My one big complaint about tonight's episode: (relative) waste of Dawson. I'd heard he was coming back for an episode this season, and had hoped they'd do something really inspired with him, but that effectively could've been any of Robin's exes used to set up that bit. (I, for one, wish it had been Male Gail.)

I felt like the meter was generally pretty inconsistent, possibly due to delivery. They seemed less concerned with scansion than with rhyme, which was mildly disappointing. But if you view it as the "rhyming episode" and not as the "cowritten by Shakespeare episode", it's pretty good. And also, it was funny, which is…

Agreed - both in terms of the delivery and some of the writing. It often just doesn't *quite* scan. But still great.

His Noodly Appendage has covered the only reason I like this development.

I agree with you on points 2 and 3, but can't even muster the energy to be offended by them, because point 1 vexes me so much. It's a well the show goes to far too much these days, the aging/sexualizing the kids well, especially Bart. (The opening credits segment in which Lisa = Ke$ha is a pretty good example of them…

I agree with Kolchak's read. "Three Eyes" is accessible, universal, and funny. "Sideshow Bob Roberts" trades in some of the accessibility and universality, but makes up for it by being funnier. Tonight's episode had none of the above.

I liked it. The unexpectedness was funny. In particular, I feel like the writing for Marge has been off for quite a while, and so I was all ready to be irritated by the clunkiness of having her randomly refer to herself as "someone who loves you" for no reason; using Mr. Bergstrom there, instead of having that line…

Yeah, that's how I interpreted it. "He can say the crazy foreign name perfectly, but he can't say the normal white-person name!" It was like when Family Guy panders and pretends not to be racist for three seconds, except without the surrounding racism.

"Maggie's bar joke was favorite recurring joke." I feel like the show really overkills the "child character mimics the drinking of alcohol for some reason" non-joke, but this was a reasonable iteration.

The political stuff was, while nowhere near the heights classic Simpsons reached, still not as cut-and-dried, tone-deaf, simplistic, "our-team-is-good-and-the-other-team-is-bad" as recent Simpsons political humour has been. I mean, it still was that; it just wasn't *as* egregious.

I thought Elisabeth Moss was an odd choice as well, and I do think her voice is generally pretty distinctive, but I didn't recognize her last week at all.

I'm actually quite enjoying the show's recent nods to its own history - last week's Hoju, this week's Bergstrom cameo and Bart both saying "Ay Caramba" and learning the meaning of same. I have complaints—-the plot summary for tonight was something along the lines of "Lisa finally makes a best friend, but she turns out…

Wasn't Dave Shutton a recurring character in the early days? For example, the three-eyed fish episode?

Congratulations. You had me convinced "Pardon My Zinger" was a real thing for a moment.

I would threaten to kill that Mr. Postponer of Further Simpsons Classic Reviews Until The New Year and to wound that Mr. Sims, but people would probably think I was serious about wounding that Mr. Sims. Also, I'd have to call Sims "Mr." Yeah, it's not worth it.

For me, what sells it is that (if I recall correctly) the kid is never called "Homer Junior". He's called "Little Homer". So it feels like a deliberate allusion, an in-joke for those who are old enough to remember "Hoju" (and sadly, there are far too many viewers who aren't, get off my lawn etc.), and not mere…

I enjoy it. So do numerous other commenters here. So must a significant portion of the viewership, or else they'd stop watching. So it's a bit hyperbolic to say that you can't accept that "someone" can find this season entertaining and funny when clearly, millions of people do.

Also, it's been more than a few years - I am ready to see Roy again.

I know I say this most weeks, but you're quickly establishing yourself as one of my favourite writers around here. You vexed me a little when you identified parts of last night's episode as being on par with classic Simpsons (really?), but then you got me back with a., this thoughtful response, and b., ending this…

This is the one time - the ONE TIME - the show has done a callback to a classic moment that's felt like a sweet callback and not like a pathetic attempt to rip itself off.