I wouldn't say tonight's episode was any kind of classic -- especially since it inevitably had echoes of other episodes like "Lisa the Vegetarian" and "Homer the Heretic" (inevitably because after 12 years they're just out of original concepts). Lisa was a bit too self-righteous and Marge seemed a bit too clueless. But there were a lot of good points that bode well for the new Al Jean era, like:
- The story followed a semi-logical progression and had a quiet ending without any violent action scenes (the ending was too abrupt, but at least it was an ending).
- The return of some long-suppressed character traits: Lisa's love of ponies, Mr. Burns' greed, Marge's very conventional religious views, Flanders' conspicuous consumption.
- No obviously tasteless or bloody gags
- Some good jokes that made me laugh, like Mr. Burns threatening God ("You'll get yours!") and the return of the Noid. It just made me laugh more than most recent episodes.
In sum, I think this episode showed a lot of promise for the rest of the season. We'll see, though.
Some notes:
- As befits a guy who's been with the show from the beginning, Al Jean clearly likes previous-episode references. All the banners for businesses that have appeared in previous episodes; the return of the Hamster from "Duffless."
- For the first time since season five, George Meyer is not working full-time on the show. Now he's billed as "producer," which this season means someone who is only a part-time staffer (other people who have the new "producer" credit include Mike Reiss and Jon Vitti).
- Two of the new writers, Josh Lieb and Brian Kelley, are former staff writers for "NewsRadio" (once a forgotten sitcom on NBC, now popular in reruns on A&E). Lieb even got to run that show in its last (and least) season after Phil Hartman died.