I enjoyed the main plot arc tonight rather a lot. There haven't been very many Marge/Bart stories, which might explain why this sort of thing isn't a stale subject area; it also helped that (with some exception for Marge's solo trips) it was in character for both of them. And Marge's epiphany at the end made sense as well as being pretty funny. As for Homer and Moe, it worked pretty well as a B story (compared to "The Homer They Fall")... it's too bad Lisa had very little to do, but it would probably be awkward to insert her any further in either story. Overall, the episode was also pretty funny (I registered many chuckles), with about as few weird moments as one can expect in these later seasons... on the other hand, the "My Sharona" serenade was definitely odd, but didn't exactly spoil it either.
DYN: ...Lisa has a pretty small role in this episode? ...the pinball machine trapping Moe, Lenny, and Carl is "Devil's Advocate" (originally from BABF17)? ...Marge assumes that the closing of one tea establishment precludes patronizing any other? ...Skinner claims to have done karaoke with his mom since he was in fourth grade (also Bart's current grade), despite the facts established in 4F23?
Previous episode references 9F11: Bumper cars made off with 3F02: Dialing 91 in advance 4F03: Moe coaches Homer in a sports circuit
Notes It's funny that there should be such a long couch gag tonight; according to my calculations, we are coming up on the 200th couch gag! I'm sure this will be the cause of celebrations of astronomical proportions in the coming weeks. (For those also keeping score, I am not including the 3-for-1 in 9F21 or the montage in 3F31 separately, nor am I including minor variations. I'll write it up when the time comes.)
It's also funny in a coincidental sense that the tea shop name ("The Leaf Garret") should be used tonight; the syndicated dating show "Elimidate" is doing a "Blast from the Past" week this week, and Monday's episode will feature none other than Leif Garrett. Make of that what you will.