‘The Simpsons’ has reached the decade point, and after years of simply the best comedy on TV, some cracks have started to show, but it should still be stressed how enjoyable and good fun this season was. It doesn’t live up to the unbelievable highs of the last 3 or 4 years, mainly because this season strayed slightly into the more plot or gag driven episodes as opposed to the brilliant character focused ones that the show made its name as the best show in the business.
This season has one of the very best ‘Treehouse of Horror’ episodes, that features iconic bits like Homer going on a murder spree after taking on Snake’s hair, Bart and Lisa getting sucked into a Itchy and Scratchy cartoon and having to fight for their lives in increasingly cartoonish ways, and also Maggie’s real father being revealed as an Alien, with the situation having to be resolved on Jerry Springer.
The smartly titled ‘Maximum Homerdrive’ is also a standout episode of this season for me and not only gives us a good Homer/Bart episode, but also features some great cultural references and is a strong road comedy.
There are not many particularly bad episodes here, it’s just that there are more forgettable ones that usual, which makes it feel like a weaker season. For any other show, this would likely be heralded as a brilliant season of TV.
Rating = 4/5
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