"Treehouse of Horror XVIII"/"Stewie Kills Lois"/"Big Trouble in Little Langley"
Well, now that the Red Sox have won the Series, we can all get back to the important business of dissecting the minutiae of animated prime-time sitcoms. Not that baseball isn't important (really, it's not), but come on, a Simpsons Halloween episode AND a Family Guy retrospective, AND a major Family Guy "event" episode? There is much to discuss! (Oh yeah, American Dad was in there too.)
So when did "Treehouse of Horror" become Simpsons code for "slapdash movie parodies"? And when did the writers give up even attempting to relate those parodies to Halloween? Seriously, E.T. and Mr. And Mrs. Smith? What the hell is that? Don't think just by slapping on that final act with the trick-or-treating and Devil Flanders that you can trick us into believing this is a Halloween episode, Simpsons writers. I'm very disappointed in all of you. May your Halloween candy be filled with razor blades.
Sure, there were some of the old Treehouse of Horror signifiers: the slimy green typeface, the silly names, the intro—which was a nice (though probably unintentional) reminder of the old days when Marge would warn parents to keep their children from watching each year. And the obligatory Kang/Kodos cameo. But other than that, nothing about this episode felt like the Halloween specials of yesteryear. (Monkey's paw! Daddy's Soul Donut!) It felt hurried and trivial, which is becoming an unfortunately common problem with the show. Sometimes you break my heart, Simpsons.
So what was good? Well, even a very sub-par Simpsons episode usually manages to eke out a few quotable gems: "Think of me on pizza Fridays!"; "Can't talk, lighting poo."; "Someone reported a elaborately choreographed, high-octane fight." And then there was Death Hammock: The Hammock That Eats. Those were all kinda funny, right? Sigh.
Moving on. After three whole weeks with no Family Guy, it came roaring back this week with its 100th-episode celebration and the first part of a two-part episode called (spoiler alert!) "Stewie Kills Lois." The 100th episode celebration, hosted by the real-life Seth MacFarlane And His Giant Smirk, was a half-assed clip show interspersed with some whole-assed "viewer interviews." Maybe I've spent too much time reading the comments on this blog, but I got a kick out of the universally negative "viewer feedback," despite the thick syrup of self-referential irony.
But watching all those supposedly offended viewers made me wonder: Is anyone really offended by Family Guy anymore? Sure, lots of people don't like it, but does anyone actually find it morally offensive? I feel like the show, like South Park and The Simpsons before it, has outgrown its "outrageous" period. Those who like it, like it, and those who don't, don't, but are there really people out there writing angry letters to FOX about the show with the homicidal baby and the barbershop quartet that sings about AIDS? Maybe extended viewing of the FOX animation lineup has eroded my moral center, but I find the underlying suggestion that Family Guy has succeeded in the face of wild adversity a little delusional.
There's really no point in discussing a retrospective show in any great depth, so lets focus on the main event, "Stewie Kills Lois." On the surface I really like the idea of the long-foretold matricide being the big event to ring in the show's 100th episode. However, while Stewie's murderous intent toward Lois is a big part of the show's original foundation, it hasn't really been a big theme for several seasons. The Stewie/Brian dynamic has taken precedence, with Lois usually being more of a foil to Peter than Stewie. But while it seemed a little odd to have Stewie's homicidal nature rear its head again somewhat out of the blue, it's a big enough part of the show's history that it didn't feel like too big of a reach.