[Written after the premiere, but not sent until now. -- bjr]
[The long of it]
David Byrne, the former lead singer of the Talking Heads, once said that there are a finite number of jokes in the universe. Perhaps this means there's a finite number of funny stories as well. If so, "The Simpsons" may have run through them all. At least, that's what I read on this newsgroup, and now I suspect the writers might think so as well.
"Bonfire of the Manatees" is a new episode in a new season, but in a way you've seen it before. The plot is certainly familiar: Marge, enraged at Homer's misbehavior, leaves the family temporarily. The characters on the show act like they've been through this drill before. Before dinner that night, Homer recites the routine for the kids: He screws up, Marge leaves, they have waffles for a few nights, and then Marge comes back. Marge does something similar over the phone when Homer tries to apologize. Even the blackboard gag foreshadows the ennui that hangs over this episode -- Bart's punishment is to write, "Does any kid do this anymore?" over and over again.
The odd thing is, the writers (led by the usually reliable Matt Greaney) do come up with an unexplored angle on the marital trouble story. Separated from her husband, Marge meets Caleb Thorn, a marine biologist studying manatees. Helping him to save the portly, slow- moving mammals (who remind me a bit of Homer) gives her a purpose in life, and the two develop a platonic bond. At first, Homer is convinced something romantic's going on. Looking back on it, it might have been funny if Marge and Caleb spent the rest of the episode trying to convince Homer there was no hanky-panky, and Homer kept refusing to believe them. Instead, Homer believes them right away, so there goes that source of drama. And of course we see that Caleb doesn't threaten to lure Marge away from Homer, defusing another source of tension. We can also predict that Homer will try to win Marge back by doing something to help out the manatees. With no tension or conflict, "Bonfire" feels flat.
It's fitting that a recycled show has a recycled guest voice. Alec Baldwin played himself in "When You Dish Upon a Star (5F19)"; here he takes on the role of Caleb Thorn. I've always thought that guest actors were more entertaining when not playing themselves, so here's an opportunity to test that theory. My conclusion: What role the actor plays may not be as important as the dialogue he's given. Thorn has some funny lines, but they are pretty sedate compared with his Hollywood fish-out-of-water dialogue in "Dish".
There are a few solidly funny scenes here and there. I liked Homer's misadventures in football gambling. The seedy Christmas village that Marge and the kids go to (in August!) is good for a laugh. So is Homer's run in with a gang of toughs on personal watercraft. The high point for me may be Homer's country cousin. Normally it's not a good sign when family members are just pulled out of thin air, but I liked the way Homer kept insisting his cousin was just a rube, despite abundant evidence to the contrary.
"Bonfire of the Manatees" isn't a bad episode, just an uninspired one. As such, it's an odd choice for the season kickoff. Next week's episode looks better. (In fact, the twenty-second clip was more amusing than this show.) There may be a finite number of stories out there, but even after seventeen seasons, I don't think "The Simpsons" has explored them all.
[The short of it]
You know a story line's getting old when even the characters seem a bit bored with it. This episode seems designed to defuse tension more than to build it. Marge and Caleb never fall in love, and thus never threaten the Simpson marriage, and Homer is hardly even jealous. With little tension, there's little comic spark. Alec Baldwin isn't bad as Caleb, but he was given funnier dialogue playing Alec Baldwin a few years back. I liked some aspects, like Homer's scenes with his cousin, but "Bonfire" is an oddly uninspired kickoff to the season. (C+)
[DYNs]
... this episode premiered on the first Sunday in the NFL's 2005- 2006 season? ... the Broncos were playing the Seattle Seahawks? ... the Oakland Raiders were playing the Pittsburgh Steelers? [Okay, that's only a DYN if you're not a football fan] ... Carl's wearing Marge's robe? ... the number for Moe's tavern is 555-1337? ... the damage Marge inflicts on Homer's car in the first act is still there in the second act?
[References]
"Bonfire of the Vanities" (novel) - title a spoof
"Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" (a series of children's books) - the pr0n film Fat Tony's producing is called, "Lemony Lick-it's A Series of Horny Events"
"Fahrenheit 911" - Carl refers to a flick called, "Fahrenheit Nine-On-One"
[Previous Episode References]
[2F18] Homer and the Broncos [8F12] Homer gambles on pro football
[FFF]
Homer's pennant (Yay, they're back!):
MY TEAM
Professor Pigskin flyer:
PROF. PIGSKIN'S
PRO BALL
PROGNOSTICATOR
/------\
SEATTLE AT |DENVER|
\------/Film production van:
GENTLEMEN'S
RELIEF
PRODUCTIONSObscure restaurant chain:
BURGER
PLATE[Oops!]
Homer's phone lacks buttons for "0", "#" and "*". Curiously, Moe's phone in the same scene has the right number of buttons.
I don't think manatees can even live (for long) out of water, let alone attack a phone booth.
[Personal Comments & Observations]
When planning the opening credits for "The Simpsons," the writers came up with a clever idea: Each week, Bart would be seen staying after school, writing something on the blackboard as punishment. The gimmick was that each week he would write something different. It was a cute idea -- for about five or six seasons. After that, coming up with new phrases for Bart to write started to become more trouble than it was worth. In recent seasons, the blackboard gags dwindled, and at least one of them ("Nobody reads these anymore") hinted that writing them was getting to be a chore. Tonight's gag -- "Does any kid still do this anymore?" -- suggests the writers are still at least a little tired of this joke. (And they also have a point. When was the last time you've seen misbehaving children repeatedly writing something on a blackboard?)
The manatees seen in tonight's episode are a mixture of (mostly) fact and fantasy. Manatees are large aquatic mammals that ply the coastal waters and rivers of Florida. (At least during the summer. I believe that they migrate south in the winter in search of warmer water.) At first Marge is intimidated, but she needn't be; manatees are gentle animals that feed mainly on underwater plants. If anything, it's the manatee that should be worried about us. Careless boaters and water scooter pilots cause about half of all manatee fatalities by running them over. (They don't move quickly, so it's hard for them to get out of the way.) It's one of the reasons scientists consider the manatee an endangered species.