The old saw about the Simpsons starting off the show with a red herring before veering off in a completely different direction hit it’s apex with tonight’s show. How?
If never got to where it was going. It was like one red herring after another.
Not that the episode was bad. It was okay. But I would be hard pressed to decribe the plot other than Homer grifts his way into the ownership of the SNPP
Overall a B
I liked it. The first half was non-stop laughs:
Dancing Maggie, Greasy Homer(Oil Of Oh, Yeah!)
Not the best of the season but very funny.
Best line of the night:
Burns: Well, let me just throw my legs over my head and pollute my britches with delight.
Had me laughing for five minutes.
Happy
I thought it was absolutely hilarious, one of the best in years actually. It was just one great joke after another. The plot had a natural progression, and did not include random plot twists that made no sense like some episodes have, despite Skid Row’s complaint.
“I’m Estaban Yan of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays!”
Notice Homer is dead last in the chart of the flow of ownership of the power plant, second to Inanimate Carbon Rod. Mr. Burns is second, of course-C.M. Burns is the first. The “C” is for “Canary”
I found that very funny.
“Buddy Holly? Ritchie Valens? The Big Bopper? Nooooo!”
The Itchy and Scratchy cartoon had me in stiches for a good two minutes… the details were just perfect!
It was easily one of the best episodes this season. The gags seemed to flow well, Homer wasn’t a complete dolt, there were no contrived celebrity appearances, and the few self-references were subtle.
Did Smithers just get written out of the show? Or will the Turkish courts parole him before his eighty years for narcotics possesion are up?
Some more funny lines I can remember -
Homer - Mr. Burn’s reign of terror is over! Now my reign of terr…ific management has begun!
Lenny - Hmm I thought he was going to say terror.
Carl - Nah, not me. I knew where he was going.
Homer - Eat crowd old man!
Homer - What, don’t I ever get a vacation?
Assistant - Sir, you are on vacation. (camera zooms out, homer’s in office on the beach)
Lisa - But Dad, you are the CEO of a major corporation. You have to get serious.
Homer - Your right! Bart make it two walnuts!
Megatronics Guy - Look, my watch has so many jewels on it that the hands can’t even move! (shows watch hand struggling to move) What kind of watch do you have?
Homer - I drew my watch on. It doesn’t keep very good time.
The whole initial scene with Homer seeing everybody making love was absolutely hilarious. Professor Frink… haha… then the jail scene… hilarious. Man too much funny stuff, this really was a great episode.
KeithT, naaah.
Everything’s gotta be back to normal, hence Homer’s “305th ‘Everything’s Back to Normal’ BBQ.”
The best self reference had to be the chart of priority for the nuclear power plant. Homer was at the very bottom rung but directly above it: an inanimate carbon rod. heh.
The Turkish prison gag was so over the top, I nearly fell off my chair.
My favourite joke was Homer living each day as if it was his last. But there were a lot of great ones this week. 
What was the last episode before this one that showed Homer working at the nuclear plant?
Darn production schedule. Esteban Yan is now on the Texas Rangers. Bart was Tomokazu Okha of Montreal. It would have been funnier if he hadn’t picked a pitcher.
My most shocking moment of the entire episode? Homer decides he likes crowd surfing after seeing Burns do it, so he jumps and they catch him and surf him around. Ahh, the joy of unexpectedness.
While not as good as last week’s sterling episode, this week’s was quite good. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Enjoyed the 305th joke on the picnic banner as well. Along with the carbon rod joke, its was continuity joke central.
The part that cracked me up was when the musicians opened their mouths and revealed that they were vampires. Very unexpected and random.
I disagree. I think it was a great pick. Not only does Bart pick a relatively unknown, unpopular, and unproductive player but he picks a pitcher while Bart is actually at bat. He may have picked the least likely major leaguer he could have possibly picked. And, he was excited about it.
“He needs some face time with sweet lady brick.”
That episode was hilarious! I laughed out loud many, many times, and that’s a first for several seasons, now. Good stuff. I’m not sure why it cracked me up as much as it did, but the scene where Marge and Homer discover that Bart, Lisa and most of the neighbors can hear their private bedroom conversations was priceless – particularly when Flanders tells them to get some curtains, then turns off his light so that you can only see the flare from his pipe as he inhales.
One of my favorites lines: “It’s not like Bart’s going to be ten forever.”
Another thing about the org chart at the SNPP: It showed Frank Grimes, with a diagonal line through his photo.
Oh yes, I also liked Mr. Burns attempt to get back the power plant from Homer. Poe would be proud-if he had ever lived to be as old, decrepit, and athletic as Mr. Burns is, that is.