Reviews

Certainly thin, but much more enjoyable, to me, than similar Marge episodes. I recently watched the "Marge is a high-end pot saleswoman" episode, yet ultimately felt blasé by the end. It was all a tad forced, with only a couple of good quips in it, much of the humor overshadowed by the premise. Conversely, "The King of Nice" just feels well-written, and is well-paced: there's a sense that it flows, and the jokes contain more than surface-level wit. There's something inspired to the way we cut back to Marge's abandoned intervention, where the assembled group scrambles to find somebody else's problems to address. Moe asks Homer how his drinking is; he replies, "The same."

In short, you can feel the effort here: there's just something refreshing to the way the episode keeps purring past its opening minutes, where many lesser Simpsons episodes dump all their best material (albeit by design). It's not a great episode, and, arguably, barely even a good one. But it's still clever, not only consistently, but surprisingly so, with unexpected moments of wit that catch you off guard. I like this version of The Simpsons, however imperfect. To me, it's as a far cry from mediocrity, having seen what that looks like firsthand.

Ten Year Old Tom rules! Unlike the protagonist Tom, the show is not a dud. Like a more biting version of Bob's Burgers (see also: Home Movies), it's just really freaking funny.

It's also, as one critic noted, weirdly sweet, even though it follows a Curb Your Enthusiasm-type formula. Sure, Tom is painfully (below) average, and is degraded by everyone constantly. Yet, there's a sense of family to these characters -- and it's a family you'll want to join.