“How many times can you laugh at that cat getting hit by the moon?” – Marge Simpson

“It’s a new episode.” – Bart Simpson

“Not exactly… they pieced it together from old shows, but it seems new to the trusting eyes of impressionable youth.” – Lisa Simpson

Guess what?  We’re only 54 days away from the premier of Season 21 and there’s already news of an episode of Zombie Simpsons that will coincide with next year’s Winter Olympics.  For the uninitiated, the 2010 games will be taking place somewhere in Canada, also known as America Junior (or America’s hat, if you prefer.)  And the subject for this episode?  Why it’s curling, of course!

Let’s trudge through the pertinent “plot” points as reported by the CBC:

• Marge and Homer are on a mixed-doubles curling team with Skinner and Anges (prepare yourself for more awful Oedipal weirdness)
• Homer sucks at curling; Marge debates whether or not to dump him to win a medal, or keep him and lose
• In a fit of genius, the writers have opted to showcase Lisa in a B-plot collecting Olympic pins (“Heh, heh, I’m so clever.”)

Beyond the obvious banality of the story, it’s also worth noting that Zombie Simpsons basically did this episode in Season 12.  Just replace “curling” with “tennis” and “Skinner and Agnes” with “Serena and Venus Williams, Pete Sampras, and Andre Agassi” and you’ve got the forgettable “Tennis the Menace.”  Sure, the parings are slightly different, but we’re splitting hairs here.  Expect a contrived, flimsy setup that will lead Marge and Homer to the Olympics or some similar competition and a schmaltzy, feel good ending where everything is beautiful and nothing hurts.

Naturally, Canucks will enjoy the show and apologist fanboys will swoon, leaving everyone else with a shred of intellect to see this episode for what it is: pandering at its finest and yet another example of how far the apple has fallen from the tree.  Not only is Zombie Simpsons routinely – and poorly – rehashing content from The Simpsons, it’s now sucking itself off and dumping a steaming hot load on its own face.  Tremendous.

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