord is there as well and Homer is forced to flee from him and his still madly-in-love wife.

With Marge basically having no idea what's going on, Homer hits himself with a rock to induce Cain back.  It work's eventually, and Cain advices Homer to use everything he's learned from Cain thus far.  So, Homer gives the same speech he gave the drug lord's wife... to the drug lord himself, and he backs off, gaining some respect for Homer.  Homer and Marge continue their romantic night, and Cain promises to be back in a another lame plot.  The episode ends with nerds across school getting pounded by the all new, all muscle Nelson, whom Lisa admits is easy on the eyes now.

Quick Review
Another subpar episode, but it has a few moments.  Homer's interactions with concussion induced Cain were pretty decent overall, and the Nelson sideplot started off okay before tapering at the end.  The whole thing with the drug lord was mostly boring, holding the episode back.  In all, its about as decent as you can expect from this season.

Final Score: 6.6

The Ten-Per-Cent Solution (S23, E08-494)

I notice critics aren't even bothering to point out the retcons nowadays...

Plot Summary
Krusty the Klown's show is basically nothing more than constant Itchy & Scratchy cartoons, most of which are referencing old stuff (like as though its writers are aware of the criticisms but instead of taking it constructively, they lash out on a rant about how its not even their fault).  Marge gets Bart and Lisa to stop watching TV so the family can go out and do something... like go to the museum of TV.  There, they meet the former agent of a 50s sitcom actor, Annie Dubinsky (voiced by Joan Rivers).  Meanwhile, Krusty confronts the network executives over how he's been minimized on his own show.  The execs reply that Krusty's become too outdated to be relevant and fire him on the spot.  His agent shares their sentiments and excuses himself from being both Krusty's agent and friend.

The Simpsons go to a Krusty Burger for lunch, where the kids see Krusty wasting away in a ball pit.  The two are able to snap Krusty out of it for a bit, and when he tells them he needs a new agent, they decide to show him to the agent they had met earlier.  However, when going to her office, Dubinsky reacts rather angrily to Krusty and refuses to even talk to him.  The Simpsons eventually get Annie to talk about her past with Krusty: in the late 60s she found a beatnik Krusty in a cafe telling it like it is.  Annie, looking for her first client at the time, decides to help Krusty make it big, and does so successfully by switching Krusty's act to a much more slapstick approach.  Every day Krusty would make people laugh while at night he and Annie would have sex.  One night, though, Krusty reveals he's gotten a new agent - only saying so because he's forced to tell the truth after sex - and Annie angrily throws him out.  In the present, Krusty promises he's changed and begs Annie for one last chance, and she relents and agrees to take him on again.

Annie is able to set up a live show for Krusty where he appeals to the nostalgic, and it works wonderfully.  Further, Krusty and Annie rekindle their own relationship.  The two are approached by premium network HBOWTIME to start up a similar program aimed at adults.  Krusty agrees but with one condition: Annie becomes the show's producer.  This ends up a poor choice, as Annie becomes very obsessed with making the show perfect and is out of control.  The network executives demand Krusty fire Annie after she goes off again during the taping of his first episode, but Krusty ends up siding with Annie as both of them end up on yet another network but for a show focused on sex after sixty.

Quick Review
Perhaps as a warm up to episode 500, the beginning of the episode starts up with perhaps a comeback to criticisms of dated references.  Of course, they could do what classic Simpsons rarely ever did by not referencing current culture, but I would have to suppose that would be too much to ask of them.

The episode itself wasn't that great.  Joan Rivers was fine in her guest spot, but overall there wasn't a lot of humor to accompany the plot.  The heavy use of network executives didn't help matters either.

Final Score: 6.8

The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants (S23, E07-493)

Here's an entry for the 'extreme awkwardness' award.

Plot Summary
Krusty is forced to improve the brand awareness of his own crappy vodka, so he is tasked with setting up a party where that vodka is the main drink served.  He's also tasked with finding someone not just willing to host the party, but also hip.  Somehow in someway, Homer meets this criteria, so Krusty's party is held at the Simpson home.  Mr. Burns is accidentally invited to the party by Homer, and as expected he becomes a pretty big buzzkill.  Homer springs into action to save the party by having Burns do something more his speed: do some karaoke of a song old enough for him to be familiar with.  With the party back in full swing, Burns takes notice of how Homer handled the situation.  The next day, Burns decides to promote Homer to the plant's Account Manager position, with the previous one on his way to retirement.

