Meh, this is another one of those episodes that's just kinda "there." It's nothing great, but it's nothing too bad either. But I'll write up something anyway.
The biggest praise I have for this episode is how surprisingly well everything came together despite lots of different things happening at once. It's nice to have an episode with once central theme (the Nigerians) that everything builds upon, which in turn makes the switches between plots feel really natural. This also has the added benefit of making the plots interwoven, which was also done surprisingly well tonight (e.g. the tabloid picture affects Burns's deal, which gets Homer in trouble).
Going through the episode: We start with a normal slice-of-life scene in the Simpson house, which is always welcome: it's "bring your daughter to work" day. Homer rapid-paced food switch from a corn chip to an elaborate meal was pretty well-animated, and we had a somewhat sweet moment between Homer and Lisa (made all the better by how understated and simple it is). It's a nice way to get into the main theme of the Nigerians. Burns dealing with the king was clearly just done for laughs, but I can't say I found it all that funny (the "goats" bit lost comedic potential quickly as it dragged on). Ditto with Smithers's sexual desires, which were presented so obviously that it was just kind of stupid to watch. "I'm sorry for hiding that I've been gay all these years" - really, Al & Co.?
Around now, we're introduced to the princess, who Homer's supposed to take care of. Three plots is really too much (Moe's love, Homer taking care of princess, Burns's deal), especially counting the Homer/Lisa scenes at the beginning, so it's nice that the Homer/princess screentime was kept to a minimum in favor of developing Moe and the princess's relationship. (Forgot the princess's name so you'll have to bear with me here.) Moe trying to get at the princess for the scam was passed over relatively quickly too, but it's a nice plot point to keep things connected and believable in that it gives Moe a reason to have any interest in the princess in the first place.
As for Moe and the princess's day together - did no one realize the references to Roman Holiday? That's one of maybe 50 films I've ever seen in my life and I still saw it. The princess wants to spend a day seeing Springfield, her father doesn't want her to, Moe and the princess ride around town on a scooter (or in this case, whatever that bike thing was), and princess leaves forever after one day. From a parody standpoint, it's a fairly nice subplot that makes use of Moe's character (i.e. not making the love scenes overly saccharine), but from an emotional standpoint it lacks any real punch. The princess character isn't developed enough past being a parody of her Roman Holiday counterpart to hold any emotional ground, and her love for Moe isn't really justified enough for it to be believable (isn't Moe usually extremely repulsive?). The only scene I can really say held any emotional weight was Moe's recital of "Good Night Moon."
The third act is pretty solid plot-wise but rather disappointing emotion-wise. You'd think Moe and his love parting forever would hold some more emotional weight than talking about each other in the third person at a press conference. However, I did kind of like the way their exchanging memorabilia worked out at the end, so I guess for emotion in the HD era this was a win. Plot-wise, it's nice how all the plots resolved together through a common conflict and climax: the princess kissing Moe is revealed, which leads to the king breaking off the deal, which leads to a disgruntled Burns/Smithers, which leads to Homer in trouble. Everything is (somehow) resolved in Burns's office. It's evident how the emotion didn't really work in Homer's attempt to explain things to the king, where the king was only convinced by a joke reply rather than anything sincere. The king hugging the princess might have made for a good resolution to a plot about the princess trying to be independent from her father, but for pacing reasons I can see why that wouldn't work (unless they took out the Burns stuff - I'd be cool with that). Burns securing the deal might secure the end of Musk references for us, which would be nice. (On the other hand, I'd be interested to see how long they can keep referencing that episode.) The three-year flashforward for Moe was kind of pointless, as was the Richard Branson guest spot - but at least neither lasted too long, and the latter was sort of amusing.
Jokes were pretty average tonight, but there were two I really liked - the incredibly cheesy music playing while Moe was being scammed, and the screw-the-audience joke where Carl insists that he won't be a princess, only for the reveal that he isn't, backed up by a classic naive Lenny line ("really vehement!"). EDIT: "A place that's fun with a capital F" cutting to the F grade for Moe's bar made me laugh on a rewatch.
Overall, an all-around forgettable episode, but a decent effort from Al & Co. nevertheless. 7/10, 3/5 for the poll
But more importantly, who was Jon Lovitz??