HUSBANDS AND KNIVES

Current Season

Air date Nov. 18, 2007

Written by Matt Selman

Directed by Nancy Kruse

SYNOPSIS:

Finally fed up with the customer service challenged Comic Book Guy, the children of Springfield revolt and head to Coolsville, the new funny book place across the street. Operated by a Willy Wonka-lite character named Milo (voiced by Jack Black) the store is everything that Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop isn't. This day, Milo is hosting a signing by three "illustrated novel" icons; Alan Moore, Art Speigelman and Daniel Clowes, who turn into super heroes and beat the snot out of Comic Book Guy when he attempts to disrupt the operation. This naturally leads to Marge opening her own exercise gym.

Based on the real “Curves”, “Shapes" becomes an immediate success and puts Marge in the bucks. Homer is warned that he must shape up physically or risk losing his mogul wife to a studlier man. Stomach stapling is Homer’s workout of choice, but it still leaves a lot to be desired….LITERALLY! His appetite is curbed, (“I see food on your plate instead of blurry motions”, notes Lisa), but years of flab development is proving more stubborn. Plastic surgery – and lots of it – is next on the menu, but Marge puts a halt to the madness. Then the comic book writers fly around. The End.

THE series rarely fails when it enters the world of comic books. Think back to THREE MEN AND A COMIC BOOK and WORST EPISODE EVER, for example. It just works. Comic Book Guy is a great character and the writer’s natural geekiness glides to its perfect outlet. Oh, by why even bother to bring it up?! This rich vein is mined for about five minutes before we jarringly are shuffled to yet another rumination on the Simpson’s marriage in crisis routine.

The section dedicated to the war of the comic book stores aren’t particularly inspired, but at least it’s different. It had potential. Jack Black is fun as Milo (“We get it….you’re cool” says Bart), but he’s ultimately wasted. At least we get a funny cutaway gag out of it. Milhouse comments on Milo’s porkpie hat. Quick cut to Homer (shockingly seated at his station at the nuclear power plant): “Hmmmm….porkpie hat.” Another neat cutaway comes later as we see a nurse fervently smooching a crucifix shortly after it’s mentioned that a hospitalized Mr. Simpson had recently received his sponge bath.

The remained of HUSBANDS AND KNIVES is yesterday’s mashed potatoes with the exception of one great grotesques gag, (that’s right; the 3 “G’s”!). Homer sheds his robe to reveal his new svelte physique. The camera then makes the horrid mistake of giving us another view. Homer has stretched his excess baggage around to the back of his body where it is held in place by a series of painful looking clasps!

Opal seems bent on becoming a recurring character. Once again, the show has been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. The patronizing host throwing her needy crowd into hysterics with elaborate gifts was done better on SNL a few years ago.

How much do you to bet that neither Coolsville or Shapes are still in business come next week?