Simpsons Roundup!

Hey there, and welcome to my first attempt - echm! - first edition of Simpsons Roundup!

What is Simpsons Roundup, you ask?

Just a semi-regular critique or, in some cases, summary of Sunday's newest entry into the pantheon of Simpsons lexicon.

I'll try to keep this a regular thing but it won't always be tops on my list of priorities. Nevertheless, if it catches fire like I know it will, it's popularity could crash the whole Internet!

Let us begin.

Last Sunday's ep continues a streak of strong outings during the month of November. I know, many of you out there think the show has gone stale and at times, I can strain to see your point. The fact is, the sense of humor is, in my humble opinion, as sharp, witty and potentially observant as ever it has been. This week's episode, entitled, "Rednecks and Broomsticks", (11/29/09), featured Lisa joining a group of wiccans. The synopsis is as follows:

"After getting lost in a game of hide-and-seek, Lisa wanders into the forest and discovers three teenage girls, including Cassandra, who are practicing Wiccans. Though she is skeptical of their spells, the girls assure Lisa that they never hurt anyone and ask her to join their coven. Just before Lisa is inducted into their pact, Chief Wiggum arrives and arrest the three girls for witchcraft and Lisa becomes the star witness in their trial. Meanwhile, Homer starts hanging out with Cletus and his hillbilly friends when he discovers that they make moonshine."

Overall, I liked it. As it's been a few days, many of the episode's finer points have already begun to escape me but I particualrly liked the Bambi joke early on in the first act where The Simpsons car spun out onto a frozen lake and slammed into Bambi and Thumper. Also, I thought the Cletus story worked well too, using the character for something other than some dopey aside or one-liner. Don't get me wrong, I love those too when they work, but Cletus has been around long enough, I think, where, by season 21, we could give him some more meat.

The way the two stories came together was also effective, as the tainted moonshine got into the town drinking water and caused an epidemic of temporary blindness, (blamed on the witches, of course). Moe too, had some great stuff, particularly, the mob jokes, where he eggs an angry crowd of gawkers into chasing him just to keep them fired up, as well as a good bit with the annoying travelling game, 'Bonk-It,' which Homer throws out the window only to have another angry father in the next car, throw his own kid's Bonk-It back into the Simpsons car.

The guest voice was Neve Campbell, which I didn't know till I read the end credits.

All in all, I found it to be a solid entry which, as most episodes do, get better with repeat viewings. Not sure yet if next week's is a new one. Either way, I'll try and keep this thing going - for a while.

D.A.

Got an opinion? Think I'm out to lunch? Or maybe right on the money? Leave a comment. Hey, it just might be the best decision of your entire life!