Was last week's 'Simpsons' the worst episode ever?

"Worst. Episode. Ever."

The 27th season premiere of "The Simpsons," which aired last Sunday on Fox, may have actually lived up to the Comic Book Guy's hyperbolic catchphrase.

Infuriatingly titled "Every Man's Dream," the episode begins with family patriarch Homer being diagnosed with narcolepsy, which strikes at a most inopportune moment: during a marriage-counseling session with wife Marge.

That's the last straw for Marge, which leads to a borderline-devastating scene of a tearful Homer packing up his car as Bart and Lisa watch. Rarely have the emotional stakes been this high for Springfield's favorite family, and the fact that we still feel something for these omnipresent 'toons is a testament to its actors, animators and writers.

But those writers fail us in the last act of "Every Man's Dream," revealing that Homer's separation and subsequent dalliance with a pill-popping pharmacy technician (guest star Lena Dunham) was merely a narcoleptic dream. Homer wakes up back in the marriage counselor's office, and he and Marge are still together. Is this admittedly telegraphed moment put to good use, teaching Homer a lesson about the ebbs and flows of love and marriage? No. It sparks a chain of tired, frustrating scenes in which other characters wake up from dreams, culminating in a pointless, inexplicable scene featuring a Simpson-ized version of Dunham's character from HBO's "Girls."

This ending may have worked on a show that focuses on outlandish gags over its characters. ("Family Guy" comes to mind.) But this is Homer and Marge Simpson - I love these characters. I've known them for most of my life. If you're going to put me through their separation - and a heartbreaking scene in which Lisa unconvincingly tells Homer she'll always be his little girl - you have to make it count. The episode's ending, which renders the whole thing moot, smacks of desperation; if this is how you're going to end an episode that splits up Homer and Marge, maybe you shouldn't have split them up in the first place.

This was an important premiere for "The Simpsons," a show that won a lot of positive attention last year for FXX's "Every Simpsons Ever" marathon. People who have long said the show hasn't been funny for years are coming back - but how many of them will be turned off again by this episode?

"Simpsons," I love you. That's why I expect better from you. So let's see something better at 7 p.m. Sunday.

See summer hits at home

If you didn't get out to a theater this summer, nuke some popcorn and throw a frozen pizza in the oven this weekend and catch up on four big movies that are now available for rental.

The superhero sequel "Avengers: Age of Ultron," Plainfield native Melissa McCarthy's well-received comedy "Spy," the remake of "Poltergeist" and the feature-length continuation of HBO's "Entourage" are newly available on digital platforms, DVD and Blu-ray.

• Sean Stangland is a Daily Herald copy editor who knows the "Poltergeist" remake can't possibly live up to the original, but he's gonna fork over the five bucks to watch it anyway. You can follow him on Twitter at @SeanStanglandDH.