Notes for MABF13 (Moe Letter Blues)

I like the premise, sort of, but it (and much of the plot) seems to come directly from an old movie called "A Letter to Three Wives" (look it up). I have never seen it, but I just happened to read about it a week or so ago. Anyway, it didn't really seem to click, though I liked the way the three men's stories crossed over. It also didn't help that it was full of a lot of bad jokes and setups, random edgy words (penis and bitch), and predictable resolutions (and Helen's fake anger made no sense). A sort of interesting tie-in to Mother's Day though, I guess.

OPENING new stuff: Ralph: Hello, darkness! (Slight reference to The Sound of Silence?) Barney: Morning!

DYN: ...Marge in the couch gag has a streak in her hair (like CABF09 maybe)? ...Springfield's ZIP code spells "boobs" on a calculator (80085 is in LA, 58008 in ND)? ...a significant amount of 3D-based (but not rendered) animation? ...Moe abbreviates Misters/Messieurs as "Msrs." instead of the usual "Messrs."? (Side note: the correct abbreviation is also found in credits for The Critic) ...Jessica Lovejoy is not among the children on the cruise? ...the three men in trouble are each voiced by one of the male principal actors? ...Apu's vehicle is a VW-style bus with an upside-down VW logo?

Previous episode stuff 3F16: Another silent Itchy & Scratchy (this one a parody of From the Earth to the Moon) KABF02: Slight shades of this episode with the flashback mystery AABF11: Same for this (including some of the guys involved) MABF03, MABF14: Zii appears again LABF05: The Deacon KABF12: Mother's Day ending (+Homer's mom) 5F04: Apu's mom in the mother montage

Meta-reference corner Moe makes a big deal about the narration, including talking to the "camera" at one point. (I think the movie was narrated by his counterpart, at least.) Apu wonders how old Homer is (guessing 65, though Homer says 39) - perhaps more of a joke at Homer's looks, because if it's a joke about not aging + the longevity of the show, 65 is too old to make sense.

Also What was the song over the credits?

Finally Carl Carlson made a cameo of sorts in The Cleveland Show tonight ("Brown History Month"). A bit of racially-charged fake-technical- difficulties censorship featured the Fox logo and the heads of Randy Jackson (photo), Cleveland, and Carl (Carl drawn in standard Simpsons style).

On Sun, 9 May 2010 17:59:09 -0700 (PDT), Matt Garvey wrote:

"I'll Always Love My Mama" by The Intruders, another of those ubiquitous early '70s Gamble & Huff compositions.

-lugnut

Ah, thanks.

Also, total oops on ZIP code 80085. It looks like it's not in use (explaining why my first search result gave me an address in Louisiana with a street address 80085, though I still feel stupid not realizing it was in the wrong part of the country), along with all 8008_s. Even though - without being used - it does narrow down the state for those who would argue Springfield's location, it is funny that the joke ZIP code would be nonexistent after all.

Actually, the zip code joke works because they obviously selected a zip code that was not in use. They probably went through a number of them to see what they would spell, and came up with this!!

Greg

Eight six seven five three oh ny ee yine, eight six seven five three oh ny ee yine.

Matt Garvey wrote:

No? I could have sworn she got off the bus right after her father, although I hadn't seen her before that.

On Mon, 10 May 2010, Brett A. Pasternack wrote:

I can't say where I saw here, but I did see her. I was surprised, since since she doesn't seem to exist as a character other than that episode with Bart.

I wouldn't have expected to see her, since we generally don't see her.

Hence the "DYN" should be that she was in the episode.

Michael

I, too, saw her get off the bus.

Lora May Hollingsway, who grew up next to the wrong side of the tracks, married her boss who thinks she is just a gold digger. Rita Phipps makes as much money writing radio scripts at night as her school teacher husband does. Deborah Bishop looked great in a Navy uniform in WWII but fears she'll never be dressed just right for the Country Club set. These three wives are boarding a boat filled with children going on a picnic when a messenger on a bicycle hands them a letter addressed to all three from Addie who has just left town with one of their husbands. They won't know which one until that night.