"Husbands and Knives (The Simpsons)", 11-18-2007

I have absolutely no idea where the writers of "The Simpsons" were going with this episode, but parts of it were quite funny. It might be an episode I'll care to watch in reruns, which is a high honor for any episode of "The Simpsons" after the 15th season.

The "A" plot deals with Marge realizing that she has gained a few pounds, after noticing that her outline bulges beyond the outline of the stand-up Wonder Woman poster outside of The Android's Dungeon. (After Marge is made fun of by the bullies -- Dolph, Jimbo and Kearney, Dolph and Kearney get into a fight about whether or not Kearney's mom is fat or if it's just a side affect of her depression medication -- a very funny moment for anyone who has had to deal with the side effects of depression medication.)

Marge decides to go to the hip, cool Springfield gym, but Marge is embarrassed as she is unable to even use the walking treadmill without looking like a fool. She decides to create a brand new gym for women called "Shapes". This gym for ordinary-looking women is extremely successful, and soon Marge is on the fast track to fame and riches.

Homer enjoys accompanying Marge on her business trips -- after all, it's free lodging and food on Marge's money -- until he comes across a group of husbands of high-powered, successful women in Marge's new social circle. These buff Adonises reveal that they are second husbands, telling Homer that the first thing their wives did after they became successful was dump the old lardasses they had married. However, one of the Adonises has pity on Homer -- he secretly reveals that he is a first husband, who through strength of will, eating right, and exercising daily, managed to transform himself into the figure he is today.

Homer writes this down, taking it all in -- and then has stomach stapling surgery with the plastic surgeon from "Pygmoelian" and "Large Marge". The stomach surgery causes Homer to lose a lot of weight, even though as Homer put it "food tastes like barf". However, the surgery causes the excess skin to sag from Homer's body, forcing Homer to resort to chip clips and large rubber bands to hide it. Homer returns to the plastic surgeon and tells the surgeon to give Homer all of the other surgeries he's got.

When Marge gets an award from Mayor Quimby, Homer shows up at the ceremony -- the plastic surgery has made him into a dark-haired bodybuilder who looks as monstrous as most bodybuilders look. This freakish Homer is chased by a pitchfork-wielding mob and chased (along with Marge) to the top of Notre Dame de Springfield. At the top of the tower, Marge reveals she wants a trophy husband and pushes Homer from the belltower to his death.

Homer wakes up in the hospital. It seems that when the doctor called Marge to get permission after Homer went under, Marge cancelled the surgeries and had Homer's stomach band removed. Homer is back to his old, flabby self, but Marge still loves him.

In the "B" plot, when Milhouse is charged $25 by the Comic Book Guy for accidentally tearing a comic book guy, Comic Book Guy reminds his many customers that they can either go to his comic store or to one of the nonexistent comic book stores across the street. Unfortunately, a new comic store has just moved in, run by a cool customer named Milo (Jack Black). The store has video games, and the store owner has Japanese hard candy to give out to the kids. When Lisa tears the page of a Tintin book by accident, the cool store owner tells her that books are to be read, not stored.

The Comic Book Guy loses all his business to the new store. (Where do you think Marge got the space to start her new gym? From the Comic Book Guy's old store, soon to be closed.) During a signing by independent comic writers and artists Alan Moore, Art Spiegelman and Dan Clowes (all playing themselves), the Comic Book Guy tries to win his customers back by pointing that Cool Guy couldn't be a true comic geek -- he has a girlfriend! (Comic Book Guy is also selling ninja swords to win back the geeks.) When this ploy fails, Comic Book Guy attacks the store's displays with a kitana, but Moore, Spielgelman and Clowes form a muscled superteam and defeat the Comic Book Guy's rampage.

(* * *)

Immediately, I can hear the voice of the Comic Guy in my head. "Continuity, Mr. Bowman! Where, oh where, is the continuity?"

There was no use of the reset button in this episode. As far as we know, Marge still has her successful chain of gymnasiums. As far as we know, the Comic Book Guy has lost his store, to remain out of business forever. What will happen to him? He'll be poor! And penniless! And unloved! And...no different from before, really. However, at the end the three comic book writers/artists/heroes are about to stop a meteor from hitting Springfield -- until they fly off to a benefit for old comic book artists, as the meteor gets closer....

Therefore, I suspect that the reset button will be punched next episode. Like Homer's singing career with the Be Sharps, Marge would probably remind the viewers that there's a perfectly good explanation as to where Marge's money went and how the Comic Book Guy got his store back -- there's just no space for it in this episode.

This episode was written by Matt Selman, who knows a bit about continuity-setting precedent. He wrote the episodes "Eight Misbehavin'", as well as "Behind the Laughter" and one of the better episodes "Trilogy of Error" (where Homer temporarily loses his thumb). There were many great moments in this episode:

* Milhouse's whining that he was going to celebrate Greek Orthodox Easter with the $25 he owes the comic book guy.
* The Korean version of "What's New Pussycat" playing in the new comic store.
* The animated version of the Tintin book Lisa is reading.
* Of course, the fight with the bullies.
* The fan service with Moore, Spiegelman and Clowes! (If you're a comic book geek like me, this was heaven!)
* Clowes's complaining that he doesn't want to work in independent comics and has dreamed of drawing "Batman" instead. (He shows Lisa his sketches of Batman's utility belt.)
* "The Watchmen Babies in V for Vacation".
* Spiegelman puts on a mask that looks like the face of his protagonist in "Maus" before getting ready to kick Comic Book Guy's ass.
* Marge's humiliating public shower.
* Milo's girlfriend (Strawberry) has a purse which is a lunchbox!
* The sign closing the Android's Dungeon, which looks like an old Spider-Man cover.
* Homer's bizarre new appearance.

A good episode, and for once, actually better than the "Family Guy" episode that followed it.

NEXT AMAZING ISSUE: After bashing continuity's head in, the Simpsons return to worship at the great porcelain god of continuity, as Kelsey Grammer returns for his final appearance as Sideshow Bob in "Funeral for a Fiend"!