The retiring guy, Robert Marlowe, shows Homer how to handle the position, which involves a lot of salesmanship and drinking bourbon during downtime.  With Marlowe's help, Homer is able to convince the mayor to allow the plant to increase their rates, and Marlowe bids Homer adieu.  Soon, though, Homer becomes worn out from his new job, with long nights and plenty of travel he becomes so disillusioned he turns into yet another television reference.  He doesn't even have time to read Lisa a bedtime story, forcing the half-illiterate Bart to do so in a side story so short its not worth explaining.

Marge becomes concerned with Homer's behavior and talks directly with Marlowe, who does reveal that the life of the account manager is one where hardly any time is left for the family.  Marge decides to reverse this and tries to convince Homer to take a vacation with the family to a rafting trip, showing him a brochure for it.  Homer sees Mr. Burns outside his office and quickly shoos Marge out, as Burns tells Homer he's got a big account for him to close, but needs an exciting locale to seal the deal.  Seeing the rapids trip, Burns suggests they do that to accomplish the sale, and Homer figures in his mind that he'll be able to do both the family vacation and the account at the same time, and agrees.

Of course, that doesn't work out so well as both Burns' raft and his family's raft are both out at the same time, separated only by a strip of forested land, and Homer has to quickly switch between the two often.  Quickly, Homer's scheme is found out by Marge and Homer is caught in the middle of both rafts as they both miss their docking points, now floating towards a waterfall.  Forced to choose between his work and his family, Homer ultimately decides on the latter and moves his family's raft to safety.  Marlowe appears from out of nowhere to save Burns - though not his clients - and he happily takes his old job back, allowing Homer to go back to his job as "safety inspector".

Quick Review
Well, its better than the past couple of episodes, but that's not saying much.  Again, the show attempts to reference, this time a cable TV show, and does so with enough accuracy that there wasn't any comedy to make it worth the effort.  The tiny piece of episode that was the side story wasn't funny either, and while the episode does pop up decent jokes from time to time, its still yet another weak effort to what has been a very weak season.

Final Score: 6.3

Elementary School Musical (S22, E01-465)

The two hear a classic form of art outside: the art of killing!

Plot Summary
Somehow, Krusty wins the Nobel Peace Prize.  He has a press conference about it in Springfield before flying to Oslo to claim his prize, when a joke he gives elicits the laughter of only one person: Homer Simpson.  Krusty decides to bring Homer along to laugh at his jokes at the prize ceremony, and Homer is allowed to bring Bart as well.  Lisa, the only Simpson to actually care about the Nobel prize, is miffed that Bart gets to do all the cool things because he's the oldest, and Maggie gets to do some other things because she's the youngest.  Marge understands Lisa's frustrations, so instead of going home Marge takes Lisa to a week's worth of Performing Arts camp, much to Lisa's joy.

After other campers who sound suspiciously like the cast members of Glee welcome Lisa via song, Lisa meets two men who are the camp's counselors.  With their help, Lisa has the best week of her life.  The two counselors, along with Stephen Hawking and a cow, pronounce Lisa has artistic talent and to pursue it as best she can.  Unfortunately for Lisa, the week eventually ends and Marge picks Lisa up much against her will.  Lisa has a hard time readjusting to her boring life at school and at home and decides to run off to "Sprooklyn", a borough of Springfield, to meet up with her magical counselors again.

Meanwhile, Krusty's plane does not land in Oslo, but rather in the Hague, as it turns out Krusty fell into an international trap to nab him for various supposed crimes against humanity.  Krusty gets sent to jail, but will be released if he can show one instance where he positively influenced the world.  Of course, Krusty can't, so its off to jail for him, but Bart and Homer try to find anything over the internet which can save Krusty.  Bart eventually comes up with something: a video from 1990 where Krusty cancels a performance in South Africa, and three days later Nelson Mandela is released from jail.  The judge for some reason makes a connection between the two events, and lets Krusty go free for his supposed good deed.

Lisa finds her counselors in their apartment, but gets hit hard with reality when she finds out neither guy is doing all that well.  Turns out, a career in performance arts leads to ruin for most and they're left to work at a Subway parody getting lunch from the sandwiches and sandwich toppings they "drop" on the floor.  The two have also since lost some musical ability since camp, and Lisa is glad when Marge finally finds her.  Before they leave, though, the counselors tell Lisa they do have a surprise for her: they paint a sign on a building's side stating that Sprooklyn is the "once and future home of the great Lisa Simpson".  Lisa is happy with this parting gift, and the two counselors go back to their minimal wage, if that, jobs.

