From: mxg77@po.cwru.edu   
      
   Well, it's the first hour-long episode in 28 seasons (and yet still manages to   
   be very short - I've never quite understood how an hour-long time slot begets   
   episodes shorter than two half-hour ones). Gatsby or not, a little hard to get   
   into a story about    
   the plight of an asshole billionaire who can't manage money 5 days before the   
   inauguration of the worst prediction BABF13 had to offer, even if the episode   
   was conceived long before the surprise "victory" in November. Otherwise, it   
   was OK at best. Dance    
   party ending, but I liked the theme remix over credits. Surprised Selman   
   produced, even if he cowrote one part.   
      
   Presented in 6 acts (cloud-only opening, credits not separate), with a clear   
   break a little over halfway through and a narrated meta introduction to part   
   two.   
      
   Previous episode stuff   
   2F16/2F20: The only previous Simpsons outing even approaching this sort of   
   extended format   
   4F19: Homer's comment that he eats like the goose (without swallowing)   
   reminiscent of Grimey and Lenny's comments   
   AABF02: Suspiciously familiar hippie at horse protest   
   7F23: Burns is fond of the "worm turns" phrase   
      
   DYN:   
   ...Burns' monogram is apparently just MB now, not CMB?   
   ...the Burns mausoleum includes a Count Vlad (i.e. Dracula) and an Ebenezer?   
   ...quince is a flavor in both ice cream and candle form here?   
      
   Football   
   Technically this Packers game was over exactly at 8 Eastern time, but of   
   course why would that mean the episode could start on time? We got the episode   
   at 8:13 and the rest of the 2-hour lineup delayed by the same amount.   
      
   Episode accounting   
   Speaking of things Don Del Grande would be interested in, how are we counting   
   this, for totals (when it's time to reckon the 700th episode or the total   
   number when the series is over)? I vote for counting it as two. It has two   
   production codes, it will    
   take two episodes in syndication, it takes twice as long to watch as any   
   other, it has separate writers and directors... and yes, so do many Treehouse   
   of Horror and anthology episodes but that's a little different. I'm going to   
   count as two.   
      
   Finally   
   Family Guy beat The Simpsons to the Gatsby thing, somewhat. This same air   
   season, on November 20th, we saw it covered in one of their anthology   
   episodes, "High School English" (EACX04 - also an 04!).   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)