margesimpson

(S19E03) Shut the hell up, you damn ass whore! -- Bart

Three episodes of The Simpsons down. Time for an extensive, in-depth analysis of the nineteenth season so far.

Not bad.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting an earth-shattering change in the show after The Simpsons Movie premiered this summer. What has come down the pike since late September has been entertaining and provided a good solid laugh or two. However, I do have one concern and an observation about our favorite yellow-headed patriarch. If I've piqued your interest then jump ahead. If not, then enjoy this floating Homer head. Enjoy it as you get sleepy . . . sleepy. Now, You Will Jump To The Next Page And Laugh Everytime I Say Flooblegee!

The Simpsons promo machine is still going strong, preparing for the family's bigscreen adventure on July 27th. The marketing for this movie has been wonderfully creative, but even though real-life Squishees are delicious, I think my favorite plug has got to be the new fashion spread in the August issue of Harper's Bazaar. "The Simpsons Go to Paris" depicts the Simpson family wearing outfits straight from the seasons' high fashion catwalks. The spread also features Simpson-ized versions of supermodel Linda Evangelista and designers like Marc Jacobs and Jean Paul Gaultier.

Check out this post with scans of the illustrations, helpfully accompanied by real photos of the outfits on the catwalk. Sadly enough, many of the fashions look better in the cartoon world than in the real one. Case in point: Those bizarre "if Carol Burnett had a stage lighting fetish" Viktor & Rolf numbers. And I also find it a little unsettling that Donatella Versace looks healthier in Simpson-yellow than in whatever shade of leather her skin is now.

(S17E20) Last night The Simpsons revisited a lot of familiar territory, making this episode not one of the best of the season, though there were a few good moments.

The title, which I didn't catch right away, is a reference to the film Regarding Henry in which Harrison Ford contracts amnesia. Marge gets dizzy on cleaning products and passes out, smacking her head on a stool and causing her to briefly lose her memory. Fortunately for her children and neighbors everything comes back to her. What she can't seem to remember is Homer, which is especially bad news since there doesn't seem to be any real logic behind why they were together in the first place. All of Homer's quirks which she might have once found endearing now seem weird to her.

The episode had some decent "throw away" gags, such as Homer painting an homage to the '74 Oakland A's on his curb instead of his house number, and Dr. Hibbert asking Marge how many fingers he's holding up before revealing he's actually holding up severed fingers from a jar. I can't fully dismiss an episode that made me laugh out loud more than once, but the basic plot trod upon a lot of old ground, such as Homer and Marge becoming estranged, Homer being kicked out, and, of course, Homer finally coming to his senses and proving his devotion to Marge. This same story has been told before with slight variations, and I'm sure we'll see it again, as the relationship between Homer and Marge has been, since the first season, one that isn't without its blemishes. In that regard, my minor gripe isn't that they've been here before, but that they've done it better.