Quick Review
Once again I'm left with an episode that's better than I expected it to be.  Advertised as an episode featuring the cast of Glee, those people actually had very little presence and it was other guest stars that made the difference.  A surprise guest spot from Stephen Hawking is more than welcome, and the two members of the two member group Flight of the Concords provided excellent spots for their respective counselor characters, making the main Lisa story very decent.  Add in a good Krusty side story, and it makes for a good, if not great, start to the season.

Final Score: 7.6

Once Upon a Time in Springfield (S21, E10-451)

...and there's Mel, hiding in that tree looking at them like a creep.

Plot Summary
Once again, Krusty the Klown's TV show is lagging in ratings and once again network executives believe they know the reason: Krusty's show doesn't draw in the young girl audience, and to combat that they're going to introduce a co-star for Krusty intended to draw said audience in.  Krusty is, of course, upset over this change, but deals with it rather than getting fired altogether.  The new co-star is Princess Penelope, a young woman making her showbiz debut.  He act, which includes a horse with a horn strapped on to make it resemble a unicorn, is beloved by young girls and they flock to the newly formatted show leaving little room for Krusty's act, or the boys who like said act.

With Penelope in full bloom, Krusty becomes washed up (again).  However, he gathers himself and storms into Penelope's room to make a final stand.  Penelope, though, admits that she's in love with Krusty, becoming a huge fan of his when she was 12, and starts making out with him.  Krusty just goes with the flow, and simply lets his show become Penelope's princess hour with him happily joining her.  Bart and Milhouse can't deal with this, especially when they see Krusty propose to Penelope on air.  The boys vow to stop that wedding so they can actually watch something decent at 4:00 PM.

Meanwhile, Homer, Lenny and Carl are miffed that Mr. Burns has taken away their break time donuts to save money.  As they complain about it at the bar, a man representing Capital City's nuclear plant informs the three he's looking for more workers for his plant.  He gives the three a tour of the plant, and shows them all the perks they could have if they work for him.  The three are impressed, but are spied upon by Smithers who informs Mr. Burns that his three tug of war members are about to turn.  One night, as the three are about to move their things to Capital City, Mr. Burns meets them in the parking lot and promises to bring back their daily donut time, using a specially crafted donut made from ingredients that don't really exist elsewhere.  Once Burns turns down a health plan so they can have a second such donut every day, the three are sold and stay at Burns' plant.

The wedding ceremony comes, with Krusty's father doing the honors.  Bart and Milhouse show up and present to Penelope a couple of Krusty's ex-wives who now hate the Klown for how he treated them.  This doesn't bother Penelope at all, but it does get to Krusty, who realizes he couldn't let himself treat Penelope the same way in the future, and calls off the marriage.  Some time later, Penelope - who has since quit the show - is doing street shows in Paris where Krusty finds her and admits he still wants to be with her, and the two become a couple again as the episode thanks fans for 20 great years and, in a bold faced lie, states the best is yet to come.

Quick Review
This episode started off really strong but faded gradually until the last couple of minutes where there was barely any comedy left.  Luckily for it, the comedy that starts the episode off was really good.  The subplot featuring Homer and his pals was pretty decent but too short to really hit a mark.  The main plot, which starts as basically another "Krusty gets replaced by a new thing" still works pretty well and the latter half is still pretty decent, poor ending aside.

Final Score: 7.8

Pranks and Greens (S21, E06-447)

If Lisa flips her hand, she'd get what she was this episode: a big Jerk.

Plot Summary
Bart and Milhouse commit another series of pranks at school, but Principal Skinner catches Bart and puts him through a variety of punishments.  Still, Skinner admits, the stuff Bart pulls doesn't compare to a prank pulled by a previous student.  Bart wants to find out more about this mystery kid but Skinner refuses to talk more about it.  Bart gets Lisa's help to investigate further and learns that something happened several years ago, stricken from the record, which turned a previously fun Seymour Skinner into the shill he is now.  Bart figures out Willie was around at the time, so he questions him.  Willie reveals that, ten years ago, he was a swim coach at the school, which had a pool in the back.  One evening, the fun loving Skinner goes out to take a dive into the pool, going into the high up springboard and failing to see what was actually in it until it was too late: Skinner drove right into a pool filled completely with worms.  The mystery student then covered the pool, preventing Skinner to escape and, because it was a Friday evening and school was out Monday, Skinner wasn't rescued until Tuesday, where then-swim coach Willie is instructed by the rescued yet adversely changed Skinner to bury the pool.  Willie reveals the kid's name as Andy Hamilton and makes Bart keep it a secret.

