This Is Danny Baram, Reporting From ... The 90's. Last night's controversial SIMPSONS - Reviewed!

THE SIMPSONS: "That 90's Show"

- Wow, it's been a while since I've heard so many people talking about an episode of THE SIMPSONS. If you haven't tuned in in a while, here's what has people talkin' :

Last night's episode of The Simpsons, was, arguably, the funniest and overall best episode of the series in quite some time. In many ways, it felt like a classic installment - a story that ran for the full duration without suddenly shifting gears, spot-on humor and cultural satire, and some meat to the storyline that really gave some depth to the characters. On the other hand, the episode was undoubtedly jarring for longtime fans - you see, the episode flashed back to Homer and Marge's early years as a teen couple - an era which Simpsons fans are pretty familiar with by this point. Except, this time, the whole crux of the episode was that it was firmly set in the 1990's, and much of the humor came from satirizing the decade in which The Simpsons reached the height of its popularity and acclaim.

It's not that The Simpsons has ever held to a strict sense of continuity - the Simpson clan has always remained the same age, for example, despite numerous Christmas and Halloween episodes. And yet, the show has always had a keen sense of self-awareness - often including numerous nods to past episodes and a loose sense of growth and change in its world, with "big" character-driven events in one episode often affecting subsequent episodes - Maude Flanders' death and Milhouse's parents' divorce are some examples.

And while it's always been acknowledged that because of its nature, some aspects of the show have to be taken with a grain of salt, rarely has The Simpsons done an out-and-out "retcon," actually re-writing its characters' own history to adjust to the real-world passage of time. Case in point: in previous episodes, it was firmly established that Homer and Marge's teenage years were in the 70's, "when a young Joe Piscopo taught a nation how to laugh." Now, we flash back and see Homer and Marge as a young couple in the 90's, at a time when, obviously, in the real world, The Simpsons was airing and Marge and Homer were the same 37 or 38 that they are now.

Confused ...?

Well, here's what I think: sure, for hardcore Simpsons fans it's jarring to see this kind of revisionism, but if it leads to episodes as funny as this one, I'm all for it. This was such a memorable, hilairous episode. Some quick classic moments off the top of my head:

- Margerine!

- Sadgasm!

- "Hi, I'm Kurt Loder, reporting from ... the 90's."

- Weird Al's "Brain Freeze" parody

- "A person who no longer cares about Weird Al is a person who no longer cares about life."

- Homer constructing an entire run-on sentance from cobbled-together Seinfeld references

- "The 90's? Never heard of 'em."

- Moe turning his bar into a cigar bar. The oxygen bar getting burned down.

- PHD

- The crack about how some tribe might have already invented the polio vaccine, but nobody ever asked them.

Overall, I love the fact that The Simpsons did something to get people talking, but what I love more is that unlike some other stunts from the last few years - from lame celeb cameos to gimmicky plotlines - this particular twist resulted in hilarity. Sure, it contradicts about 35 different Simpsons episodes (so how does Homerpalooza fit into things now ...? Artie Ziff? Homer's classic "When I Was Seventeen" song?), but in this case it's probably best not to worry too much and enjoy the ride. Still, it's amazing how this one has divided fans - the reviewer over on IGN gave the ep a mere 3 out of 10. Over on The Onion, the ep got a similarly harsh C+ ... but in both cases, fans passionately defended the episode as one of the funniest in years, and I agree. If The Simpsons can be this funny on a consistent basis, then comedy fans have reason to rejoice.

"But I neeeeeed it!"

My Grade: A -