The King of the Hill episode was funnier - and it pointed out the fallacy of liberals' (e.g., Jeanine Garofalo) arguments that Americans are "straight up" racists. Kahn, the Laotian immigrant who is normally obnoxious, was portrayed as every bit as American as Hank and the others. It had nothing to do with his skin color or country of origin, and everything to do with his values.

The Simpsons episode wasn't about how cute Norwegian culture is. And even if it were, wouldn't that get the Diversity worshipers' panties in a bunch? Seems to me that's a pretty condescending and ethnocentric attitude.

As if Norwegians' proud heritage, dating back thousands of years, exists merely for the half-hour amusement of fat, ignorant, lazy Americans who need Mexicans for the jobs they just won't do!! Tsk, tsk.

FYI (sorry, Brian), the writer was using a white, European-based culture to point out that we xenophobes are really afraid of skin color, get it?

Far be it from me to point out the corrosive and deadly effects that rampant illegal immigration is visiting upon both Mexico and America (what's the decapitation rate in Phoenix again? How about Tijuana?). But hey, no big deal, according to some of you here: If it starts to impact YOU, you'll just whine to the government or rely on people with cajones (get it?) to do the heavy lifting and pay the costs of your moral preening.

Brian, Brian, Brian. My bad (get it?). I shouldn't have said the episode jumped the shark. How déclassé of me! Nice catch! How perspicacious of you to hone in on the gist of my commentary. I'm mortified! Why, the cool kids will never allow me to traipse along behind them now (isn't that, you know, humiliating, by the way?).

I should have used the more au currant phrase that conveys "passed into irrelevance." How's "pulled a Brian Winkelar?" That does have a nice ring to it.

Or is that Winkie?

Thanks for the heads up (get it?). Unlike you, I don't have expiration dates of all the trendy phrases taped to my high chair. Better check your list, though: "Yes We Can" is about to expire, so you might want to think about scraping that Obama/Biden bumper sticker off of your trike.

23 skidoo!

I am from Norway, and I just loved that episode..
It did have many Norwegian plots,
so I guess any of the American viewers did miss out many of the funny points in the episode..
It did also have the hospital form that Marge was going to sign all written in Norwegian language..
The worst part is that always when it comes to Norwegian, they miss place us with Swedish people..
We don't say Jaa, with the long ending of the aa..
We just say Ja, with a short, quick ending..
Also when it comes to Inga as a girls name, that is from Sweden too, many movies use that..
"Hello, I am Inga from Sweden.. Jaa.."
But everything else in the episode was excellent..
Just as funny as the Waverly Hills episode.. ^_^
I am really looking forward to the next season,
episode 2 from next season is Treehouse of Horror XX..

Well, that's all for now.. ~Karoil~

I've been covering the topic of this episode for several years and I've read literally thousands of MSM articles about the issue and written thousands of entries, many of those pointing out how those MSM articles were lying. And, based on that, I can assure everyone that this was not "soft social satire". It was hamfisted propaganda. And, while it might have used a Norwegian theme, it was only tangentially about Norwegians.

If you're not from the Southwest, you probably don't realize just how unfunny this ep was.

Ruth Marie got it absolutely right. Extremely funny episode in honor of Norwegian culture. And by the way, the Norwegian media is eating it up. They loved it! Nothing was lost in translation there.

Some people could use a little broadening of their frame of reference and a dose of self irony, I think. Lighten up, for pete's sake, dontcha know!
But let's pay austere "scopping" its due: We need to grant some special thanks to Grzmlyk for entertaining us with his/her foibles! Way to jump that proverbial lutefisk!

What is the name of the sad classical music they played at about 6min 20 sec into the show? When the were showing the ghost town?

The show was, in part, a tribute to Syttende Mai - the 17th of May (the day the show aired) - Norway's Constitution Day. Simpson's creator Matt Groening is reportedly of 50% Norwegian ancestry.

Actually, the best part was the Norwegian storyline, replete with all sorts of somewhat obscure cultural references and capped off with the closing credit music of a folk tune from Voss, Norway performed by Norway's Chateau Neuf Spelemannslag.

If you're not Scandinavian-American or from the Midwest, you probably missed some of the best jokes.

Did anyone else catch the reference to Pixar's "UP" in the episode?

Loved it. Not the best of a creatively re-energized season, but a lot of laughs and some soft social satire that was apparently too much for viewers who still use tired phrases like "jump the shark."

To that I say, "Whassup? Where's the beef? Outside of the box!"

Hey, Macarena!

An incredibly fluffy episode light on criticism/depth/insight but at least loaded with some good gags:

"Xylophone music is what plays when skeletons dance!"

"You were a baby once, do you still want milk and hugs?"

And yes, Ralph the tumbleweed.

I mostly agree with Grzmlyk. Some of the things the writer forgot to include are listed here:

http://24ahead.com/brendan-hay-has-no-clue-about-immigration-issue-or-comedy-si