http://www.pastdeadline.com/2006/10/im_trying_to_de.html
Is It Possible 'The Simpsons' Just Jumped the Shark?
Got my DVD preview copy today of the latest "Simpsons" Halloween trilogy, "Treehouse of Horror XVII," which airs Nov. 5 after all of the postseason baseball on Fox. Not only is it the most disappointing "Treehouse" ever by what felt like a wide margin, it scarcely even seemed like the same show I've known and adored for nearly 400 episodes.
Let me preface this by noting that even lousy "Simpsons" is better than the overwhelming majority of comedy ever to grace television. I've also been one of the show's prime defenders the past few years, reasoning that the show is still great despite its advancing years, that it still hits some impressive peaks this late in its life (an unfathomable 18th season). And it has to be exceedingly difficult for the show to continue coming up with truly original ideas without repeating itself. Lastly, I authored the official "Simpsons" episodic chronicle of its first eight seasons, "The Simpsons: A Complete Gude To Our Favorite Family," which now covers less than half the show's output. So I'm more qualified than many to assess the show's merits and quality trajectory.
The trilogy I just watched pained me, something that disturbs me even to write. Its mirth is tepid and forced, the plotlines labored, the dialogue strained. In the first tale, Homer eats some goo and turns into a gargantuan version of The Blob who eats everything in sight. In the second, Bart uses a legendary monster from Jewish folklore named Golem to do his bidding in and out of school. The final installment is a spoof of the "War of the Worlds" radio hoax of 1938 that more or less wanders off into oblivion, ultimately turning into a bizarre -- and uncharacteristic -- indictment of the Iraq War.
I chuckled a couple of times, but barely. Guest voices Dr. Phil McGraw, Richard Lewis and Fran Drescher are more or less wasted. The dreaded possible "Jump the Shark" moment came in the second installment as Krusty the Klown is rehearsing a stand-up comedy sketch spoofing "Desperate Housewives" (called "Desperate Houseflies"). Krusty, donning a fly mask, realizes the idea is going nowhere and wails, "Ohhh...I'm gonna need a shoebox full of blow to get through this dreck!"
Hearing it somehow feels particularly jarring. While it's hardly out of character for Krusty to whine about the need to self-medicate, hard-boiled clown that he is, it nonetheless comes across as oddly gratuitous to suddenly insinuate a slangy reference to cocaine abuse as part of the guy's patter.
I'm as excited to see "The Simpsons Movie" next July as anyone, and I'll still tune in the show because it's so much a part of my life that I don't know how to not watch it. But after seeing this, I'm fearful of the show's imminent plunge. I honestly can't even handle the idea that "The Simpsons" ever could be reduced to traveling on fumes. But with the new Halloween production, I'm greatly troubled by the (hopefully fleeting) glimpse at a sputtering engine.