The Simpsons: Homerazzi

"Homerazzi" was a solid episode right up until its rather weak ending. But that weak ending did little to diminish the enjoyment had throughout the rest of the program. Everything got off to a fantastic start with a great, extended couch bit that followed Homer as he evolved from a single celled organism to his present state, with some perfectly placed cameos from some of our favorite characters along the way. See You Tube video above.

Another great thing that stood out in this episode was that there was no forced, uninteresting "B" storyline. Once Homer decided to become a paparazzo, that became the focus of the entire episode. This was very refreshing and allowed for some great guest appearances and plenty of screen time for one of our favorite Simpsons characters: Rainier Wolfcastle.

Act one's sole purpose was to set up the idea that Homer would now be making money as an aggressive celebrity photographer. Things started with Homer having a difficult time blowing out the E-Z Blo brand candles on his birthday cake ("Now easier to blow!"). As Lisa put it, "Dad, you're out of shape even for an American."

After the small fire that resulted, the family invested in a fireproof safe for their valuables. Having Bart's "Catch A Rising Star" talking Krusty doll turn on the lights to Lisa's hybrid Malibu Stacy convertible which caused Homer's "Scent of a Wookie" cologne to explode and destroy Marge's family photo album was great to watch unfold.

Marge was now determined to recreate all the photos in the album, giving us some great highlights. The recreation of their series finale party for Star Trek: Voyager was unexpected and funny, especially seeing Lenny dressed as Seven of Nine. The best picture recreation, however, was seeing the characters as they looked on The Tracey Ullman Show in front of a banner that read "Happy 1987." As always, they take a highly entertaining round about high to reach the main story arc.

After discovering that one of the pictures showed Duffman on a scandalous date with Booberella, Homer sold the picture and was encouraged to turn in more to become a moderately wealthy man ("I'm sort of rich! I can rent anything I want!"). With the paparazzi vs. celebrities topic not being as pertinent as it may have been in the late '90s, The Simpsons simply had fun with the concept instead of trying to make a point, and for that we are grateful. Plus the viewers were treated to three great guest voice appearances.

J.K. Simmons was a lot of fun as Homer's photo editor. Sure, he was basically doing his J. Jonah Jameson voice from the Spider-Man movies, but I loved his take on that character so I can't really complain. Jon Lovitz made yet another appearance on the show, this time as Enrico Irritazio, the paparazzo hired by the celebrities to take embarrassing photos of Homer. I love Lovitz on The Simpsons, but unfortunately, he wasn't given too much to work with this time out. Betty White simply stole the show. As Homer was in the middle of bitterly complaining about how snooty celebrities react to his photo snapping, Betty White arrived as the sweetest, kindest celebrity of all: "Thanks for taking my picture. If you want me to sign it, here's a stamped, self-addressed envelope."

Finally, Rainier Wolfcastle was a great choice to be the George Clooney fighting against Homer's incessant photography. His perfect, Terminator-like delivery of simple lines ("I'm not made of sushi.") is always good for a laugh and that was no different here.

Again, the ending was a bit unsatisfying -- Homer quits his paparazzi lifestyle, then picks it up again, then parties with celebrities on Rainier's offshore party platform -- but this remains one of the more memorable episodes of the season.