I'm not sure what to think about this episode. I think most of us went in with some plot expectations that were never realized, and that definitely threw me; the supposed "Marge on the radio" plot was probably speculative based on the title, until more info came in, but whatever happened to Maggie in daycare with Simon Cowell? (You can call it a rehash of 8F18 and a non-timeless grab at a star, but I'd have liked to see how it was executed - perhaps this is what the elusive FABF06 is about, though it seems a little odd to have two baby-related episodes so close together.) Anyway, the first act was definitely the best; I enjoyed the Raffi spoof very much, and though it got a little unrealistic near the end (apparently invincible babies at the concert), most of it was full of moments that were funny without being particularly "set-up-and-joke"y. The rest moved along well enough, and was certainly not _bad_, but something doesn't sit well with me. Maybe it's that I watched it at 2 am (still home for the holidays), so I'll reserve more judgment for the next time I see it, but I think maybe the more gag-driven humor plus the outlandish premise makes it a little hard to swallow or enjoy fully. I thought about some other "cause" shows; off the top of my head I came up with "Sweets and Sour Marge (DABF03)," which was decent, but not great; compare these two (D/FABF03) with "Two Cars in Every Garage... (7F01)" and "Much Apu about Nothing (3F20)" and perhaps you'll agree that the first two bases are a little unbelievable (A sugar ban? Come on...), plus those episodes' execution lack some suspense (you know Burns probably won't become governor, and that Apu will get to stay, but they kept you guessing just a little more). I'll see how I like it the next time around, but don't get me wrong, it's not apcray.
DYN: ...Fox has added another character to its pre-Simpsons "next" screen (Maggie's "Sex Bomb" dance from EABF10)? ...the camera's unsteadiness in Gator Baiter? ...Raffi and Roofi coexist in the Simpsonverse? (Look closely at Kent's first scene) ...Maggie and Gerald finally duke it out (see inset of news broadcast at start of act II)? ...in the anti-child montage in act II, Milhouse looks much older? ...Marge wears rather high heels in her garage confrontation with Lindsay? ...Mel has apparently gotten rid of Barbara (5F06)? ...yet another character now has a last name (Luigi Risotto)? ...in a more "adult"-themed episode, Marge sees fit to say "damn"? (Not exactly a problem, but a little uncharacteristic...) ...Ruth Powers apparently held out on Marge's petition initially, even though she has a kid? ...there was no special song credit for Roofi's "1, 2" song? (The melody seemed original; this seems to be the only criterion for that, so am I missing something?)
Previous episode references: DABF03: Cletus's last name (Spuckler) first mentioned on the _show_ in this episode, and Del Roy seems to be book-only now 9F14: "Herman's Head" is still a classic in Springfield 8F15, 3F01, CABF16, others: Homer forgets that they have three kids 7F19: A vote is won when one side never actually votes
Other references: Raffi - this bearded children's singer is spoofed as Roofi (I think I went to a Raffi concert when I was a kid, actually; at the very least I had some tapes) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - kind of an odd "reference," but Bart/Lisa's surprise that Marge knew Pig Latin reminded me of a similar scene from this Maya Angelou book That Internet Dancing Baby - you know the one I mean, and there's much more on it in the CABF02 capsule anyway - the two naked babies near the start of the concert chaos do his moves
Meta-reference corner -Mrs. Krabappel mentions that everyone got tired of making Bart write on the chalkboard years ago...kind of obvious, but could also be a reference to recent seasons' shorter openings (the first blackboardless one was 7F19, I think, but after season 12, there have only been a few blackboarded episodes; even season 6's short opens usually featured one before the driveway). -Herman's Head, Yeardley Smith...you know the drill. (If you don't, see 9F14.) -For now, looks like the "yesssss" guy has no name (thus Homer's mention of him is as longwinded as ours) - cf. the list of people in AABF08 (and yes, Bumblebee Man has at least 2 names...)
Goofs -Lindsay's car doesn't turn on any white lights when it backs out of the parking space.
Comments - well, a comment "Do this, don't do that" in the anti-child montage I assume was from the actual song used, but it reminded me of the lyric in the song "No!" by They Might Be Giants - it's from their 2002 children's album "No!" so I found it an interesting coincidence (not that the words are particularly unusual, but hey, a children's album is a children's album).