Why do we still watch "The Simpsons"? For instance, a recent forgettable episode dealt with Homer trying to bond with Lisa for the umpteenth time, and had a strange subplot about the bat mitzvah of Shauna Chalmers...

Shauna, the daughter of Superintendent Gary Chalmers, had appeared numerous times before, serving as the girlfriend of various characters, including the Squeaky-Voiced Teen, Jimbo Jones, and even Bart. (Must have been another forgettable episode.) And now she was having her bat mitzvah, which brings her age into question, considering the Squeaky-Voiced Teen is, you know, a teen, but...

Let's just agree that Shauna is Jewish, but she is not that interesting, so let's ask: is her father? He wore a yarmulke in the synagogue, but so did every male attending the ceremony, including obvious goys like Principal Skinner and Sideshow Mel. There was nothing to hint that Chalmers was Jewish in any previous episode (we notice these things), so it is quite possible that Shauna is Jewish through her mother, the deceased Rosemary (we had to look that up).

And here is the smoking gun, straight from "The Simpsons Movie": Supernintendo Chalmers in church. So, not a Jew.

So why do we still watch "The Simpsons"? Maybe it's to write profiles like this one...