From: mxg77@po.cwru.edu   
      
   Well hey, that was fairly enjoyable. It also managed to just avoid being a   
   "travel" episode or a "profound backstory revelation" episode, both of which   
   have really run out of steam. I can't help but wonder if the TV-14 rating is   
   still for gay content,    
   here in 2019.   
      
   DYN:   
   ...Homer and Marge do a whole grunting/"harder" bit while getting Homer's   
   jacket together but without a gag about being overheard?   
   ...Homer leaves an IOU for $15,140 in the Monopoly box (that's the standard   
   amount of play money in a set)?   
   ...for Abe's interview, a static backdrop of Springfield, with still image of   
   tire fire, is used?   
      
      
   But enough about tonight's episode. I finally got a chance to look at   
   12/23/18's "anniversary" repeat of 7G08. There are many reasons I would not   
   ever bother to watch the cable reruns on FXX, but one of the biggest is the   
   CROPPING and other reformatting    
   to frame old episodes to 16:9. Unlike the previous Fox airing in 2012, this   
   one was faux-widescreen, so FUCK THAT. It looked like utter garbage, though in   
   mild fairness, I only noticed a few important details that were lost (the   
   image of Grampa over    
   Marge's shoulder as she mentions him in her letter, Homer's eyeball in the   
   dark when he steals the tree, and the upside-down background at the end that   
   is no longer quite as obvious).   
      
   The credits and one or two other shots were stretched instead of cropped,   
   including the final "card photo" bit, so it looked awful, and amazingly, the   
   shots of the Happy Little Elves (with TV screen border) were pillarboxed. The   
   few opening credits were    
   shifted somehow, although Created By Matt Groening was stretched along with   
   the rest of its shot.   
      
   Other than that, the episode ran at full length (a bit over 23 minutes), with   
   pretty much no cuts or alterations that I could notice. Still PG-LV. The shot   
   ("not a dime till Christmas Eve") that had a milkier look in 2012 seems to   
   match the DVD coloring    
   now, although for some reason the crowd shot after Homer's ho-ho-d'oh swearing   
   tirade had very muted color for a few frames (the DVD is perfect color   
   throughout).   
      
   Oh, and I was definitely right to record this just in case, but not for the   
   reason I thought. Before the Gracie logo (it's the newer, post-HD one, by the   
   way, and the Fox logo is modern but might have more vintage audio), there is a   
   quick dedication to    
   Penny Marshall, who died 12/17/18 (making this the next Fox episode airing),   
   with a picture of Ms. Botz from 7G01 (the "real" first episode, making this   
   airing reflect both firsts!). Well, I guess you'll never see that one again.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)