Mmmmm, That's Good Synergy

"You looken sharpen todayen mein Herr." - Mr. Smithers

There isn't much point in posting a review of a television show that's already been broadcast, but that didn't stop the good people over at IGN from sucking up to their superiors.  Their disturbingly obsequious review was written by one Robert Canning.  To give you an idea of where he's coming from, the only post on his "blog" at IGN is an about statement that has the following two sentences right next to each other:

The Simpsons should never die. (Well, not never, but not for a while)
I'm strangely attracted to Bonnie Hunt.

I don't think I can add anything to that, but I can rework his review into something with a modicum of dignity and honesty.  Enjoy.  

March 2, 2009 - Some of the best episodes of The Simpsons are focused on events at Springfield Elementary, and "How The Test Was Won" is no a massive, glaring exception. This was a smart dimwitted, very funny tedious half hour that proved you can't write off this television stalwart simply because it's been on the air for 20 years.

In a delightful nod to some other great, historic television programs, this episode's couch bit traveled through time showing the Simpson clan in some very famous roles while killing a lot of time. It started with The Honeymooners and stopped at The Dick Van Dyke Show (Homer tripped over the ottoman), The Brady Bunch (Lisa got hit in the nose), and at a bar called Cheers. In a very smart and funny an utterly predictable bit that's been done before, Sideshow Bob walked into the bar. Bob, of course, is voiced by Kelsey Grammer, who sat on those famous bar stools as Dr. Fraser Crane.

But a great time waster couch bit doesn't always mean a great time waster episode. Thankfully, this week's outing lived up to the opening, and was equally boring.  Springfield Elementary announced to the student body that they would be participating in the Vice-Presidential Assessment Test. (Nelson: "He stinks!") Since this test determines the amount of federal funding the school would receive, Superintendent Chalmers concocted a scheme to get rid of the school's underperformers. At first, I thought noticed this plot seemed too similar is identical to what happened in "Whacking Day," when Principal Skinner locked the bullies and Bart in the utility basement to have them out of the way during one of Chalmer's inspections. But "How The Test Was Won" took the idea in a different direction and nothing felt retread or repurposed, made me wish I was watching "Whacking Day" instead. Here, Chalmers got the school bullies, Ralph and Bart on Otto's bus (disguised as a helicopter, no less for some reason) and then tricked Principal Skinner into getting on board as well, for some other reason.

The rest of the episode followed the adventure of random, pointless events that happen to Skinner and the "superstars" as they were being shipped off to Capital City for the day for yet another unknown reason. This was classic Zombie Simpsons. Some of the most memorable episodes of the series have involved Skinner mismatched with some students in extraordinary genuinely humorous situations ("Skinner's Sense of Snow" "Team Homer", "Separate Vocations" and "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" to name two three.) Laughs Paroxysms of boredom came from all directions, including Bart's taunting, Skinner's horror at realizing their location ("My God! We're at the corner of Cesar Chavez Way and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard!") and even from Otto's ever-present buzz. But the biggest laugh cheapest, most contrived pop culture reference masquerading as a joke came when Ralph needed to stop for a bathroom break. While at the urinal, Ralph sang a long, repetitive portion of The Spice Girls' "Wannabe." Then, when Skinner told him to hurry up and finish, Ralph stated, "I finished before we came in." I'm throwing this scene in as a contender for a top ten Ralph Wiggum moment list of reasons from this episode alone that Zombie Simpsons should've gone off the air ten years ago.     

The rest of the episode was equally entertaining bland. Back at the testing, Lisa was drawing a blank. Chalmers had a great line here another contrived pop culture reference masquerading as a joke when he approached the troubled girl: "Like Captain Kirk, I'm not supposed to interfere. But like T.J. Hooker, I say what's on my mind." While the test taking was actually a small part of the episode, the anxiety of Chalmers, Lisa and the rest of the kids offered up a good number of chuckles opportunity to go to the bathroom.

Homer's incoherent slapstick storyline was also very funny boring. In what could have just been the usual style of weak filler, having Homer uninsured until 3:00 p.m. was a smart choice that and loaded the episode with some great visuals time killing garbage. Early on, we were given a montage of Homer getting hurt. Again, this is something the series has done before and it worried me that the episode might just be proved again that it's just repeating itself. But when Homer ended the overlong montage with, "What a week," you could tell this was actually going somewhere sadly, the best they can do. The story thing ended at Marge's book club, where Homer did a hilarious, slow-motion job of keeping everyone safe. Well, except for Mr. Burns. It's a sequence you have to see to truly enjoy comprehend the vapidity.

The very ending didn't quite lived up to what preceded it, but at least it tied a few things together. Skinner realized there was more to teaching than testing and he called off the federal exam exposited ad nauseam about it. This freed Lisa from failing the test brought a merciful end to another subplot no one cared about. Tidy Ham fisted, but and not very funny. And I could have done without the Footloose-referencing extended dance scene with Chalmers. But those are minor issues in an episode that had me laughing from the beginning to (almost) the end many major ones.