78f096c4   
   From: epwise@yahoo.com   
      
   Matthew Garvey  wrote in news:58f07f9c-6efe-4526-   
   aaa3-91c512624745@v6g2000pbb.googlegroups.com:   
      
   > 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.   
   >   
      
   The church is what is called a "visual joke."  It worked.  Surely you   
   realize animated series don't have to follow the same reality and logic   
   rules as a live action series.  To qualify it as a goof is ridiculous.   
   A goof is something done by accident.  This was done on purpose.  To   
   analyze it further is, well, anal.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)