This entire episode could have been about the Van Houtens, namely Kirk and Milhouse, and been fantastic. The show wasnt quite willing to go that far, so Homer ends up being fairly involved as well, but the Van Houtens divorce is the main plot point here, and it is a masters class in mining sadness for humor. All you really should need is Kirk singing his single, Can I Borrow a Feeling? in all his pathetic glory. The party, with all its awkwardness, is excellent, and fortunately Homer is there to cut the tension coming from the hostility between Gudger grad Kirk and his fed up wife Luann. The episode does take Luann's side, but to be fair, Kirk is pretty pathetic. Unlike Milhouse, who seems to be cosmically put upon, Kirk brings it on himself, which is partially what makes his failures humorous. There is so much more, but this introduction to sad sack Kirk Van Houten gets more than you may have expected from the parents of that one kid Bart is friends with. Divorce has never been so entertaining.
