Simpsons by the Season: 15

"Everything's back the way it was, which is the only way it should ever be."

If you read my previous entry in this series, the crux of the fourteenth season centred around nostalgia. This time around they moved from remembering the better days to rehashing them in hackneyed episodes in which they reuse main plot points from previous years - sometimes from incredibly poor episodes, as well. That's like reanimating the dead and choosing to make zombie Hitler. Here are a few.

1. "Fraudcast News" has Mr. Burns - much to his surprise - find out he's not well liked by the town. This of course has already happened in the reprehensible "Monty Can't Buy Me Love" in which he tries to win over the public by capturing the Loch Ness Monster, so he shouldn't be too surprised.

2. In '"Tis the Fifteenth Season" Homer usurps Ned's position as the nicest guy in town. If that doesn't ring a bell, think back to "Homer Loves Flanders" in which... well, Homer usurps Ned's position as the nicest guy in town. In one episode Kent Brockman states "there's an even fatter man holding families at nice point" while in the other a newspaper article claims "Big Fat Man Has Big Fat Heart" as a headline. It's like they're doing mad libs with whole episode arcs.

3. In "Regina Monologues" Homer causes an incident where he rear-ends the Queen while on a trip to England. Of course, Homer has a bad history in causing international incidents with major political figures, as he's already thrown the Japanese Emperor into a pile of laundry in "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo". Maybe they'll come to Canada next and Homer will punch Stephen Harper in the face. Actually, I'll be OK with that one.

4. I know this one is vague, but Bart finds yet another love interest in "Wandering Juvie". This time around, it's a new girl ending in an 'a' sound - no, not Laura, Jessica, Greta, or Clara - but Gina! For a ten year old, Bart gets around.

5. In "Millhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore" Homer discovers that he can beg for money on the street pretending he's crazy, and make a lot of cash doing so. It's slightly less awful than his grifting, but really, it's the same plot - Homer gets rich off something akin to stealing. Marge eventually finds out much the same way as before. Why they would want to recreate such a terrible plot is beyond me.

6. The Pie Man, Homer's alter ego super hero, eventually is found out by Mr. Burns who threatens to reveal him if he doesn't do his bidding in "Simple Simpson". Much of it ends up being frustratingly similar to Homer being Mr. Burns' "prank monkey" in arguably the worst episode in the series, "Homer vs. Dignity" (it's the zombie Hitler thing!). Homer even has to "pie" a girl scout much the same way he throws a pudding at Lenny as his first assignment in respective episodes.

7. "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner" is a conglomerate of two episodes. Artie's fall from grace and living with the Simpsons is basically early Herb Powell. Homer becomes the head of Ziff-Corp, inheriting the legal obligations, much the way he took over the power plant from Mr. Burns. We've seen it all before.

At the very least, if they're going to be redoing old episodes, at the very least I wish they would get the Simpsons cannon right. In "The Way We Weren't" - an episode that hinges on the Simpsons' past - Millhouse accidentally kisses Homer in a game of spin the bottle. He then says "my first kiss..." seemingly forgetting about poor old Samantha Stankey.

Best Episode:
The best is awarded to "I (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot". The plot is like a new age, original version of what made the Simpsons great; Homer genuinely wants to be a good father, but his lack of intelligence holds him back. Nevertheless, he tries his best - this time fighting robots (which sounds at least a little stupider than it is). It's funny, and Homer isn't a monster, but a decent albeit bumbling father.

Worst Episode: 

Although there are a number of poor episodes, few are truly awful. The worst goes to "The Fat and the Furriest" in which Homer is shamed by a bear, fashions a suit of armour, and ends up saving it. It's another example of the show adding animals and flying off the rails. As a sidenote, Homer also throws himself into a pile of toilets to hide from the bear, once again removing any semblance of dignity from a beloved character (pictured on the right). I really wish they'd stop doing that.

Best Quotes:
"We weren't as well behaved as our goody-two-shoes brother Canada - why by the way has never had a girlfriend - just saying..."
-Homer on the U.S. and Canada

"Ladies and gentlemen - ah, who am I kidding? Just gentlemen."
-The announcer at the Ultimate Robot Fighting tournament

"This is the little hooker line; all the girls your age are wearing it - except the freakishly unpopular."
-A salesman to Lisa