Notes for EABF22 (The Regina Monologues)

That was better than I had expected (I feared another guest star extravaganza, but their parts were short and sweet - the sarcastic J.K. Rowling had me laughing quite a bit - but who was Jane Leeves playing? The queen? Madonna? Edwina? a deleted scene?) - as usual, act I was nice standard Simpsons/Springfield fun; act II was also standard in the sense of "The Simpsons are going to..." but more creative than I seem to recall some other trips...There was a little handwaving with Homer's release from jail (I thought he was supposed to uncover some sort of conspiracy)...still, for a travel episode it was enjoyable and should improve on repeated viewings. ~B+

DYN: ...Bart got 600 patrons at the MoMB? ...Homer has apparently never watched Mr. Bean (Come on, he's smart enough to tell the difference between a virtually silent physical comedy character and someone who did almost nothing _but_ talk)? ...Harrods has Prince Albert in a Can? (Then you better let him out! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! HA! ahh...it's also notable that the prank calls to Moe were mentioned) ...a couple voices sounded like Maggie Roswell's work, but she wasn't in

Previous episode references: BABF14: Play-Doh shape maker thing used (here in couch gag) 1F06: Bart and Milhouse at the receiving end of an airborne bill DABF10: Marge wants a vacation where no one gets kidnapped... BABF16: ...or on a chain gang 2F02: Honeymoon photo recalls Homer's act of resistance here 5F09: The 200th episode referred to in the MoMB Very very many...9F18, 3F19, EABF02, just to name a few off the top of my head: Grampa in the war 3G03: M..I mean, Shary Bobbins-type people flying around on umbrellas, with Mary Poppins style music...also a Mary Poppins ref 2F15: "We saved your ass in [insert your favorite war here]" 1F06: Bart and Lisa (/Milhouse) on sugar rush rampage 7F16, 8F23: Another half-sibling for Homer, who looks just like him 9F12: A woman who looks like Homer and sounds like a female Homer

Other references: -Oh Henry candy bars - Oh Henry VIII seen in sugar montage (I think there's supposed to be a ! in there somewhere) -Trainspotting - Maggie on the ceiling -Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail - the Macbeth scene recalls the Knights of Ni/"it" scene in many ways: just saying a forbidden word causes pain in some way, the one who can't hear it says it, then says "now i've said it!", and then everyone else keeps using the word, apparently oblivious of the misfortune coming to the other one

-The Simpsons season 3 DVD - when the English kid talked about Homer's eyes and said "like saucers they are," it really reminded me of the hilarity ensuing in the commentary for 8F16 (I believe it was Mike Reiss who said kids' eyes were as big as saucers when watching Dan curse up a storm; then everyone made fun of it 3 times throughout the commentary), which was recorded while this season was in production; it doesn't seem out of the question that the line was added specifically because of this.

Goofs: -$100 bills are the highest denomination made now...but Grover Cleveland _was_ on the $1000 when it was made. -The bill struck Burns on its edge, as I recall; though I think bills are printed such that one side (the back) is _slightly_ raised, so it's not totally unbelieveable that someone like Burns could get the imprint.

-Macbeth does not have a capital B, as far as I know. -Cubic milliliter...ugh...well, it could be a strange measure of 9-dimensional volume...

Meta-reference corner The Museum of Modern Bart has many artifacts and verbal references to the show, for a brief recap of some of the show's devices: 200th episode celebration (well, in 1998), "eat my shorts," Bart's crank calls, his slingshot and skateboard (all things that seem to have disappeared), Lisa's sax...

Another reference to the Brazil scandal: After everyone got all hot and bothered after "Blame it on Lisa (DABF10)" and its depiction of Rio de Janiero, they made a reference in "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington (EABF09)" - Mr. Teeny's uncle was in the Bureau of Tourism - and tonight, Homer doesn't want to go back to Brazil, because he hears the monkey problem is even worse now! I guess you shouldn't threaten the show if you can't take some ribbing.

Not necessarily, he could have made the $3000 off sales of other things like those MoMB T-shirts.

Scott Henrichs wrote:

Ah, good point! (Here I was, thinking someone might correct me by saying people would make multiple trips - I hadn't even thought of merchandise/other sales...)

"Matt Garvey" wrote in message news:[email]...

It occured to me as well. :)

In alt.tv.simpsons, on the "Notes for EABF22 (The Regina Monologues)" thread, Matt Garvey wrote:

Right the third time, I think.

The mint uses a process called intaligo printing on both sides of the bill, so the ink on both front and back is slightly raised. You can feel this effect best on a new bill.

But who the heck did Evan Marriott (Joe Millionaire) play?

I don't know (or maybe remember) who he was playing, but his appearance was in one of the plays. The marquee clearly mentioned "Joe Millionaire" and the play he was appearing in, and then we see snippet of him performing.

Michael

Michael Black:

Anton Chekov's "The Cherry Orchard."

says

using

one

No, that predated the Python use by hundreds of years. In fact, the Python use is just a variation of it.

It's an old theatrical superstition that actors don't use the name "Mac*eth" and great superstitious pains would be taken if it was said off stage. Hails back to the point where if an unsuccessful play was cancelled, it would inevitably be replaced straight away by Mac*eth (being a play that most actors knew the lines of by rote). Hence, it would be a bad omen in a theatre to say the name as it would bring bad luck on the production. In a lesser form this is still done today (it's generally referred to as "The Scottish Play").

The Rowan Atkinson series "Blackadder the Third" had a mildly amusing example of this sort of thing.

David Brunt wrote:

I know the Macbeth curse and all that; I'm saying that the way it was executed on the show last night was very much in the manner of the "it" sequence.

Matt Garvey wrote in message news:...

That was definitely Jane Leeves playing Edwina, Grandpa's lost love and the mother of Homer's Half sister...lol.

Leslie