5/27 - PRE-EMPTED for the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race (stations in the western USA will air local programming)
6/3 - PRE-EMPTED for the movie "Bad Boys 2"
6/10 - Rome-Old and Juli-Eh (JABF08) Selma gets married again...to Grampa, after he has to leave his retirement home because Homer thought that declaring bankruptcy meant he didn't have to pay his debts; Bart and Lisa order empty boxes from a shipping company, but when the company finds out they're not going to be used for moving things, they're not exactly happy
NOTES ON FOX'S 2007-08 SCHEDULE Fox announced that "The O.T." would air from 7 to 8 on Sundays during football season. However, "The O.T." only airs on days when Fox has an NFL doubleheader; on other days, Fox airs normal programming. If they do what they did last year, expect Simpsons repeats and "instant encores" of "Over To You" (Fox's only new sitcom) on those days. ("Over To You" stars Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, and includes Laura Marano, possibly better known here as Sideshow Bob, Ray's wife from "Everybody Loves Raymond", and Laura from "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?", although if you look at the Fox press release for this show, it makes no mention of her appearance on this series - you don't think it has anything to do with Fox trying to find kids to be on the show who DON'T have SAG cards, do you?)
Meanwhile, live-action programming returns to Sunday nights in January, with Terminator 2.5 - ER, UH, "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (which is "what happens right after T2 ends") on Sundays at 9:00. In order to make room, Family Guy moves from 9:00 to 8:30 (with King Of The Hill moving from 8:30 to 7:00), and American Dad moving from 9:30 to the "FCC is keeping an eye on you" time of 7:30.
However, for those of you who can't wait that long for changes, note that The War At Home (which was cancelled) is back on at 7:00 starting June 3, with American Dad moving to 8:00 and new episodes of "The Loop" at 9:30, both as of June 10.
STUFF for "24 Minutes" (JABF14) ------------------------------- Written by Billy Kimball & Iam Maxtone-Graham Directed by Raymond Persi Blackboard: none Couch: none (a "24"-style opening was used instead) Special Guest Voice: Mary Lynn Rajskub, Kiefer Sutherland Also Starring: Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Maggie Roswell, Russi Taylor, Karl Wiedergott Overseas Animation: Rough Draft TV Rating: TV-PG-LV
RATING: A - yes, it was pretty much a straightforward spoof of "24", but the way it was presented, it's better than pretty much anything else the show has put out in years. Okay, this is the part where everybody else complains that the episode went in eight million different directions.
REFERENCES "24" (well, duh) House of Blues (Bart's matchbook) Sun-Maid Raisins (Sun-Made) TCBY ("that container of botulized yogurt") "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (somebody about to be sliced by a ceiling fan)
DYN ...in a commercial for the episode, Jack Bauer says, "Who the heck are you?" ...all of the credits, including at the end, were "24"-style? ...on the CTU screens, Miss Hoover is kissing Groundskeeper Willie, while Nelson is giving a wedgie to Mr. Largo? ...Lisa is the "head hall monitor"? (She also loves ponies and hates phonies) ...Homer is a "devoted father of two"? Which two? ...the bullies' names are Corky James Jones (Jimbo), Dolphin Starbeam (Dolph), and Kearney Zzyzwicz? ...the headlines in the Springfield Shopper: Mayor's Breath Still Problem; Corn Less Popular; Bake Sale Today? ...Jimbo has a sister, who wears a retainer? ...Marge's oven goes up to 1200 degrees? ...this show has the first prank call in three years?
SELF-REFERENCES Marge mentions "eating Bart's shorts" Bart has a slingshot, and in one scene, makes the gesture of the "underachiever and proud of it" T-shirt
NOT A REFERENCE "Hey Arnold!" (Homer calls the dumpster "Old Betsy", which is what Helga on "Hey Arnold!" calls one of her fists)
PRANK CALL
(Bart tries to call the Counter-Truancy unit on his cellphone; there
is static)
Jack Bauer: Chloe, I need those schematics now!
Bart: Who is this?
Jack: I'm Jack Bauer - who the hell are you?
Bart: Me? I'm, uh, Ahmed Adoodie (pronounced "I Made a Doodie")
Jack: Chloe, find out all you can about Ahmed Adoodie. Does anyone
there know Ahmed Adoodie?
