I am – Hercules!!
Squandering much of the good will engendered by the franchise’s silver-screen debut, “The Simpsons”19.1 is mired like so many of the series' 21st century episodes in bizarre comedic misfires (Homer puts lotion on a firearm! Homer makes Lionel Ritchie gratuitously insert the word “beer” into his lyrics! Otto rides a giant tortoise naked!) destined to keep discerning viewers away at least one more season. The best part of the installment is its homage -- in an all-new title sequence -- to "The Simpsons Movie." Which is then immediately forgotten as Homer employs a pair of bowling shoes in a quest to overcome his festering envy of Monty Burns’ private jet. Stephen Colbert, who has already provided the voices of better characters like Professor Impossible, Tek Jensen and Ace of the Ambiguously Gay Duo, tonight turns up as Colby Krause, a not-very-good life-coach. The good news? Fox’s Sunday premiere night gets better as it goes along. Bobby’s new interest in football traps Hank into betraying Herc and Harry and Father Geek’s alma mater in “King of the Hill.” Laugh at Hank’s angst when he must wrestle – as his son looks on – between fair play and his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help the University of Texas get into the Rose Bowl. Laugh again at a running gag about LuAnn and high-definition television. Finally, “Blue Harvest,” easily the best episode of “Family Guy” I’ve seen to date, is an hour-long affair that mocks mercilessly the lapses in logic attending the original “Star Wars.” It’s fair to say that Alec Sulkin (“The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn”), who scripted the episode, and Dominic Polcino (“King of the Hill”), who directed, share a far more intimate understanding of the 1977 movie than did “Spaceballs” masterminds Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan and Ronny Graham. Polcino apes the details of “Episode IV” meticulously, to the point where at times it feels like we’re looking at rotoscoped footage of the movie itself. The actual John Williams movie score is employed so liberally one wonders if producers squandered half the season’s budget on it. A lot of the jokes are what some have come to describe as “Family Guy awful,” as when the rebels’ X-fighter “red team” turns out to be comprised of Red Buttons, Redd Foxx and Helen Reddy. A pointless and laugh-free “Deal or No Deal” sequence arrives out of nowhere. And tellingly, there’s a lot of audience-pandering nonsense about R2D2 and what looks like a bag of pot. Some of the best scenes, though, are hilariously pointed, as when one Death Star officer complains to another about his station’s lack of railings. And when Darth Vader points out the ease with which the Death Star’s lone point of vulnerability could be eliminated. And when Luke makes sport of Han’s Empire-vexing “maneuvers.” Other great gags deal with Watto’s encounter with a lightsaber, Aunt Beru’s noisy tenants, the Blues Brothers movie, Magic Johnson’s oratory, and the Robot Chicken Star Wars episode of three months ago (co-created, of course, by “Family Guy” regular Seth Green). There are loads of “Airplane” references, and Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo inexplicably reprise their roles from “Vacation”! “Family Guy: Blue Harvest” is far from perfect, but also can’t-miss TV. “The Simpsons” 19.1: ** “King of the Hill” 12.1: *** “Family Guy” 6.1: ***1/2 “The Simpsons”: 8 p.m. Sunday. Fox. “King of the Hill”: 8:30 p.m. Sunday. Fox. “Family Guy”: 9 p.m. Sunday. Fox.

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