It's become a commonly held notion among fans of The Simpsons that the show has been in a steady downward decline since around its ninth or tenth season. Yet it still keeps churning along, averaging only slightly fewer viewers now than it did in its prime. This show is a reliable workhorse that plays well in syndication and on DVD, and while the ratio of good episodes to middling or even bad episodes may have decreased over time, the later seasons do have some hilarious and well-written episodes that stand up against the best the series has to offer.
Like most of the later seasons, [Season 12] begins with the annual terrorfest "Treehouse of Horror XI." This year's installment includes references to Heaven Can Wait, Ghost Dad, The Untouchables, The Birds and Jaws as well as fairy tales like Goldilocks and Hansel and Gretel. The episode is nicely bookended by another anthology episode, "Simpsons Tall Tales," which casts Homer as Paul Bunyan, Lisa as Johnny Appleseed and Bart as Tom Sawyer (with Nelson as his Huckleberry Finn). It also includes the landmark 250th episode, "A Tale of Two Springfields." While its plot about Homer leading a secession from Springfield...
