"Midnight Towboy (The Simpsons)", 10-07-2007

Reviewing "The Simpsons" might be the biggest waste of time on the planet, but then again, that's what the Internet is for.

There's a lot of fol-de-rol about how "The Simpsons" is no longer cool, no longer funny, no longer relevant, whatever. I'll let these same very loud five people continue to argue about it. (I suspect they are the same five people who are desperately trying to bring "The Rat Pack" culture of swingers and martinis back -- they try to bring it back every three years or so; but the American public soundly rejects it.)

The acid test of any current Simpsons episode is "if you knew absolutely nothing about the characters, would you find this funny?" And for "Midnight Towboy", the answer is yes.

The A-plot is that Homer finds his car about to be towed away to the nearby (and heretofore unmentioned) city of Guidopolis. Homer gets into the tow truck and finds out that the hitch operator is self-employed. Homer falls for the mystique of the "Midnight Towboy", riding his tow truck and hitching cars, making money hand over fist in all quarters, and becomes Springfield's tow-truck operator.

For once, the B-plot is quite good : Maggie has gotten too clingy and Marge can't find any peace. Through the help of the intertubes, she finds a counselor who tells her that Maggie tears when separated are actually tears of independence. Marge needs to let Maggie self-actualize her self-itude. Or something. However, with Maggie now running her own life, what is left for Marge to dote upon?

Some great gags:

* Maggie's clinginess leads a bottle of milk to be dropped on the kitchen floor, and Homer cries over it, putting a lie to the old saying.
* Homer's futile quest for finding milk in Springfield.
* Homer ends up drinking a glass of white paint at Moe's Tavern. Moe charges him for the paint, but first has to match price with color of the paint. Good thing Moe has swatches.
* Marge trying to navigate the internet and buying two refrigerators by accident.
* Homer learning why you never should have your tow-hook facing in.
* Bart and Homer, and their dangerous fun.
* The townspeople set Homer up for the fall, as the power goes right to Homer's head.
* Homer and the other tow-jockeys trapped in the basement.
* Maggie riding Santa's Little Helper to rescue her dad.
* Maggie's showdown with the sack of potatoes that Marge has been forced to dote on in Maggie's absence.

There is more than enough here to find funny. As a matter of fact, I suspect this episode will provide more than a few lines for those nerds that speak entirely in phrases from "The Simpsons". "The Simpsons" might indeed collapse under its own weight, but sad tidings to the tragically hip -- it won't be this week.