Great opening - Claymation Simpsons and a visit by Gumby.
What was that song during the Stamp Museum protest? I know I’ve heard it before.
“Eve of Destruction” - Barry McGuire
“Read the patent number, bitch.”
Well, that was a pretty decent episode.
Do kids read Sendak anymore?
Wow. This was actually… dare I say… good! 
I liked the fire hearts, and the speed with which Chief Wiggum managed to get back into his clothes, among other things. Those illustrated monsters looked so familiar.
They’re a parody of Maurice Sendak’s characters from Where The Wild Things Are. Though I don’ t think they ever appeared in a steakhouse ad.
I’m as big a Simpsons fan as any, but, coupled with last week’s episode, the phrase “jumped the shark” entered my mind as I watched this episode. 
Some would argue that you are about 9-10 seasons too late with that observation.
Definitely a vast improvement over last week’s. I actually laughed a couple of times. A couple of recycled gags (the “Homer loses his shorts up his ass” recycled from the Brazil ep for one) but it gives me some small rays of hope that the creators aren’t completely creatively bankrupt.
I’m 23, and I recognized it. It was a weird reference, but their nod to the book’s illustrations was nice.
This was a big improvement from the season premiere. Some really good jokes in this one. I loved Bart’s out-of-control bed.
The “Millhouse slug” was, for some reason, one of the creepiest things I’ve every seen.
URGH.
Most episodes are funny about a 1/3 of the time.
This episode was about 50%.
So an improvement.
The scenes in the Stamp Museum were the best.
The patent line, homer’s response to two servings of Jumbo Shrimp, the reason the guy went into Childrens Lit, and the insertion of “& Mothers” into the exhibit sign.
The problem I have with the Simpsons is that it is no longer grounded in reality. Ignoring the fantasy sequences from this week, which are fine, look at the race car bed driving around or Homer/Bart attached to construction equipment and being pounded into the ground (which is a rehash of Homer on the wrecking ball). It is just silly.
The show used to be more realistic and that was a great draw for comedy.
Now, the episode is likely to end with a magical dragon or Homer rearing the family car on its back wheels as if it were a horse.
A heads up: no new Simpsons until 11/6 (this years Treehouse of Horror ep).
What was up with that Gravedigger Willie thing? It was never resolved, was it?
When was it ever grounded in reality? Among the earliest episodes are scenes of the family car being crushed in the jaws of a truck-eating dinosaur robot with no injury to any family member, the Simpsons pumping enough electricity through each other to black out the city yet emerging unscathed and a US Representative being expelled from Congree in the course of a single afternoon. And that doesn’t even get into the idea that Lisa’s had about three birthdays yet is still 8, Bart’s passed 4th grade at least twice but is still a 4th grader, and so on. If the show had ever been grounded in reality, every member of the family would be dead 50 times over or in prison for life.
That’s Gravedigger Billy.
I agree. It’s gotten more absurd and crazy, but it’s not quite that big a change.
We don’t know what happened with Willie and Billy. That was a surprise…
It seems like, with the newer episodes, I’m tending to like the really unpopular ones and dislike the popular ones.
With the exception of a few funny parts (Marge puts a hairpin on a dumptruck, it flips over and catches on fire), I hated this one.
Someone made an observation to me today that I hadn’t ever thought of, but it makes a hell of a lot of sense: The Simpsons are, to a reasonable extent, trying to be like The Family Guy. They’re appealing to the lowest common denominator and confusing absurdity with humor (“this makes no sense, therefore people will laugh!” The last, oh, ten seasons of Saturday Night Live are guilty of this too.)
Is the Family Guy actually beating The Simpsons in ratings now?* If so, it would make a lot of sense that they are going for what sells, but I think it will be bad for the long term reputation of the show.
[sub] I noticed that the Simpsons were on at 7pm and Family Guy had the better 8pm timeslot, but I didn’t know if that was all over the country, because Arizona is weird about time this time of year and I never watch enough tv to figure it out. [/sub]
Last week, The Simpsons finished in the Top 10 for the first time in a loooonnngggg time.
I liked the burning truck bit