Still, Bart visits Andy, now 19, still as big a prankster as ever.  Bart tells Lisa about Andy, how he does nothing except live with his mom, which prompts Lisa to proclaim Andy and his big fan Bart as losers.  Bart initially protests but does realize that Andy is wasting his life away.  The next day, Bart makes Andy realize that as well and promises to get Andy a job with Krusty the Klown, having perjured himself to aid the clown.  Andy agrees and starts work as Krusty's lowly assistant.  Andy can't deal with it, quits the same day, and winds up outside of Bart's house for some reason, gaining his scorn and Lisa's continued mocking.

Bart gets Andy's job back and insists Andy just deal with it instead.  A week passes and things seem okay, so Bart visits Andy at the studio when he notices a truck full of prank-quality worms being brought in.  Bart fears the worst and rushes into the studio, finding Krusty about to jump into a small pool full of worms.  Fearing Andy has struck another prank, Bart tries to save Krusty but ultimately fails.  Krusty falls into the pool, but comes out ready with a worm related joke.  It turns out Andy did set this up, as a gag for Krusty to use as Krusty has made Andy his lead writer.  Bart wonders how Andy could've improved so quickly, learning the answer once Andy's new girlfriend comes to meet him.  Lisa sees this on TV and, after learning Andy is a comedy writer now, continues to declare him a loser.

Oh, there was also a side story where Marge is shamed by other mothers for using chemically infused foods.  To combat their criticisms Marge starts buying only organic foods.  She tries to show this off to them, but now the mothers are even more upset that Marge uses cookware and plastic bottles containing other deadly chemicals.  Marge grows tired of this and gorges herself on Homer's stash of food she finds.  Homer learns of this and gets turned on, so the two end up making love or pigging out on food or doing both, I dunno.

Quick Review
The main portion of the episode featuring Bart and Andy was fairly strong with great use of several characters early on.  The strength of that storyline makes it one of the best non-Halloween episodes in some time.  The Marge plotline was pretty forgettable, though, and its a shame that it got tossed into this otherwise quality affair.  Those oversensitive parents not only tried to drag Marge down to their level, they tried to drag my enjoyment of the episode down as well.  Still, a good return to form for the show.

Final Score: 8.0

Coming to Homerica (S20, E21-441)

So is he part Norwegian or friends with one or did one save his life or what?

Plot Summary
Krusty learns his restaurant's burger is the unhealthiest in the nation, so he decides to roll out a vegetarian option where the burger is made from barley.  It's a raving success across town... until people start getting sick from the burgers.  Its learned that the barley in the burgers are tainted, so Kent Brockman investigates in the now heavily Norwegian Ogdenville, where a farmer admits a rat got caught in the grinders and that this happens all the time, unaware that the interview is being aired live.  Immediately, Ogdenville's barley industry comes to a crashing halt and the entire town goes under.  They leave to find new opportunities, and end up in Springfield where they're willing to do construction and other unsavory jobs for people at a nominal price.

At first, Homer and the other Springfield residents are happy the Ogdenvillians are doing the crap jobs for them, but the sheer quantity of them starts to become a problem.  Hospitals are overrun with Ogdenvillians who are injured from their work.  Moe makes a killing selling them "Aqua Vit", so concentrated in alcohol Homer can't handle a single glass.  Bart injures himself trying to one-up an Ogdenville kid in skateboarding, and Homer gets fired from still being drunk on the Aqua Vit.  With the problem still growing, the town has a meeting where they decide to ban the Ogdenville immigrants.

Of course, this is near impossible to do with just Chief Wiggum and Lou on watch.  A vigilante group is formed to help, but little gets accomplished with them.  Mayor Quimby gets the idea to build a wall to keep them out, but with nobody in Springfield really capable of building a wall, the mayor agrees to let the Ogdenvillians help build the wall designed to keep them out.  During the construction, several Springfieldians take a liking to the Ogdanvillians, so much so that when the wall is complete, everyone in Springfield just stands there, not really knowing what to do.  Fortunately for them, the Ogdanvillians built a door in the wall to allow them back in easily, and both groups become fast friends again, having a big Ogdanville-style party to celebrate their friendship.

Quick Review
This episode just got weirder and weirder as it went along.  An episode featuring a typically lame jab at illegal immigration with a decidedly strange twist to make those immigrants of Norwegian descent.  Its an odd combination, one that rarely worked in this subpar episode that once again eschews comedy for the lame attempt at storytelling.

