Sunday Night TV

The Sopranos and Entourage will have to wait, cause it's animation night for me. A double dose of King of the Hill, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad after the jump.


King of the Hill: Bill looks for meaning in his life, and decides to get more involved in the church, but he ends up involved with Rev. Stroup. They have to sneak around for a while, but when they go public with their relationship (and their displays of affection), everyone becomes so uncomfortable around them that they try to break them up. Rather than take their disapproval, she quits and moves in with Bill. But without the sneaking around and taboo, Bill loses interest. But how to break up with a minister who left a church for you? And Bill obviously has little experience dumping women. But after trying a crazy Boomhauer/Dale idea, he follows Hank's advice and is honest with her, and everything wraps up nicely. Best moments:

• "You too can have champagne for breakfast, and caviar for your dog!"
• "I know you're excited, but I'm going to need at least a hymnal's width between us."
• "I'm sure it was someone else. Mr. Dauterive has a very common shape."
• "Oh Hank, please call me Karen." "Uh, I'm not gonna do that."
• Did Bill use the word "ricoculous"?

In the second episode, Bobby's school has started an alternative P.E. program where a local community college designs video games and the students play test the games for "virtual P.E." credit. It's a pretty ridiculous setup, but nicely introduces two stories. Hank puts Bobby back in P.E. and forces him to take the Presidential fitness test, and the game designers find Hank amusing and design a whole game, the Grand Theft Auto-like "Pro-PAIN!", based on him. Hank starts playing the game, though, and becomes quickly addicted, ignoring Bobby's training. As usual with these things, Peggy steps in and forces Hank to do the right thing. And of course Bobby didn't pass, but did manage a single pull-up, so it was a moral victory.

• Pancake roulette!
• Bobby trying to do pull-ups, and Joseph giving him a little push.
• "Hank, there is a brown spot."
• Dale drinking through osmosis.
• "Dad, do you think I should shave off my body hair to be more aerodynamic?"

The Simpsons: The Isotots, Bart's little league team, is one out away from some sort of championship when an easy fly ball heads Bart's way. Since him catching it would be boring, he flubs it, they lose the game, and the entire town (even a Bill Buckner-like character) hates him. Bart goes crazy from all the hate, so they re-enact the final out to return his sanity.


Homer gets a job selling mattresses for some reason. The Lovejoys are looking for one to spice up their love life, but the only one that works is the Simpsons' mattress. At least the writers were smart enough to throw in a comment acknowledging how silly this story was.

Neither story made much sense, but this was a really funny episode:

• Springfield Little League Park. Warning: Your child is not as good as you think he is.
• "Flanders, these boys have earned the right to behave like arrogant oafs."
• "My wife's looking for a bathing suit that doesn't make her look horsey, so I'm gonna be here a while."
• "It's horrible but you can't keep your eyes away. It's like watching a monkey swallow a hand grenade."
• "If Homer'd used protection, we'd all be pooping roses on easy street!"
• "He died, Bart. Dad buried him in the backyard. But... not in that order."
• Bart's favorite song is "Love Stinks" by J. Geils Band?
• Lenny's book, The Murderer Did It.
• "And now the sunset, brought to you by God, the invisible giant who you turn to when you're about to die."

Family Guy: Lois gets hired as the new church organist, and decides it's a good reason to get the family going to church again. But Stewie drinks the communion wine and throws up, so everyone thinks he's posessed, forcing the Griffins to flee to Texas to avoid a forced Exorcism.


From here on out, the episode mostly plays a lot like To Love and Die in Dixie, one of the best episodes of the series. This episode had some great gags, some of the best of the season, but a few head scratchers. What on earth was up with Stewie's fantasy about meeting Jesus? Or Sneakers O'Toole? And I could've sworn I've seen the bit about the cow having an orgasm from branding somewhere before.

• "That's like asking me to choose between Sarah Jessica Parker and Kirsten Dunst in a "hot body/weird face" contest. It can't be done."
• Gladiator Mice!
• I just wrote on the wall. Take that, society!
• "None for me, thanks, it's going to go straight to my vagina."
• "But is having this minor skill worth being so unattractive? That's for the fan to decide."
• "She's been scraped more times than a fisherman's knuckle."
• "It's Enrico Polazzo!"... one of my favorite Naked Gun moments.

American Dad: Stan learns that Francine had a lot of lovers before they got married, and the plan is for them to get a temporary divorce so Stan can even the score without breaking his wedding vows. But when he meets a woman who shares his passion for guns, Stan gets married to her instead. So Francine learns her lesson about why Stan got so jealous and they get back together, but as usual for American Dad, they crap on the typical heartwarming sitcom moment by having Stan sleep with the new wife anyway.


Steve gets hooked on an energy drink and starts begging like a homeless guy, and Roger dresses like a Persian guy and keeps picking up trashy women at bars and treating them like crap.

• "All I can see is you taking more poundings than Omaha beach before the ground assault began."
• "It's Thursday night, which means it's time to tease some pedophiles on the internet!"
• Battlestar Galactica on Ice!
• "Lori Petty is the man who played Tank Girl."
• Stan giving out fake spoilers to M. Night Shyamalan movies.
• "Can I borrow a quarter? Cause I want to call my mother and tell her I just met the girl I want to nail in the bathroom."