Inconsistency seems to be a running theme with The Simpsons this season.  With weak plots, story lines that lead nowhere and endings that fizzle out, it’s been a disappointing season.

This week’s episode, Husbands and Knives, was advertised as starring Jack Black, but he barely made a dent.  The show begins with Bart, Lisa, Milhouse, and the other kids hanging out at Android’s Dungeon.  Comic Book Guy is of course his usual charming self and sarcastically suggests that if the kids don’t like his service, they can go to the other comic book store.  Coolsville apparently popped up over night, because Comic Book Guy had no idea it was directly across the street.  The kids all rush over and are just in time for the grand opening. 

Enter Jack Black as super hip Milo, Coolsville Comics & Toys owner.  His brief appearance consists of dancing, singing, and tossing some candy to the kids.  Comic book artists Dan Clowes, Alan Moore, and Art Spiegelman make a guest appearance at Coolsville for a signing. As a group, they seemed to make more of an impact than Mr. Black.

Fortunately, this storyline completely drops as we find Marge comparing her figure to a Wonder Woman cutout outside the store.  She decides she needs to slim down and joins a gym.  After a funny bit with characters doing a spoof of the Ok Go treadmill video, and a humiliating public shower, Marge decides this gym isn’t for her.

Writers manage to tie in Marge’s desire to open a new gym for “real” women, and the Comic Book Guy going out of business, but that’s the last we see of him and his comics in this episode.

Marge’s gym, Shapes, is immensely popular and soon she’s operating a chain.  She’s shown on the cover of several magazines and is even a guest on “Opal”.  At a conference for successful women, Homer finds out that most successful women trade their first husbands for a new and improved model.  He sees the warning signs and decides to take his concerns to a plastic surgeon, where he gets his stomach stapled. 

Here the storyline falters, changing into a dream sequence where Homer is made into a horrible monster through plastic surgery.  Once awake, Marge informs him that the doctor called her to let her know what he was doing and she put a stop to it.  She also had his stomach unstapled.  We all learn once again that Marge loves Homer for who he is and not how he looks. 

There were quite a few laughs this episode, but they were mostly one liners or small bits that weren’t necessarily part of the story.  There was an ending this week and it actually wrapped up neatly, if you only count the Marge and Homer storyline.  As for what will happen to Marge’s gym and Comic Book Guy, I guess we’ll have to wait and find out if it’s a one-time gag or if it will carry on through other episodes. 

The next episode, airing November 25^th, Kelsey Grammer returns as Sideshow Bob and hopefully hilarity will ensue.

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