Final Score: 6.2

All About Lisa (S19, E20-420)

If she's not getting a high on second hand smoke, its small-time fame.  Lisa sure is messed up.

Plot Summary
Its the 38th Entertainer of the Year Award ceremony, and it turns out the award is being given to Lisa!  Sideshow Mel narrates a tale as to how this came to be, as well as a mostly unrelated side story involving coin collecting.

Some time ago, Krusty has his 4000th show, somehow getting Drew Carey to do an opening for him.  After Krusty does a segment involving his old Krusketeers, he announces he's going to have auditions for a new Krusketeer.  Bart tries out for it, and seems like the best of the bunch, but the part goes to Nelson after his mom has sex with Krusty to secure the spot.  Lisa is upset over this, and tries to convince Krusty to bring Bart in anyway as an unpaid intern.  Krusty is intrigued by Lisa's idea, and decides to hire Lisa as his new intern instead.  Lisa is initially overwhelmed by Krusty's attitude, especially after Krusty fires Nelson for no good reason, but Sideshow Mel gives Lisa tips on surviving, and soon Lisa is able to become a pro intern.

Meanwhile, Bart is upset over how Lisa has a job with Krusty and Bart doesn't (never mind that he has), so Homer helps him try to sell all of his Krusty-endorsed crap to the comic book guy, who only takes it in exchange for a coin collecting book.  Homer and Bart decide, hey, its a decent way to waste time, so they decide to collect coins.  They eventually collect all but one coin: a rare misprinted penny featuring two "kissing" Lincolns.  The two find one penny in an auction but are outbid by Mr. Burns.  However, before Burns leave Homer tricks the man into giving him change for a nickel, and Burns gives Homer the penny by accident.  Homer and Bart finish their collection, and put the book away never to be bothered with again.

Lisa has to fill in for Krusty's monkey Teeny, and takes part in a bit where she pushes Krusty into a pool.  The laughter and applause she gets from it is intoxicating, and just a week later she "forgets" to tell a vacationing Krusty about a rehearsal, and she does so well during it the executives replace Krusty with her.  Lisa's new show is a big hit, and she does so well, she earns the Entertainer of the Year award, which brings Mel back to the present time.

Mel visits Lisa afterward, and shows her a line of portraits featuring past winners.  Lisa doesn't recognize any of them, and Mel tells her that they've all become embarrassments, including one Melvin Van Horne.  Mel tells Lisa that applause is an addiction, once you have some you'll do anything for more, including becoming Krusty the Klown's sidekick.  Lisa understands Mel's message, and quickly finds a way to get Krusty back into the spotlight so she can silently retire.  Mel is happy for Lisa, and also envies that she was able to retain her dignity.

Quick Review
This was a pretty decent episode, a good way to end what has been a rather dismal season.  The coin collecting side story had its moments, and so did the Lisa portion of the episode as it wasn't so much focused on her, but moreso Krusty and Mel.  That helped bring in some comedy, and kept the episode in a level of decency.

Final Score: 7.3

I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (S19, E04-404)

Remember, all those people in the background have chosen to ignore this scene.

Plot Summary
Lisa is going to be given the award for "Student of the Millennium" for some reason tomorrow, and Marge is going out of her way to make sure Homer attends the ceremony, even doing so less drunk the usual.  With Marge's urging, Homer is actually able to make it to the ceremony nearly two hours early.  Meanwhile, Marge makes a stop at the bank where, while she's there, a pair of men attempt an armed robbery.  Although Homer initially gloats over being at Lisa's thing while Marge isn't, he quickly worries when he finds out the truth.  One of the armed robbers freaks out and escapes, leaving just one guy left to leave everyone there hostage: a buggy-eyed creep named Dwight.  Marge is able to reason with Dwight, but he'll only promise to turn himself in if Marge visits him in prison.  Marge reluctantly accepts, and the situation is averted, though as Dwight is arrested he reminds Marge rather crazily to visit him.

Marge starts freaking out, though, and despite her promise to visit Dwight, she comes up with excuses and reasons to not visit him instead.  In prison, Dwight looks on with jealously as Snake gets visited by his girlfriend, Gloria (complete with Julia Louis-Dreyfus as her VA).  As Dwight realizes Marge isn't going to visit him, he gets pretty angry, and decides to break out.  News of this reaches Marge, and the police aren't in any rush to capture Dwight upon learning he'll turn himself in after finishing one piece of business.

