From: mxg77@po.cwru.edu   
      
   Pretty decent overall especially with such a fresh unmined premise (and room   
   to go nuts). I liked all three stories, pretty much, and all the little   
   accoutrements of the TOH traditions, including Marge's curtain speech at the   
   start harking back to the    
   first 5 or so Treehouses, and a heaping helping of punny credits. I didn't   
   know it was going to be extra long (see end)!   
      
   DYN:   
   ...the episode began with a Fox-branded content warning even though TV-14   
   episodes have been more common lately (have there been any since GABF04?)?   
   ...the final music sting for Act 3, over the executive producers, seems to   
   have been timed for the 6-second, 2-screen version, and not filled to   
   accommodate the extra one for Matt Selman (sorry, Meat Selman)?   
      
   Previous episode stuff   
   3F08, XABF04: "the living will envy the dead" evocative of similar phrases   
      
   Good night, sweet Prince   
   Apparently (I didn't know this was being publicized until I headed over to   
   a.t.s just now!) this episode marks Russi Taylor's final new performance to   
   air, in this case as Martin. Maybe the desire to keep things tidily accounted   
   would go to explaining    
   her missing credit a few weeks ago in *Z*ABF02. But the death might also   
   explain why she doesn't have a silly Thanksgiving name, either because they   
   were made later in the production process or as a mark of respect.   
      
   Longest. Episode. Ever.   
   Another thing I didn't know was that this episode was to be extra long! It   
   still ran from 8 to 8:30, but with far fewer commercials, adding up to about   
   24:40 with credits, with today's rarely-met max usually being no more than   
   21:50. Not counting WABF04/   
   05, is this the longest episode ever? I think I can confidently say that even   
   season 1 episodes never exceeded 24, though I'm not pulling those out to   
   check, and I don't think there have ever been any to appear in extended forms   
   off the air or pull    
   limited-commercial or extra-timeslot stunts like certain Family Guys and   
   Seinfelds I know. How very odd, but welcome! At least until the reruns come   
   along. I'm curious to see how three minutes or three-and-a-half get slashed in   
   network repeats and    
   syndication. Only time will tell!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)