Chloe: Ahmed Adoodie - wealthy Saudi financier. Disappeared into
Afghanistan in the late '90s.
Jack: Really?
Chloe: No, Jack, it's a joke name. You're being set up!
Jack: Dammit!GOOFS / FREEZE FRAME / WHATNOT Miss Hoover was in the vents with Santa's Little Helper, but then she was in the gymnasium next to Principal Skinner.
I know it's part of the joke, but Homer shouldn't have been able to stop and reverse the dumpster like that.
Lisa recognizes the bomb as a "Class 5 Stench Dispersal Unit," but she has no idea that the button on top is the emergency cancel until she sees it written on the bomb.
STUFF for "You Kent Always Say What You Want" (JABF15) ------------------------------------------------------ Written by Tim Long Directed by Matthew Nastuk Blackboard: none Couch: none (instead, the short "Family Therapy" aired) Special Guest Voice: Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Maurice LaMarche Also Starring: Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Maggie Roswell, Karl Wiedergott Songs "Menace Tooth Society", "Baby Got Bacteria", "Luda-Crest Wisdom" music by Alf Clausen & Scott Clausen, lyrics by Tim Long
REVIEW: C-plus - okay, okay, I get the message, Fox News bad (but hey, there aren't any other news programs on at noon on Sundays, and don't try to tell me Wolf Blitzer's Sunday CNN show is a news broadcast). They didn't have to spend an entire episode preaching about freedom of speech...like they did for the 15th season finale. The only saving grace was that bit at the end.
REFERENCES Pictionary (played in Patty and Selma's apartment) Crest toothpaste ("Luda-Crest") 4F16 (Bart's "new" dog is in the park) CABF19 (the leprechaun is in the parade) Snickers (Snickels) Gummi Bears (Gooey Bears) Charleston Chew (Charlottesville Chew) Good 'n' Plenty (Nice 'n' Many) Kit Kat (Kat Kit) Hershey's Kisses (Herschel's Smooches) Mr. Goodbar (Mrs. Bad-Bar) Milk Duds (Milk Dudes) "The Tonight Show Starring Jack Parr" (Grampa says you couldn't say "water closet"; Parr left the show temporarily after a joke where he said "W.C." was censored) "Smallville" (Ned watches it) "60 Minutes" (Ned watches it) "The L-Word" (Ned watches it) "Star Wars" (picture of Kent interviewing R2-D2) 8F21 (Otto "stayed for a while") 1F10 (Apu "stayed for a while") 1F15 (Stampy "stayed for a while") 2F02 (Republican Party Headquarters) FABF08 (Artie Ziff "stayed for a while") FABF19 (Nelson "stayed for a while") HABF05 (Groundskeeper Willie "stayed for a while")
DYN ...there is no on-screen reference to this being the 400th episode? ...this is the first episode where the words "The Simpsons" do not appear in the opening credits? ...Alf Clausen got help with the music for Ludacris's songs by "Scott Clausen"? ...Homer has been a member of the American Applesauce Association since 1978? ...the episode starts on St. Patrick's Day, or at least the day the St. Patrick's Day parade was held? ...Comic Book Guy dropped a copy of "Zebra Girl"? ...the "Wall of Casual Acquaintances Who Came to Stay for a While" has Artie Ziff, Apu, Krusty, Groundskeeper Willie, Nelson, Sideshow Bob, Otto, one of Kang/Kodos, Gil, and Stampy?
GOOFS / FREEZE FRAME / WHATNOT The "20 Years Ago" short was "Family Portrait", which actually first aired March 6, 1988. ("Bart Jumps" aired May 10, 1987, and "Babysitting Maggie" aired May 31; the only new "The Tracey Ullman Show" episode to air between them had a Dr. [address] short instead.)
Marge used both hands to climb the ladder in the manhole cover, but when she pops out, she's holding Maggie in both arms.
One of Ned's "nice" shows is Pat Robertson's "The 700 Club"; the episode aired soon after Reverend Jerry Falwell died.
The R2-D2 Kent Brockman interviews is orange.
-- Don S1.1 MAG+++ LIS++ BAR+ SKI+ MrsK+ MissH+ P&S# FLA- (heresy!) f+++ n+++ Ilps(w) $+++ M45 Okay, so how soon will The Simpsons have an episode called "Are You Dumber Than A Spiky-Haired Fourth Grader?"