Welcome to a new column called Channel Surfing, in which I sporadically look at current TV shows and talk about them. These are not ones that I care to write weekly recaps for and are instead reflections either on the episode, the series, or particular moments. This will hopefully help to share personal opinions as well as discover entertainment on the outer pantheon that I feel is well worth checking out, or in some cases, shows that are weird enough to talk about, but should never be seen.
The Simpsons is no spring chicken. The show is currently in its 27th season and the complaints about its quality have been debated for over a decade, even culminating in a podcast called Worst Episode Ever. While there are those likely to defend certain episodes, the one thing is clear: it's not the same. But how not the same it is may be the more baffling thing. Where 2014 saw the show reach peak resurgence with Every Simpsons Ever on FXX, a Hollywood Bowl concert, and TWO crossover episodes; 2015 meets them at a different hurdle. Harry Shearer has threatened to leave the show. Bart Simpson will be allegedly killed off... in a Halloween episode. Just this morning, longtime gay character Mr. Smithers will have a "coming out" episode. For some, it's a little too late. However, the one thing that took top priority was to be battled in the season premiere: Marge and Homer were to divorce.
Never mind that the characters have been separated and remarried at least four times, even serving as the tag joke in "Wedding for Disaster" from seven seasons ago. Still, it became the controversial selling point of The Simpsons, primed to remain relevant and do something different with a show that resets its formula after almost every episode. Considering that The Muppets are currently doing similar things with Kermit and Miss Piggy, I am fine with the beloved yellow couple staying together. However, it still is interesting to see what would happen in "Every Man's Dream," which kicked off the season and promised just that. Could this be some odd, compelling twist where the show adopts the idea for a season?
The issue isn't that the idea has been done to death, it's the commitment to the idea that followed. Homer has flown solo countless times, and to see him land with a pharmacist may be a bit of a stretch age-wise, but was still plausible enough. We've seen Homer become a hipster, and this is essentially a retread of similar themes, just featuring the cast of Girls instead of Portlandia. There's trippy imagery as Homer becomes intoxicated both from alcohol and romance in a manner that reflects the show's increasing reliability on artistic interludes to their story. While it doesn't top the onslaught of consistent artistic cameos present in season 24, it does serve as the odd sidetrack to the central story.
So, why do Homer and Marge get separated? Simple: narcolepsy. This was a main draw of the season 13 episode "Half-Decent Proposal," in which Marge's old boyfriend Artie Ziff pays for Homer's surgery. This time, it is solved by therapy - of which Homer falls asleep during the events. It is decided that the only way to solve it is to do a trial separation that results in Homer dating a pharmacist and, no joke, Marge dates the pharmacist's age-appropriate father. From there, things spiral out of control, though leave the impression that Homer is going to be alone at the end of the episode. Even if guest star Lena Dunham will not be around, the prospect of Homer having to try something new felt exciting among the episode's other baffling constructs. The timer closes in. It's five minutes to curtain call. Nobody's rekindling old flames. It's...
Mind you, this was the moment that was billed as the big selling point of the premiere episode. Much like the underwhelming death that started last season's "Clown in the Dumps," (of which served no continuity change to the show), the moment that followed only reflected the growing disinterest that the staff writers have in doing something ambitious. For a show that influenced almost every other show in its proximity, it definitely has the sad old man face for the last final minutes of the show. Of course, this is the show who also did "Sky Police": an episode where Chief Wiggum gets a jet pack, only to illogically transfer to a different story about gambling after five minutes.
You see, the title "Every Man's Dream" is itself the slap on the face that you wished wasn't so obvious. Homer's narcolepsy meant that the entire episode was able to be a dream. Within a dream. Within a dream. Within a dream. It wasn't a deliberate Inception parody (which they did with "How I Wet Your Mother"), but more of an excuse to wrap up a baffling story. To make matters more lazy and confusing, the dream wasn't even Homer's. It was Dunham's Girls character Hannah Horvath's description of a tattoo on her back. Let that sink in for a bit. Much like how St. Elsewhere's snow globe theory suggests that an autistic boy made all of TV, The Simpsons retroactively is now the idea of a notorious 29-year-old woman whom the internet dislikes. That is, if you read it at face value.
I'm a long term Simpsons fan, willing to put up with anything that they produce. Even if there's been a handful of episodes that haven't made sense ("The Man Who Came to Be Dinner," "Moe's Bar Rag"), I try to find the good in them. I accept that the show isn't what it once was, but it still has a chance to be lively and timely. However, the notion that the show needs to do a selling point that is not only a redundant plot line, but in such a fashion that disowns its very existence is obnoxious proof that the writers are kind of done with the show. As for the Homer and Marge resolution? It is the familiar "shrugging shoulders" speech that all of these episodes have.
No moment has topped "Secrets of a Successful Marriage" in describing this dynamic. In probably the bleakest example of separation, Homer is tossed away, forced to live on his own in a disheveled state. He returns to Marge a broken down man with tattered clothes and a pathetic excuse for posies. He stands there, trying to find an excuse that works. What he comes up with is essentially the antidote for every example of this scenario. Homer states that the reason he loves Marge is because of his "complete and utter dependence" towards her. She says that it's not a good thing, but accepts him back anyways. It's a powerful moment that reflects Homer's ineptitude as something endearingly tragic. Compare that to "Every Man's Dream," and you'll notice other things missing: like character growth and a deeper reasoning on Marge's part. It isn't romantic this time. It's just plain sad. Not just because it's bad writing, but because they did it better 22 years ago.
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