The Simpsons Season 19 Premiere on Fox: Recap and Review

TV Network: FOX
Airs: Sunday 8:00 PM (eastern)
Runtime: 30 minutes
Genre: Animation
Series Created by: Matt Groening
Executive Producer: James L. Brooks, David X. Cohen, Al Jean
Starring:
Nancy Cartwright (Bart Simpson), Dan Castellaneta (Homer Simpson), Julie Kavner (Marge Simpson), Yeardley Smith (Lisa Simpson)
Guest stars for this episode include Stephen Colbert (as life coach, Colby), and Lionel Richie.

(series information courtesy of Fox)

There is a new opening sequence which is amusing and entertaining. It is the same basic concept (Bart on his skateboard through town), but with different imagery. This episode begins with a joke about the falling price of the iphone. Burns and Smithers are walking through a mall and an announcement comes over the system saying iphones have dropped to just twenty cents. Burns falls into the mall's wishing pond and Homer meanders along to pull him out. Burns offers to buy Homer dinner for saving him. Bart tells Homer to "have fun with his boyfriend" before Homer leaves for dinner.

Burns takes Homer on his private plane where we meet Lionel Richie, who serenades Homer with "Say You, Say Me" replacing all the words with the word "beer" at Homer's request. They arrive in Chicago to have a dinner of "Chicago-style pizza. In traditional Simpson's humor, they pass a stadium called "Wherever The White Sox Play", a bank called "The First Bank Of Oprah", and attend a day spa called "Ferris Bueller's Day Of Beauty."

Homer gets home and without having any knowledge of recent events, Marge opens the door and says,"Homer you smell like Chicago...did you fly there on a private luxury airline?" Homer is upset because he had a taste of "the good life" and now he wants more.

Marge hires Homer a life coach to help Homer improve his life. Homer is depressed, saying, "I don't even want to take off my socks. I will just have to put them off in a week again." The life coach tells Homer her needs to concentrate by remembering three simple letters: NDC: Never Don't Concentrate. Homer and the lie coach go bowling. Homer thanks him, "I really enjoyed you paying you to yell at me and tell me I suck." The life coach observes that Homer is a different person when bowling and advises him to wear his bowling shoes everywhere he goes.

Homer complies and begins wearing his bowling shoes. His "shoe attitude is bowling people over" as his life coach says. Homer gets an offer to become a safety inspector for a company which includes flying in a private airplane (which was Homer's new love). He gets the job and on the first day declares he is going to be early so he can get to know the "lunch truck guy". The twist is, he really didn't get the job but didn't want anyone else to know. He goes off to "work", but instead sits in a fast food joint and feels sorry for himself.

Homer walks in after work pretending he went to work. Lisa tells him she is proud of him and he runs off telling her to "stop peppering him with questions!".

The next day, Bart and his buddies are messing around in the fast food joint where Homer is hanging out while pretending to be at work. He confesses to Bart that he didn't get the job. He tells Bart how he bombed the interview. He couldn't bear to tell Marge. Bart says that Homer has to tell Marge because she is "buying brand name groceries now...things like rich people buy like Campbell's Soup and Pepsodent!" Homer agrees to tell Marge but when he calls her, he can't bear to tell her. He pays Burns' private jet pilot to take him and Marge up in the jet so he can break the news to her.

The hear a crash and they check on the pilot. The pilot tells Homer he wasn't planning on flying today so he did some heroin. In a panic, Homer takes the controls and Marge calls the life coach. The life coach tries to talk to Homer. He tells Homer he will land the plane because he "heard some guy say that Homer couldn't." Homer says he will "show that guy!" Homer lands the jet, but while taxiing, drives it off a cliff.

He begs for his job back at the plant. Lionel Richie ends the episode with a joke.

The writers of The Simpsons to continue to mix sociological commentary with old-school low brow humor to make us laugh and think . This episode was funny and clever and I expect to enjoy the Simpsons as much this year as I have for the past 18.