I guess, like "All's Fair in Oven War," that this was supposed to be an extra-wacky-so-just-enjoy-it episode. Maybe it was the fact that I had to sit through hours of football and very long delays first (42 minutes for coverage to end, and then another hour for Fox Philadelphia to air the thing), or the fact that the wackiness usually turns me off even if a basic plot is okay, but whatever it was, "Hail Mary Pass" fell kind of flat with me. I'll reserve my judgment on this one for a second viewing... for now, I will say that Homer's plot (and the pacing) seems to have come from season 11... the guest stars weren't bad, actually... Ned's plot was much better, and a fun way to star the town, though it petered out a bit soon after it joined with Homer's (his actual role in the halftime show seemed devoid of feeling). I know the writers are trying; since I have nothing actually constructive to say and might pick up something better on a later viewing, I'll just leave it at that.
DYN: ...Rod (the younger one) plays Cain, while Cain was the older brother? ...Kearney doesn't really sound like usual? ...despite Ned's insistence that the Cain and Abel story was true to the Bible, the Solomon one was certainly not? (Nor were the Jonah or Noah stories, really.) ...surprisingly, there didn't seem to be any obvious references to last year's scandal? ...not surprisingly, the real halftime show this year (the Paul McCartney medley) was actually pretty tame?
Previous episode references 7F05: Homer's cheering leads to a big-time gig DABF13: Homer becomes an internet sensation 8F18, BABF10: Ned's buff torso seen 1F04: Flanders as the devil (visually similar, too) AABF14: Bible stories dramatized by Springfield residents, in one form or another 2F31: Springfield-made movies, plus Burns' involvement AABF08: The Simpsons are going to the Super Bowl!
Goofs: Marge said that billions of people watch the Super Bowl. I have no actual numbers on this, but I find that figure really hard to believe. (Let's assume that "billions" means 2 or more.) Anyone?
Other notes With this episode, the number of openings with sax solos has once again fallen below the number without. (Previous periods where this occurred, according to my figures and going in US airing order, are between 4F15 and AABF18 inclusive and the trivial case of 7G08.) Give whatever significance you want to this...I just noticed it when checking numbers for the solo list at SNPP.
What happened to the producers' special deal with the credits? The 5 seconds of music I heard before it went to the split screen sounded like it came from 8F12 anyway, but still, it would have been nice to hear.
Jeff Albertson - if that _is_ his real name - does sound right somehow. I suppose any number of names might, but the rumor a few years ago of "Louis Lane" seemed as jokey and contrived as (let's face it) Carl Carlson and Lenny Leonard. It reminds me a bit of the 6th-season revelation in Seinfeld of Kramer's first name (any more people care to share?). On the other hand, they've come this far without a name for CBG, and I'd like to have at least one (significant) Agent 99.
Homer's remark that the Internet was created so universities could exchange large data sets is not entirely untrue. From what I understand, that's part of the reason protocols and technologies were developed to allow such communication, as well as the decentralized nature of the system, but ARPAnet and the use to the military had some large influences as well. (This is, of course, merely a shell of an entry, since I know someone will have an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject, but it was a very quick remark that might have been missed.)
"Professional jerkass Homer Simpson" seems to be back, officially. Sigh.