January 8, 2007 - The Simpsons has been one of the IGN staff's favorite television programs since it first began in December of 1989, but over the past few years there has been a noticeable drop in the quality of the show. Around the IGN Los Angeles office many of us IGN Entertainment editors have Simpsons calendars and figures to show our nostalgic devotion to the memories that the show has given us. But due to the current quality of the show even the most diehard of fans are now turning their backs on The Simpsons for funnier and more relevant programs (such as South Park or Family Guy). I have defended the show many times, to the point where I have been labeled a Simpsons apologist, but this week's program, "The Wife Aquatic," may have been the final hoorah for me (that is until the film comes out later this year -- keep your fingers crossed).

It wasn't that this latest episode was bad -- far from it -- it was just that the episode seemed like the best product that they could muster together. It wasn't the best episode of the season, but with a concrete storyline and some decent humor we were treated to an episode that seemed much like an episode that may have aired a decade back. But the problem is that as good as it was, it showed the wear and tear to the series, and exposed the fact which many of us have been denying for quite a while: The Simpsons is irrevocably past its prime.

The story this week was less random than other episodes as of late, with a singular storyline which is given plenty of time to develop. As a bit of a parody of the 2000 film The Perfect Storm, "The Wife Aquatic" followed Marge as she revisited a town from her childhood, only to find out that it has fallen on hard times and become a haven for the homeless. Not willing to give up on their vacation, Homer decides to clean things up only to destroy more than he fixed - which leads to him being forced to fish to make up for his mishap. The final portion of the episode then focused on Homer fishing for Yum-Yum fish and getting caught in "the perfect storm." The locales may have bounced around a bit, but the solid storytelling made up for the randomness that the series has adapted.

FOX

We did have a couple of problems with the episode's story however, and that was that it had an environmental message that was never fully formed and that it parodied a film from seven years ago. Sure South Park dug deeper into the well and parodied The Mighty Ducks this year, but their parody used the film as a satirical take on the genre of underdog sports films, while "The Wife Aquatic" uses The Perfect Storm as a selling point for the episode. This out of touch reference would have been more relevant and funnier if it would have been used in 2000 when the movie came out - but the same could be said for the show itself: funnier in 2000. As for the environmental message which is blatantly slapped on at the end, we could have done with more of it across the whole episode or done without it completely. At no point in the episode did it feel like Homer and Barnacle Bay's fishing practices had anything to do with the fall of the city, but apparently according to Lisa it was. Always the voice of ecological reason, Lisa was brought in to show the right of our wrongs, but the manner in which the episode expressed its concern for aquatic life and eventually the wellbeing of forest life, was much too abrupt and transparent to do anything more than annoy the common viewer.

Once again "The Wife Aquatic" did have its problems, but overall it seemed more fully formed and funny than a lot of the episodes that we have watched over the past few years. And although my hope is lost in the ability to turn around the quality of the product, we can all stay optimistic wishing that the season and a half that The Simpsons still have on the air will be just as entertaining as this week's episode.