TVSquad

(S19E05) 'The Monkey's Paw', 'The Bart Zone', 'The Devil and Homer Simpson', the entire 'Treehouse of Horror V' (the end scene where the Simpsons' bodies turn inside out actually freaked me out a bit), 'Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace' and 'Homer3'. Why do I mention these previous 'Treehouse of Horror' stories and episodes? Well, they're examples of funny yet creepy stories that The Simpsons did so well each and every Halloween.

So, uh, what happened?

(S19E01) Blackboard Gag: I will not wait 20 years to make another movie

Adam, this one's for you.

To begin this review I would like to speak to all of the continuity wonks out there in the audience. You know who you are! You're the folks who keep writing about how nothing changes in Springfield, even after something major happens the episode before. Well, The Simpsons has plenty of continuity. If not, then Ned's wife would still be alive the week after she died and Selma's last name would not be Selma Bouvier Terwilliger Hutz McClure Stu Simpson, Continuity is there . . . it's just subtle.

That's the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations, to be exact.

The latest edition of the book includes the following lines from The Simpsons:

Homer: Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is never try.

and

Groundskeeper Willie: Bonjour, you cheese-eating surrender monkeys.

So, back in May I told you about a limited number of Simpsons-style XBoxes being given away at promotional events in anticipation of the upcoming movie. If you weren't lucky enough to snag one of the yellow consoles with Homer's visage at one of these events, you can try bidding on one that recently popped up on eBay. Just bring a lot of cash, 'cause the bidding, as I type this sentence, is at $1,900.

Now that Shrek-mania, Spider-mania, Pirates-mania, Transformers-mania, Rat-mania, Potter-mania and Evan Almighty-mania have come and gone this summer it's time for Simpsons-mania to rev itself up in anticipation of The Simpsons theatrical release at the end of this month. What better way to get into the swing of things than to vote for your favorite Simpsons character.

That's easily done, courtesy of The Chicago Tribune's Redeye website. The first round of voting featured sixteen match-ups. Among those competing were Homer versus Selma and Patty, Marge versus Fat Tony, and Bart versus Principal Skinner. The best match-up, according to the website, was Comic Book Guy versus Apu. Out of nearly 10,000 responses Apu beat C.B.G. with 62% of the vote.

Big thanks to The Simpsons Channel for the following information.

The Web site for The Simpsons Movie has been sitting around not doing much of anything lately, but finally, it has launched. Not all the parts of the site are online just yet, but there's a couple fun games and an avatar builder. The character on the right is the Simpsons version of me, though it doesn't look much like me since eyeglasses aren't an option, and you can't add stubble. It's sorta me as a ten year old boy.

Speaking of the movie, which premieres July 27, I've placed a new trailer at the end of this post. This one gives us an even better glimpse of what to expect. You can tell they went all out to make the movie truly cinematic, and not just another episode of the series slapped up on a theater screen.

Finally, the anticipated premiere date of season 19 is September 23. That's only a few short months away.

(S18E20)

Bart: You can't send him away. He's a dog, not Grandpa.

Special hint: if you're ever lost in a giant maze (corn or otherwise) you can find your way out simply by keeping your hand on the wall and walking.

You know, if Santa's Little Helper is the main focus of an episode, chances are it's not going to be very good. I didn't laugh very much during this episode, but here's what I did like:

(S18E19)

Homer: What are you, a travel agent? 'Cause you're sending me on a guilt trip.

I've been watching a lot of early Simpsons episodes lately, mostly from the first five seasons. I know many fans cite the earlier seasons as the best of the series, but I tend to disagree with the notion that the show was only good up to a point and all subsequent seasons are a complete waste. It's easy to say "everything after season six is crap," but you're disregarding A LOT of episodes when you make a statement like that. I try to judge each episode on its own merit, regardless of the season.

It's certainly not wrong to prefer some seasons to others, as humor is always subjective, and, in the case of The Simpsons, I think there are numerous variables that come into play as to why some still love it and some abhor it. I won't go into that here, though.

(S18E13) I didn't love it, and I didn't hate it -- for the most part, this week's episode was "just okay" in my opinion. It was nice to see Eric Idle return as the snooty muck-raking journalist Declan Desmond (first seen in the episode "Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky"), but the episode felt like two different episodes battling for the same thirty-minute space.

I always enjoy it when the writers come up with ways to incorporate all the secondary and tertiary characters into an episode ("22 Short Films About A Springfield" is a good example), but this one tried to tack on the bit about Homer being depressed with what he's become in life, leading he and his family to take over Burns' summer home and pretend it's their own.

(S18E10)

Homer and Bart are trapped on a sinking boat:

Homer: [to captain, whispering loudly] Should I hit him with a shovel to spare him the pain of drowning?

Captain: [also whispering] Not yet.

Homer: [whispering] What's the code word?

Damn you, football. You almost made me miss this episode. Luckily, I also Tivoed American Dad, so I was able to catch the last half of this episode, which aired during the time American Dad would have normally started. That's one of the dangers of recording everything I watch.

(S18E07) I usually take on the role of apologist when it comes to The Simpsons, defending it against those who say it's not as good as it was in the early years. I still maintain the series is the funniest and smartest thing on network television, but even I can admit when an episode isn't quite up to snuff, and this one was nowhere near snuff, up to it or otherwise.

I'm enough of a fan of the show that even a mediocre episode still has enough to entertain me, and there were a few moments in this episode I thought were pretty funny, such as the dead ice cream man being buried with a giant ice cream scoop, or Homer taking Polaroids of himself to show Marge how sad he was that he wrecked her popsicle stick sculptures, but the basic plot had been done before (Homer upsets Marge by not taking enough of an interest in her and finally redeems himself in the end) and it's been done better.