The Simpsons are gathered in front of their TV to watch their favorite show, a Survivor/Amazing Race mash-up called the Amazing Place. The kids want Marge and Homer to compete on it, but Marge really doesn't want to. She won't try out because they actually have tried out dozens of times, being rejecting each time. Lisa decides to try out reality TV's favorite trick: sob stories! She pieces together all of their rejected entry videos in order to create the perfect, incredibly depressing audition. The kids bring the audition to the producers, and they finally, at long last, agree to let them on the show. The show's host appears at the house to give them the good news, and Homer and Marge are absolutely shocked. They head off to compete, but they place dead last in the first challenge and are "shelliminated," thanks to Marge's screw-up.
Despire their elimination, Marge and Homer aren't allowed to go home. They have to stay in a hotel until the season ends, which is really upsetting for Marge and really incredible for Homer. Homer does manage to cheer Marge up. They start loving hotel life, untilthey come across the editing room and discover that Homer, not Marge, blew the challenge for them.
Marge and Homer are arguing all the time now thanks to the recent discovery, but they're still having fellow Amazing Place contestants over for dinner. They argue in front of their guests, and things look bad for their marriage. The next day, the show's host shows up to tell the eliminated constestants that two players will be allowed back in the competition for the finale, as long as they dump their old partners for a new one. Marge jumps at the chance and takes Nick, their guest from last night, along with her. Marge and Nick seemingly win the challenge, but since Marge screwed up, she lost the challenge for them. She apologizes to Homer, and everything is right for the Simpsons once again. Well, as right as it'll ever be for these nutjobs.
Wrap-Up:
I absolutely loved this episode, and it was such a huge improvement on the premiere. It was entertaining, funny, and it had a great, cohesive storyline. This is what I expect to see from the Simpsons, and it's what I didn't see last week. I found myself laughing more at this episode than I've laughed at the show in quite some time. The reality show spoof was wildly entertaining and I could have spent an entire episode watching just that. It was pretty interesting to see an entire episode of just Homer and Marge, and while I missed the kids and the zany residents of Springfield, that made the episode a lot better. It allowed for the show to flesh out this plot instead of throwing too much at the audience in the 22-minute runtime. Just having one plot for the week hasn't always worked for this show, but it did this week.
I didn't love every part of the episode, though. The Virginia Woolf parody made no sense at all, and it destroyed the momentum that had built up for the rest of the episode. While the episode soon recovered, I can't just forget that they spent a few minutes on a bizarre, out-of-place parody that added absolutely nothing to the episode. This episode would have been pretty much perfect if they just could have avoided the urge to do the parody. George Segal showing up was a nice surprise, though.
Score: 8.5/10
Grade: B+
