Kredit Kookies: Ralph flies by, holding on to a kite.Bilboard: Maggie promotes the Fox network ‘Still sucking after 20 years.”Chalkboard: The world may end in 2021, but this show won’t.Couch Gag: The Simpsons are sperm, which penetrate an ovum which contains their couch.They multiply an untold amount of times, eventually forming a fetal Mr. Burns, who says ‘excellent’.

Summary: To appease the network suits, Krusty the Klown adds a female character to his show.Princess Penelope soon takes over the show, leaving Krusty (quite literally) in the gutter.At Bart’s urging, Krusty confronts Penelope, who has a surprise of her own for Krusty – she harbors a childhood crush on him.The twosome become involved, and Krusty’s show sinks into a mire of syrup; Bart vows he’ll bring to an end once and for all when Krusty proposes to Penelope.

Meanwhile, Lenny, Karl and Homer are courted by a nuclear plant in Capitol City when Mr. Burns cuts their daily donuts out of the company budget.

Perhaps it’s nostalgia at work for me, but I rather adored this episode.The conflicts (Krusty versus the network; Homer versus Mr. Burns) are familiar but haven’t been worn out; with a unique twist that has Bart opposing Krusty for the first time in recent memory.

The subplot felt very vintage without feeling horribly recycled, with agenuinely funny cameo by Gary Larson boosting the proceedings.Burns’ casually cruel way of restoring order is a perfect resolution.

There are a few narrative flaws in the main portion of the plot – the Penelope/Krusty relationship should have been focused on for a longer amount of time and given a proper build-up.I genuinely liked the Penelope character, but I wish we had spent more time with her.Bart and Milhouse’s reactions to Penelope were dead-on hilarious, and their wish to see Krusty break up with her so things could return to normal understandable; however, I wish they had been given some sort of consequence for their actions; like last week’s b-plot, Bart’s punishment fades into the background of the plot.On the plus side, the emotion of the final scene felt completely unforced and sincere, a rarity for the show these days. Anne Hathaway’s VA work was top-notch, and she managed to carve out a distinct voice for Penelope; only once or twice did I hear the inflection of her natural accent, and then very faintly.

Letter Grade: An excellent episode, though its flaws won’t allow me to give it an A+.Nevertheless, it rates a solid A from me.

The episode pulled in an 8.8.

The next new Simpsons episode to air will be “Million Dollar Maybe,” on January thirty-first.