Hmm. It's tough to think of what to say about "Smart and Smarter." Maggie's higher-than-we-usually-know-it intelligence was explained away somewhat believeably, Simon Cowell's role wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated, and Lisa's crisis also makes sense...but something about the flow of the episode was a little lacking. On some other notes, it's interesting that of this episode's two running gags, I was pretty amused by the talking frog and annoyed by Skinner's constant butting in; on the topic of smarts, I enjoyed Wiggum et al's museum antics; and I have to wonder what's going on with Moe and Barney (it's not exactly unrealistic, but I'm kind of intrigued that they didn't explain what was really going on - what is Moe up to?). Anyway, though it was at times awkward, I think somewhere around B+.
DYN: ...Simon Cowell's character is apparently named Henry, yet he identifies the character as himself in the credits? ...speaking of the credits, this is (I believe) the first no-splitscreen credits since CABF17? ...Lunch Lady Doris makes another silent appearance? ...this episode has the first alternate Gracie Noise in a while?
Previous episode references 4F24: Leaning tower of Pizza seen (also mentioned as mispronunciation of the one in Pisa in 7G07) 9F08, 3F01: Two times Maggie has spoken for real (and DABF12 if you want to count a clip show) 7G02, 3G02: The Simpson girls spelling with blocks 7F19: "You are Lisa Simpson" note duplicated and referred to not too subtly 2F19: SES went on a "battlefield" trip 3F22: Lisa tries to reinvent herself, though for a different reason 7F22: Lisa and Maggie with flash cards 4F24: Lisa fears for her smarts, in a way; also "grown up" fantasy 7G02, AABF18: More Simpsons smarts in general many other episodes, incl. 8F18 and 1F12: Maggie revealed to be smart (and in similar ways - according to this episode, she really can read and play music) 7F19: "Now that we have your attention" tactic used on a poster 5F24, BABF08, 5F03, maybe more: Character talking about the credits as they roll
Comment -Maggie apparently has a 167 IQ; I don't know what sort of accurate tests there are for measuring infants' intelligence, but if I recall correctly the Q in IQ stands for the quotient of intellectual age over actual age...so it is kind of amazing that Maggie's brain is 8 months ahead, considering that 12 and 20 months old are pretty far apart from a developmental standpoint (thanks, child psychology!).
Goofs -In the canonical version of the Simpsons' upstairs floor, the door Bart went through at the start should be Maggie's room; I'll forgive that, but considering where the nozzle came through the ceiling (and the clear view of the stairs from both places) it's obvious that some creative liberties were taken. -Water out Bart's ears...oh, come on, that was just gross. -In "Homer's Enemy (4F19)," Lisa's IQ was given as 156, and here as 159. Just a nit-picky point. -I don't know what kind of manufacturer makes SES's buses, but I've never been in a bus with an aisle that big. -On the human tongue, the "bitter" taste buds are centered in the back, and "sweet" are in the front (with sour and salty on both sides). It wouldn't hurt the joke to draw the zones accurately, so what's the deal?
Meta-reference corner As happens often recently, Nelson qualifies in some way his "ha-ha"...well, whatever.
Fun with promotions I don't know if there's a third promo for this episode that I haven't seen, but I count two "different" scenes - "you are now as intelligent as a dolphin" is not exactly said, and we see no animated version of the "Simon Cowell as Simon Cowell..." line.