This week, The Simpsons returned to the future-verse it's created over the years with "Holidays of Future Passed."  No, there will never be another "Lisa’s Wedding," but that didn't stop the season 23 holiday special from being a fantastic edition to the franchise.

Our trip to Springfield's future - thirty years from whatever stupid year this is - began with a hilarious misdirection by Homer and a It's a Wonderful Life and then was cleverly aged with holiday cards.

The future was all about exploring the parent-child relationship after Bart and Lisa claimed they'd never have kids. That, and continuing the tradition of not letting Maggie talk, which is more important than ever after Liz Taylor's death.

Call me sappy, but I loved the revelations of Lisa and Bart in the treehouse with a bottle of wine. As much as Homer and Marge have become caricatures over the years, their relationships and dynamics are certainly still real and identifiable.

From Homer being a better grandfather to Lisa's realization that she was becoming exactly like her mother, it was all very identifiable... despite being placed in a world with evolved pets and robot doctors.

Speaking of which, this episode was loaded with brilliant future jokes. Some of our favorites?

• Michigan being under Sharia Law with the cutaway photo to U of M Dearborne. And that's from coming from yours truly, a Wolverine.
• Prince Bloody Harry the Tyrant.
• Star advertising in the nighttime sky.
• Homer's Law.
• The reincarnated Sanjay mongoose
• The octuplets' octuplets.
• Pretty much every scene involving air travel.  Can I have the whole can please?
• Marsha Princess

I'd comment on the continuity problems with some of the other future episodes, but I'm sure our TV Fanatics will shout retcons. So... what did everyone else think? Weigh in the comments, read our favorite quotes, and be sure and have a happy holidays and a morphistic quiznox to our allies on Rigel 7. 

Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go dress up to eat carrots and smoke. See you next year!

Eric Hochberger is the programmer of TV Fanatic, so please forgive his mediocre writing. His programming is far better. Follow him on Twitter and/or email him. Just don't request threaded comments. They're coming.