Dwight eventually catches Marge in her car and forces her to drive to an amusement park.  As it turns out, Dwight was abandoned by his mother at this park when he was younger, so he wants Marge to recreate that day with the major difference being that Marge not leave him - not that she can as Dwight has her by gunpoint.  Chief Wiggum is coincidentally at the same park trying to have fun, but is forced to take action upon learning of the situation.  Marge and Dwight go on the viking boats - the same ride Dwight was abandoned - but when Wiggum tries to act, he gets caught inbetween the boats.  Dwight gets urged by Marge to help, but falls into the mechanisms though it does save Wiggum.  Marge does visit a healed Dwight in prison afterwards, where the two becomes as much of friends as they can comfortably be.

Quick Review
This was a pretty decent episode.  The hostage situation at the bank was the best the episode had to offer, particularly the scene with the dye packs, but the rest of the episode has its moments as well.  The odd dialogue between Krusty and Dr. Hibbert near the end dragged the episode a bit, but otherwise the episode wasn't that bad at all.

Final Score: 7.1

Yokel Chords (S18, E14-392)

I bet they were disappointed to learn that wasn't real moonshine. (It wasn't, right?)

Plot Summary
After Homer fails to give the kids any actual lunch for school, Bart comes up with a plan to get some food come lunch time.  He starts to spread a tale across school about the "Dark Stanley Murders", a cafeteria worker who went mad over kids mocking his lack of a college degree, killing those kids and putting them in his stew.  Kids across school start to freak out, and it culminates at lunch time when Bart fakes his own murder at the hands of Stanley, causing every other kid to freak out and flee, allowing Bart to eat their left-behind food.  Principal Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers get caught up in the chaos as the kids all flee school.  As Skinner catches Bart, quickly realizing he's behind this, he also orders Groundskeeper Willie to round up and return all the fleeing kids.  Willie does so, but also brings in seven yokel children who do not attend the school, all of whom are "fathered" by Cletus.  Skinner reveals that if he let those children go to school, test scores would plummet and the school would lose its already limited funding.  Lisa, who overhears this, doesn't care about that, though, and demands those children get a proper education.  Skinner and Chalmers quickly formulate an idea to make everyone happy: have Lisa tutor the kids!

Bart is sent to a professional psychiatrist, whom the school has paid for five sessions.  Bart isn't interested in what the woman, Dr. Stacey Swanson, has to say, but she hooks him in with a video game he likes, and soon he's willing to reveal all of his pain to the woman.  However, before he can finish, the five sessions are up, leaving Bart unwilling to move on, thinking about Swanson all the time.  Marge picks up on this, and pays for one more session for Bart.  There, Bart is able to finish airing out his problems, and is happy upon finishing.  He leaves with 20 minutes left in the session, leaving Swanson unwilling to part (perhaps because she was using Bart as a fill in for her son who died from the Dark Stanley murders, the episode claims?).

Meanwhile, Lisa begins to teach the seven Spuckler kids, but with their knowledge coming along slowly Lisa decides to take them to downtown Springfield to soak in some culture.  The kids get into a song and dance routine in the process, which catches the eye of Krusty the Klown.  Despite Lisa's protests, Cletus signs the kids to a contract with Krusty, where they sing as a group of yokel kids while Cletus blows his money on nothing.  Frustrated, Lisa decides to bring in the kid's mother, Brandine, who was apparently stationed in Iraq until now.  Brandine reveals that Cletus is only the father of the two untalented kids, essentially voiding the deal.  The kids thank Lisa for teaching them about the world, and the Spuckler family is back to normal.

Quick Review
The episode starts off strong in the first few minutes with Bart's tale and the resulting consequences.  Krusty's appearance and Bart's sudden need to get psychiatric help were fairly good as well.  Still, the comedy died off as the episode came to a close, with the rather odd ending of war veteran Brandine coming in to put a stop to the problem.  If it wasn't for that, this episode probably would've been the best of the season.  As it stands, it's still better than most other episodes found this season.

Final Score: 7.0

The Italian Bob (S17, E08-364)

As long as he doesn't say "vendetta", that kid can be as menacing as he wants.

Plot Summary
Mr. Burns buys a new Italian sportscar, but has Homer retrieve it manually from Italy so that he doesn't have to pay taxes for it.  Homer gets to bring the family along to get the car, and they have to drive it to Rome to have it shipped.  Despite that, the family does some sightseeing first which winds up with the car getting smashed by a giant block of cheese.  They go to the nearest town to get help, but only one person in town speaks English: the mayor.  They go visit the mayor to learn to their shock that the mayor is actually Sideshow Bob!

