Just caught this episode last night (missed it in its original run), and found it to be a lot funnier than most of the recent eps...but one thing troubles me. Towards the beginning, when Bart is outside digging the hole, Lisa says "Bart's Mountain Dew is going flat!"
Now, my question - is this some sort of joke that I just didn't quite get, or was this a case of (gasp!) product placement?
Secondly, what was the significance of that giant hole in the first place? Did they ever explain just exactly what Bart was doing? I think I must have missed it during a bathroom break or something.
That was sort of the point... Moe interupts the story and declares it the stupidest thing he has ever heard: "And I've read the entire Sweet Valley High series..."
At that point, they comment on how cranky Moe has been, and we slide into the main plot.
I think that it is a poke at the way so many episodes of that era start with shaggy dog stories... think Tennis the Menance, with the seniors talent show all the way to the funeral home was just shaggy dog... up to the end of the first act. There is something to be said for shaggy dog stories, and many of the times they are used on the Simpsons, they work well.
The problem that I had with this episode is that the hole subplot was wonderful, and then most of the second act is poor. I really enjoyed everything up to and including "Pick me, I'm an urban Lenny...", and then after that there are only a few high points.
RE: the Mountain Dew... the writers have made fun of Mountain Dew a number of times... The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson springs to mind:
Homer: Now what do you have to wash that awful taste out of my mouth? Vendor: Mountain Dew or crab juice. Homer: Blecch! Ew! Sheesh! I'll take a crab juice...
I think that Mountain Dew is just inherently funny.
I did this when I was a kid... dug big holes. A friend and I tried to dig a giant hole down to the lava and stuff. We were about six years old, and actually got down about four feet. Considering were were six, and that was over our heads, we had to stop, because we couldn't get the dirt out of the hole very well.
I really loved that they brought in Dr. Tom... a special talking doctor... I agree that this was the high point of the episode.
I think the idea that Bart was having Moutain Dew for breakfast was the joke...though I've done it before, it's a good caffeine kick for those of us who can't stand coffee.
Also note that Homer would rather drink crab juice than Mountain Dew yet Bart has Mountain Dew for breakfast.
I used to do that all the time on the bus ride to my high school (which was almost an hour long) - but about a year ago, I suddenly stopped being able to drink it first thing in the morning (I guess I needed to eat something first, since my stomach would start to hurt a lot).
Re crab juice: I love dew (duh) but not only does my dad hate it, so does everyone else in my family. So that's certainly not a problem.