From: mxg77@po.cwru.edu   
      
   Going along pretty well, even for a necessary social commentary episode,   
   until fumbling hard in the last act. Homer's betrayal, even if painted   
   as stupidly unintentional, is pretty stupid even for him, but the end   
   just collapsed in ridiculousness. (VERY selective "frying" of   
   electronics, and how far up were those drones if food is still falling   
   that much later??) Oh well. You tried. Or maybe not (see below).   
      
   This episode was not only rated TV-14-DLV, but carried the (rare for The   
   Simpsons) warning card beforehand. Just for the bleeped profanity in Act   
   I? (That Phuket Bucket business name that I first thought was a   
   blink-and-you'll-miss-it gag and kept on showing up for leisurely   
   reading, and the pho joke, might have something to do with it too.)   
      
   Bart's partial list of Marge's jobs (oddly not including her "first" job   
   in 9F05 but otherwise in episode order):   
   2F21: cop   
   5F06: Realtor (which, despite Bart's pronunciation, is TWO syllables,   
   not three)   
   JABF17: gym owner   
   KABF17: erotic baker   
   ZABF10: weed sommelier (also grossly mispronounced, as suh-MOLL-ee-yay)   
      
   2F31: Marge's delivery to Moleman is exactly like "football in the   
   groin" film   
      
   Eclipse fever is gripping the continental US, with a major total eclipse   
   to happen tomorrow, and I am really surprised not a single reference to   
   this was included in the episode (such as in opening or credits). I   
   mean, for a *summer repeat* of WABF06 in 2017, they made a special   
   replacement opening piece to go with a lesser eclipse. Why not at least   
   repurpose that, especially since many might have missed it before? Or,   
   since the end credits were regular (first time this season, a rare sight   
   these days too) and no coda/extra business would be lost, there's room.   
   Even just today, then revert to regular credits on repeats. It's not   
   required, of course, but I'm still surprised.   
      
   But, appropriately enough for the episode's plot, I wonder whether any   
   of the iffy writing or lack of eclipse gag has to do with last year's   
   huge WGA strike... which would be catching up with the production   
   schedule (and animation's long lead time) around now. Well, an eclipse   
   insert *could* be done on shorter notice. The slow output of new   
   episodes may be related as well, and it may throw off the schedule for   
   some time to come. For a typical 22-episode season and a typical   
   late-May ending, we'd need to cram 8 more episodes into about 5 weeks,   
   and I wonder what'll happen. Super duper doubling in May (as in 2005) if   
   episodes are done in time? Summertime premieres? Shorter production   
   season for 36ABF, longer air season 36? Or just ratcheting up the number   
   of holdover episodes again? (The last biggish strike was probably   
   somewhat responsible for the shorter seasons 19 and 20, but those were   
   only a few episodes low; on the other hand it was a much smaller   
   strike!) Time will tell.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)