Bob reveals that, after his last attempt at killing Bart 'failed', he decided he needed a fresh start, and half-randomly moved to a Tuscan village.  There, his large feet prove vital in creating a large wine harvest, and becomes so celebrated he's voted in as the mayor of the town.  He even found a woman to be his wife and together they had a son (the two are both aware of Bart as Bob screams out his name at night).  Bob tells them that nobody in the village is aware of his dubious past, and he agrees to fix their car in exchange for their silence.  Things go pretty well, but in a celebration feast Lisa gets drunk from wine and lets out Bob's big secret to the entire town.  Bob is disgraced and swears vengeance on the fleeing Simpson family.

During the escape, the Simpson family wrecks Burns' car again but they're able to flee Bob's notice.  Bob is about to give up again, but is encouraged by his wife and child to follow through on his vengeance, as they too have been shamed by the Simpsons.  The Simpsons make it to Rome, where they realize that Krusty the Klown is in town to perform a play.  They ask for his help, and he tries to have them hide within a background character cast in the play he's poorly performing, but Bob and family find the Simpsons and try to kill them on stage.  Krusty is able to secure the family's escape, though, and they get to go back to America.  Bob and his family is at first disappointed, but they soon get motivated again as they bond over getting vengeance.

Quick Review
This... this was not a good episode.  The premise was pretty bad from the start, Bob having a kid already was 'we know continuity is messed up so here you go anyway, suckers' level stupid, and that kid going 'vendetta' over and over again got too annoying for its own good.  Krusty the Klown tries his best to salvage the episode at the end, but its far too little, far too late.  By far, this is the worst Sideshow Bob episode of the show.

Final Score: 5.1

A Star is Torn (S16, E18-353)

Look at the fear in their faces.

Plot Summary
Lisa tries to have her family eat organic vegetables for dinner one night, and they all get sick from it (except for Lisa, who has built up an immunity to the bug feces and such found within).  Lisa helps nurse the family back to health by singing a lullaby, which works rather well.  The next morning, as the family eats fried chicken to finish their recovery, they see a commercial for a children's singing competition hosted by Krusty the Klown that may or may not be a ripoff of American Idol, which was popular at the time.  They recall Lisa's wonderful song the night before and they all agree Lisa should give it a shot.

At the mall where tryouts are occurring, Lisa is dismayed to see another kid, Clarissa Wellington (voiced by one of the American Idol winners, I dunno) sing the same song Lisa did earlier.  Homer decides to help Lisa out and hastily writes a new song about how kickass Springfield is (though he wrote it about Shelbyville and changed the names after the fact).  With these lyrics, Lisa qualifies for the competition.  With Lisa's singing and Homer's writing, the two team up, though Homer quickly takes his position too far and becomes extremely overbearing and protective of Lisa.  Still, he writes good songs for Lisa and she makes it to the final three.  The other two kids are Clarissa and a boy named Cameron who is a favorite in the crowd.  Clarissa is the next kid eliminated, leaving just Lisa and Cameron.  However, after another forceful display by Homer against a studio worker, Lisa has enough and 'fires' Homer on the spot.

An angry Homer eventually 'rebounds' to become Cameron's agent, much to Lisa's disgust.  Though Homer and Lisa aren't particularly angry at one another, they still haven't come to terms with what's happened.  Soon the final round approaches, and Lisa finally writes a song of her own: one about Homer, and even in a positive light!  The crowd is moved to tears, and Homer makes up with Lisa afterward, however Homer reveals that he never left Lisa's side in the first place: he's sabotaged Cameron by making him act like a spoiled brat named "Johnny Rainbow" who sings a song about how privileged he is.  Lisa wins the competition thanks to Homer, and the two share a hug.

Quick Review
This wasn't that funny of an episode.  What doesn't help it any is that a good chunk of time was used to have kids sing songs, whether it be Clarissa or Cameron or Lisa.  The few Homer-written songs weren't funny.  The funniest portions of the episode came from Krusty's various interactions, but that wasn't nearly enough to help this episode's score.

Final Score: 6.7

Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington (S14, E14-305)

I get it!  Fox News is biased towards Republicans!

Plot Summary
To avoid disturbing animals while mating, the government redirects air traffic, which unfortunately causes planes to fly rather low over the Simpsons home.  They go to their local congressman to complain about it, but he just ups and dies in front of them.  So now, they have to get a new congressman.  Bart suggests Krusty the Klown, and everyone - the family, Krusty, the Republican Party - goes with it.

