78f096c4   
   From: mxg77@po.cwru.edu   
   Copy: mxg77@cwru.edu   
      
   Interesting. The premise had a lot of potential - Homer's awful life   
   is something the show started with but gradually lost, and seeing it   
   return was certainly something. (Even his implied suicide threat   
   reminds me of his actual suicide attempt in 7G03.) OK, we've seen bits   
   of this mopiness recently (JABF20 comes to mind), but here it is   
   presented as his normal state. All the stuff with the Mypad was fun,   
   no doubt, but it left less time for the miracle tree to have any oomph   
   - and as a result (not to mention it wasn't that amazing), I hardly   
   cared about it or felt bad when it was debunked. Same for the   
   sleepwalking revelation (though I suppose given how the episode   
   started that was perhaps to be significant). Why the last few   
   minutes(!) of the show couldn't have been used to flesh this out   
   instead of doing a silly extra short I do not know, but I bet it would   
   have helped. Still, nice if not profound, and funny when it was trying   
   to be (the old-timey translator app was a highlight).   
      
      
      
   DYN:   
   ...Kelsey Grammer got a credit just for a quick scream in the opening?   
   ...the Hewlett-Packard line seems to have been something else   
   originally?   
   ...Kent's original name (as revealed in 3F06) is retained?   
   ...Marge's hair makes an audible squeak when she goes into the house   
   at the end?   
      
   Previous episode stuff   
   JABF01: Santa in Homer's dream has a tattoo of the fake Grinch   
   4F22: Homer's car booted (just after a visit from Duffman, who   
   premiered there)   
   3G01: Wiggum's pretend motorcycle reminiscent of his invisible   
   typewriter   
   DABF06: Silent auction joke   
   LABF06: Pat the Bunny/Rub the Rabbit   
   9F01: Apu's religion is now "other" (see also a reply on a.t.s to my   
   post for PABF19 last week when there was a joke in a similar spirit) -   
   also God seen quite a bit   
   5F05 (CABF15 somewhat): Theme of debunking a miracle   
   2F06: Kent's invasive news chopper footage with heat vision   
   reminiscent of this ep   
   9F16, PABF04: Long bonus thing at the end to fill time   
      
   A handful of things I spied in the short at the end:   
   CABF21: Burly man   
   BABF07: Funzo   
   CABF09: Blocko company   
   4F18: Mr. Sparkle   
   9F07: Mr. Plow   
   EABF07: George Plimpton's hot plate   
   LABF11: Mickrosoft   
   AABF22: Focusyn   
   3F04: The general feel of that short reminded me of the ad icons doing   
   battle   
      
      
   Meta   
   When Homer gets the Mypad, Moe asks if we remember when his getting a   
   cell phone was a big deal - that was a gag plot line suggested at the   
   end of DABF12 (the "They'll Never Stop the Simpsons" song). That was   
   also over 10 years ago, which allows for quite a bit of tech turnover,   
   in a timespan one series doesn't usually cover.   
      
   Goofs   
   -Lisa can't see the back of Willie's "chaps"; they'd look like regular   
   pants to her.   
   -Springfield geography changes a lot, but not usually within an   
   episode - here Moe's is near the church in act 1 but then next to King   
   Toot's as usual for the rest of the time.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)