This used to be one of my favorite shows on Fox but they just ran out of any fucking ideas at all, as well as trying to ramp up the edge factor to compete with Family Guy (Think the episode where Homer turns the garage into a sex dungeon).
I mean, fucking hell, I could write a better plotline for an episode of the Simpsons. Fuck, I'll do it right now.
Ned goes to visit Edna's grave with his sons Rod and Todd with the Simpsons there as well, only to have them discover her ex-husband Ken Krabappel at the grave site. Ned gets so mad he confronts Ken and actually gets into a fistfight with the man. The show would also include some subplot involving the Simpsons themselves, but they're not the central focus.
As the episode progresses we learn the truth about Ken and Edna's divorce. About how she got pregnant, leading to Ken wanting to "do the right thing" and marrying her, only to have the pregnancy end in a miscarriage, trapping them both in an unhappy and loveless marriage. They seek marriage counselling, which doesn't really help resolve their issues.
One day Ken visits the marriage councilor and admits that the marriage will never work, but that he's sticking with it only because he does care somewhat for Edna and doesn't want to hurt her by making her think that she was the cause of their marital problems.
The councilor and Ken come up with a plan which involves them pretending to have an affair and Ken "running off with her" when in reality Ken simply moves to another town. This serves to make Ken the bad guy in the whole situation and Edna, while hurt, wouldn't blame herself for the marriage failing. Turns out Ken wasn't the piece of shit we were always led to believe.
The episode ends with Ned and Ken parting on amicable terms.
It'd be one of those less funny, more emotional episodes, like the one where Lurleen Lumpkin reunites with her father. Sure we can cram in a lot of jokes here and there, but the main focus would be to try and hit the audience in the feels. Hell, toss in a subplot about Homer and Marge's marriage, which is only strengthened by these events. We can recycle soundbites of Edna from earlier episodes for her part in the episode.
Perhaps not the best, but I'd legit like to see the current writers do better than this.