Krusty's run for congressman hits a snag when his various misdeeds from the past come back to bite him, including several gags he did on his show that were less than PC.  He's able to recover thanks to the help of Lisa who reminds him to connect with the common person, as well as Republican-favoring Fox News, having gained its infamous bias as late as 2003.  With that combination, Krusty wins the bid and becomes a congressman.

Krusty attempts to introduce an air traffic bill to congress, but they won't give him the time of day.  The Simpsons fly into Washington to see this, and wonder what they can do to help.  A janitor that may or may not be Walter Mondale offers to help.  He helps the Simpsons get that bill passed the only way most things in Congress pass: stupidly.  Bart blackmails one opponent of the air traffic bill, preventing him from voting against it, and Homer is tasked to keep another opponent busy by having him take part in a lengthy drinking contest.  Afterward, Homer barges in during the vote drunk off his ass, giving Lisa a chance to attach the bill to a more popular bill - flags for orphans - allowing the bill to pass easily and the Simpsons no longer have to deal with their plane problem.

Quick Review
This episode wasn't that funny, and no, the of notion of having scathing political satire wasn't the reason why it did so poorly.  The reason why it scored poorly was because the scathing political satire itself just was not funny.

Final Score: 6.4

Large Marge (S14, E04-295)

Even the women are captivated by the magumbos.

Plot Summary
After losing a bet to Lisa, Homer spends time with Lisa by building homes somewhere.  Giving Lisa a replication of his wedding ring so that it doesn't get paint on it, Homer attracts the attention of some desperate single women.  Marge catches him seemingly showing off to them (though he's really just roleplaying Marge giving birth to Bart), and starts to wonder if she isn't as attractive as she used to be.  Manjula furthers this thought by making Marge realize she's gotten a bit fat in certain places, and shoves Marge over to a doctor's office to get some liposuction, all before Marge can really figure out that, hey, exercise could've done the trick as well.  The doctors botch the operation, though, by accidentally giving Marge breast implants meant for Mayor Quimby's mistress instead.  Marge is furious over this, and has to wait 48 hours before she can have them removed.

Meanwhile, Bart and Milhouse are watching an episode of the 60s Batman show, where they find out that Krusty the Klown was a villain in the show: Clownface.  Clownface traps the dynamic duo in a spinning carousel of death, and they decide to emulate it at school under the belief they'll be okay because Batman and Robin were okay afterward.  After the attempt at school goes horribly wrong, Bart pins the blame on what he saw Krusty do, and Principal Skinner decides to direct his outrage at Krusty.  A media firestorm erupts, and Krusty is forced to do lame, non-emulatable acts of safety on his show, which troubles Bart further.

Homer finds out about Marge's new 'equipment' in a rather fun way, and decides to have the family go out for dinner.  Through the ever-powerful means of song, Marge begins to like her enlargements, and she's not the only woman to think that either: a manager for a modeling company invites Marge to model for this and that, and Marge willingly accepts.  She enjoys the work at first, but the combination of those ever leering eyes from perverts, combined with her newfound back spasms due to her added weights, and Marge begins to reconsider her decision.

Bart decides to help Krusty's career get back on track.  At the shoe expo, he plans on having his old pet elephant, Stampy, 'crush' Milhouse while Krusty comes in and says a magic word: "magumbo", which puts Stampy in a harmless state.  At the same time, Marge is modeling at the shoe expo where her back pains and the howls from shoe vendors don't improve any.  Krusty goes in to 'save the day' for Milhouse, but forgets the safety word.  Stampy panics and puts Milhouse, then Bart and eventually Homer in its mouth.  The police arrive to shoot Stampy, probably injuring the three in the process.  Marge sees this and desperately thinks of a way to stop the police, resorting to what she believes is her only option: distracting everyone by baring her 'large Marges' to everyone.  The ploy works: not only are the police distracted, but in describing what he's seeing, Krusty remembers the word "magumbo" is able to get Stampy to release the three.  Krusty is returned to hero status, and Marge decides to have her implants removed.

Quick Review
This episode started off pretty promising.  I particularly liked the Batman skit, with Adam West and Burt Ward appearing to reprise their old roles.  However, the episode's humor slows down when the plot focuses on Marge for awhile, and the Krusty sideplot fades away.  The two plots combine at the end, but the oddities that comprise the ending (the unexpected return of Stampy, Marge's desperate plan, that song that plays during the credits), really don't work out for me.

Final Score: 7.2