From: mxg77@po.cwru.edu   
      
   Got off to a bit of a cheesy start, but I guess in retrospect that all fit in   
   with the mystery element and the actual hallucinations. Nice Homer/Lisa story   
   - kind of subtle in its execution, really. (I haven't seen The Lego Movie, so   
   I can't say how much    
   similarity the lesson/plot has, though bits of it actually made me think   
   strongly of Labyrinth.)   
      
      
   DYN:   
   ...the opening clouds were in cartoon format (though promos used a Lego-style   
   one)?   
   ...a large number of redubbed lines (in both 2D and Lego)?   
      
   Previous episode stuff   
   3F04, and to a lesser extent things like MABF22: The blending of animation   
   styles, etc., in alternate universes, with rather jarring switches between them   
   CABF09+: Lego/"Blocko" stuff, including Homer/Lisa bonding   
      
      
   Lego stuff   
   -Oh, it's been a while since I've looked at current products. Are they making   
   heads with two parts with a visible seam now, as opposed to the standard basic   
   head and various alternate hair/hats? Or is something like the Homer used here   
   kind of the    
   exception? Also, is there some reason multiple Lego word/thought bubbles came   
   up here?   
   -On the other hand, it was neat to realize that both Lego people and Simpsons   
   characters are yellow.   
   -A very nice subtle joke: did you notice the rolling duck toy in the   
   stained-glass window at the church? If I remember correctly, that was the very   
   first offering (or one of the first) from what became the Lego company, back   
   in the 30s or so.   
      
      
      
   It's been a long time comin'   
      
   So, this is episode RABF21, and it's finally airing about 15 episodes after   
   production order suggested it should have. I don't know why the delay is - a   
   requirement to hold off until The Lego Movie finished its primary business?   
   Something technical? As    
   it happened, it did lead to an interesting coincidence: airing the same night   
   as a new Family Guy (Meg Stinks!) with an even-rarer-for-that-show Peter/Meg   
   plot. And from where I stand, and the way I figure it, it's also the longest   
   such delay/out-of-   
   orderness so far. (It won't be for very long, though!)   
      
   I am ignoring the 3G episodes (which ran 1-2 years after the 3Fs they were   
   sorta made alongside), and the special high-numbered ones (2F31-33, 3F31,   
   5F23-24) that actually ran very early if you look at them numerically. Oh, and   
   I'm also just listing    
   production codes for a few reasons.   
      
   RABF21 aired between SABF14 (and its preceding SABFs) and SABF15 (and the   
   following), so that's a 14-episode gap the way I figure, because of the way   
   holdover episodes tend to get shuffled around (or else I'd include RABF22).   
   Other substantial gaps    
   include   
   -BABF22 after 5 CABFs   
   -3F24 finally running after 6 4Fs   
   -and 4F24 finally running after one 3G and 13 5Fs (maybe making this one kind   
   of a tie)   
   Delays within a production season are also notable:   
   -7G01 (the series' first episode production-wise) airing only after 7G02-7G13   
   because it needed the most reworking   
   -4F09 between 4F15 and 4F16 (a clean split) for some reason   
   -5F09 between 5F15 and 5F16 (also a clean split), possibly to put it as the   
   landmark 200th (aired) episode; this actually is the 550th, and the math is   
   correct in both cases, though there's been no hoopla about tonight's numbering   
   -GABF09 between, you guessed it, GABF15 and (in jumbled order) GABF16-22, this   
   time to wait a while after the death of the pope.   
   And ignoring the special ones before, a few episodes have aired rather early,   
   like 7G08 (before any other 7Gs) because it was a Christmas episode and LABF11   
   (between 04/05) for St. Patrick's Day (it also premiered outside the US before   
   inside!).   
      
   Episode RABF15 (The Man Who Came to Be Dinner) has yet to air, and so it will   
   be an even longer gap. It crosses yet another air season boundary, too, which   
   is a first (except for the 3Gs), but will probably be only about 12 months   
   from its intended    
   airdate. I don't know what the delay is for, and it doesn't help that I don't   
   know what it's about. It would make sense if it is seasonal and stretched what   
   might have been a brief delay out of respect for current events into a full   
   year's wait. It's    
   something other shows have done before (examples new and old spring to mind),   
   but I suppose it's a first for The Simpsons if true. We'll see.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)