Just watched this tonight and after reading some of the comments I think many people have missed the intent of the episode.
It was effectively a meta-episode, and was intentionally bad to highlight top executives meddling with the creativity of a show.
The A-plot was intentionally the most cliché plot ever (husband forgets wedding anniversary) and eventually ends up with Stan forced a lobotomy that dumbs him down, which many comedies end up doing with their characters. The B-plot has the 'top executive' arrive and propose a ridiculous solution to a complex problem, with the creative team nodding approvingly.
Unfortunately, the episode was way too meta for the vast majority of viewers to get what was happening, and so it fell on deaf ears, and that's why the episode failed, though it gets some score for effort in trying to highlight a common problem in the animated industry.
It was effectively a meta-episode, and was intentionally bad to highlight top executives meddling with the creativity of a show.
The A-plot was intentionally the most cliché plot ever (husband forgets wedding anniversary) and eventually ends up with Stan forced a lobotomy that dumbs him down, which many comedies end up doing with their characters. The B-plot has the 'top executive' arrive and propose a ridiculous solution to a complex problem, with the creative team nodding approvingly.
Unfortunately, the episode was way too meta for the vast majority of viewers to get what was happening, and so it fell on deaf ears, and that's why the episode failed, though it gets some score for effort in trying to highlight a common problem in the animated industry.