“Sunday night marks a television milestone worth celebrating. The Simpsons airs its 300th episode, a powerful rebuttal to the plague of nightmarish reality shows which are collectively leading some to believe the future for scripted programming is dim. It’s too bad, then, that episode 300 is not a great one (opinionated spoilers follow).
In it, Bart discovers, on an old videotape, that he starred in a commercial as a baby. When he finds out the money’s gone, he sues his parents for emancipation. Lampooned are Furbies, homemade conjugal videotapes, medical-product ads, pro skateboarding, courtroom TV, the Kennedy Center Honors, Simpsons merchandising, Michael Jackson’s baby handling and more. It’s even got, in an apparent homage to the beginnings of The Simpsons, dad Homer being a lot cruder than he has become, trading attempted asphyxiations with son Bart. But it’s also mucked up by too many lines going to the celebrity guest star (Tony Hawk), the series’ biggest ongoing weakness. And there is a forced, rushed resolution to Bart’s decision to move out and into a downtown loft.” Read More >>>