TVSquad

I went to Universal Studios in Hollywood on Saturday for the revealing of The Simpsons Ride. Celebs walked the "yellow" carpet. The mayor welcomed the crowds and led the countdown. A human cannonball was shot into the air. And a yellow sheet dropped to reveal a 32-foot Krusty the Clown face at the entrance to the attraction.

Despite the launch being for The Simpsons, there were hardly any members of the cast there on the yellow carpet. Kelsey Grammer (Sideshow Bob) was there along with creator Matt Groening and producer James L. Brooks but no other voice talents were anywhere to be found. See who I talked to and read more about the ride unveiling after the jump.

(S19E17) "Sorry, Lise. I can't be a vegetarian. I love the taste of death." -- Bart Simpson

Another Bart-centric episode, which means another decent installment of The Simpsons. It's unfortunate that these types of episodes couldn't have been dispersed more evenly throughout the season. This would have made for a less Homer-centric run of shows during the first half of the year -- something that many fans (or maybe just me) were expressing concern about.

(S19E15) "I'm not a nerd. I'm a jock who's too cool for sports." -- Bart Simpson

From the outside, the Family Simpson comprises a group of people who go from one wacky adventure to another. Yet, when you go beneath their four-fingered exteriors, each member of the family is actually fighting their own little battle. For Bart it's the fight against the establishment; for Marge it's finding order withing the disorder of her life; for Maggie it's getting through an entire day on one pacifier; and for Homer it is the philosophical dilemma of whether or not death brings forth life or life brings on death. That, or just trying to get between breakfast and lunch without starving to death...it really depends on the day.

(S19E14) "Oh boy, dinnertime! The perfect break between work and drunk." -- Homer J. Simpson

Before I get to the review as a whole for this week's installment of The Simpsons I want to talk about one of the most disturbing scenes that has ever graced this program. It involves Homer, who is breaking his one millionth diet or something. In one scene he's shown entering a room of a sleazy motel with what looks like another woman. Turns out it's just a rack of meat (I think it was lamb, I couldn't hear Homer) dripping in its own juices. He then goes about treating the meat like a lover, sucking on the juices, caressing it, and even bringing it to the shower with him. I was in total agreement with the host of Sneakers -- the fictitious television show that was a parody of the real-life show Cheaters -- when he asked the guys in the control truck to turn the hidden cameras off. Brrr!

Other than that, this was a pretty good episode.

(S19E13)"Young man, I'm going to be on you like a numerator on a denominator" -- Principal Skinner to Donny the informant

It's been a looong time since we had an episode of The Simpsons that focused on that young rapscallion Bart and his status of Prankmaster at Springfield Elementary. Frankly, I was starting to get a bit worried that we wouldn't see one at all this season and that all we would get is one episode after another focusing on Homer and his hi-jinks. Luckily, someone at FOX or the offices of The Simpsons realized this and gave us an installment that not only reignited the feud between Bart and Principal Skinner, but parodied the Martin Scorsese film The Departed. Plus, it was actually a good episode.

(S19E06) After a month of Homer and Marge-centric episodes (I don't count 'Treehouse of Horror' stories because they take place outside of The Simpsons continuity. Don't laugh!) we finally get one focusing on the Simpson kids and their friends. In this case the spotlight is on one Milhouse Van Houten. This is not the first time Milhouse has been featured in an episode. In fact, he's probably the only other kid on The Simpsons that has had more than one show focus on him. Remember the 'Radioactive Man' episode waaayyyy back in the seventh season?

This is most likely due to his friendship with Bart. Because they have been so closely linked since the very first episodes of the series Milhouse has been given a richer backstory than, say, Martin.We know about his unrequited love for Lisa, his affair with Samantha Stanky, and the break-up (and subsequent get-together) of his parents.Actually, the pending nuptials of Kirk and Luann were part of the plot for this week's episode.

AOL TV released a list of the top 18 TV witches. The list is exhaustive including everyone from classical TV witches to daytime witches and BBC witches.

This list even made me a little nostalgic. After reading about Miss Cackle and Mildred from the 1986 TV movie The Worst Witch, I think I might have to check my TV listings to see if the movie will get an encore presentation in the days leading up to Halloween. I totally forgot that Mildred was played by Fairuza Balk who obviously used her Worst Witch time to develop her later role in The Craft. With those piercing blue eyes, dark hair and bright red lipstick, she really does make a good witch.

There's long been a debate among certain kinds of creepy cartoon enthusiasts about which animated girls we would most like to, uh, "get-to-know better", should we ever live in a Cool World-type universe where that sort of thing was possible. Judy Jetson, teenage Pebbles, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid (with feet or without)... the list, sadly, goes on and on.

As I get older, though, I find one area of Creepyville the internet geeks have yet to explore: which animated housewife is the hottest! This being the internet, the only way to truly rectify the situation is to create a numbered list. I thus present to you my list of the seven hottest animated housewives...

(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.