The Invitations episode

Have we now lost this episode permanently? I read in the paper today that it was pulled from syndication recently due to the anthrax in the mail scare. Is this permanent, or just temporary. Has this become another Puerto Rican Flag episode? While posting this, does anyone have the complete list of credits as they appeared for these two episodes? If so i would appreciate someone sending them to me? Thanx for any help.

CAN'T WE HAVE A LICK OF FUN?

By ADAM BUCKMAN
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October 31, 2001 -- IF it were episodes of "Three's Company" that were being yanked, who would miss them? But "Seinfeld" and "The Simpsons"?

Say it ain't so.

They were the two greatest TV comedies of their age, and that's why it's so disheartening to hear that one episode of each has been deemed - by their distributors - to be too insensitive to show in the wake of the terrorist attacks Sept. 11 and the subsequent scare over mail-borne anthrax.

So the two episodes have been pulled from syndication, perhaps never to be seen again until some distant future when they'll be dusted off and presented as "lost episodes not seen since 2001!"

Why all the fuss? In the case of "Seinfeld," the syndicator - Columbia Tristar Television Distribution - thinks the episode in which Susan drops dead from licking toxic envelopes isn't funny anymore.

As for "The Simpsons," the episode in question includes Homer's frustrating attempt to retrieve his abandoned car from the plaza of the World Trade Center while the rest of his family takes a joyous tour of New York City.

Apparently, the problem with the episode is that the Twin Towers play a central role. And who wants to see them anymore now that they've been destroyed?

The "Seinfeld" and "Simpsons" decisions seem especially rash when you examine the banned shows.

The "Seinfeld" episode was particularly historic. Titled "The Invitations," the show served as the finale for the series' seventh season. Premiering on May 16, 1996, Susan's slapstick death - in which Heidi Swedberg is seen growing woozy until her eyes roll up in her head and she passes out - followed by George's less-than-mournful reaction, made this episode the most controversial in the series' history.

And while it might have seemed shocking at the time, subsequent viewings in rerun syndication have served only to burnish the episode's reputation as one of the funniest TV shows ever made.

The "Simpsons" episode - titled "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" - opened the series' ninth season on Sept. 21, 1997.

Homer's inability to find a working restroom in the huge WTC complex is only part of the Simpson family's first and only visit to New York. The rest of the episode is a rich satire of the typical tourist's New York experience with the rest of the family visiting the Statue of Liberty and taking in a rambunctious Broadway show.

Most people would agree that TV suffers from a perpetual shortage of quality programs. That's why the loss of two of them is so alarming.