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I actually laughed out loud SEVERAL times this week.

That makes it the best episode in a decade.

Credit where credit is due.

"Holidays of Future Passed" is a singular classic. It may rank in the top twenty episodes they've ever done; at the very least, it's become far and away the best episode aired in this century. It was solidly funny all the way through, including several laugh-uncontrollably moments (Ralph's hapless clones), with excellent freeze-frame gags and even some now-rare Simpsons-esque twists on tv conventions (i.e. Marge taking out a pill that says "cookies", pouring water on it, but instead of turning into cookies it turns into a recipe for cookies, which she proceeds to make with real ingredients). Like the original "future" episode (which took place in what is now our past), it was also very poignant and sweet, the high point coming in the treehouse scene where Bart and Lisa talk about their varying successes at parenting. This is a topic that any other 23-season show could do, but The Simpsons can't without a time-travel plot; had Bart and Lisa aged from the beginning, they'd be more or less as old as they were last night, as parents, trying desperately not to make the same mistakes Homer and Marge made with them.

Wow, it's been so long since I analyzed an episode of The Simpsons. I certainly doubt I've ever done it on this board. The writer was J Stewart Burns...looking over his previous episodes, they're good but nothing especially memorable. But he really hit gold with this one. Well done.

Nit: It's Christmas, but Lisa notices the altered Google logo and remarks that it's Dr. Seuss' birthday. Dr. Seuss was born on March 2. Though I suppose it's possible that by 2041 Christmas has been moved to March.