Notes for 9F08 (Lisa's first word) repeat, with edits

S04E10 Lisa's First WordretroApr 3, 2011, 10:54 PM ET18 years later7 posts by 4 posters
7 posts
Matt Garvey

OK, so here's this, for the 4/3/11 Elizabeth Taylor memorial broadcast. See also notes for 7F24.

The biggest thing is that the opening sequence was severely edited. It was 96 seconds long in the full version (premiering the chorus line/ circus couch gag that for a while was the only such filler), but tonight it was only 30. Visually, the only parts seen were... --clouds and name of show, through some of the town, but fading into the next part before we see the long shot of the school --the yellow school wall panning to blackboard (which is the same - "teacher is not a leper") through to Bart skating out the door and down the sidewalk --the driveway, from Homer parking to running into the house --the TV credits. Yes, no solo, no couch gag, etc. The audio, to avoid sounding like crap, used the 50-second theme until the driveway shows up, then switched to the appropriate music, and (shortly before Homer ran into the house) switched to the end-of-couch-gag quiet part before launching into the TV music. The sound effects were independent of the music and matched what they should have.

The only other big edit I could tell was that the end of act 1 cut off a little early (about 1.5 seconds less laughter on tonight's broadcast) and act 2 didn't fade in; there may have been a slight trim at the end of the opening/start of act 1 in the same vein. And like 7F24, the bleeding white edges of the name Gracie Films (on the right) were covered up; unlike 7F24, the timing to the Fox logo was no different (compared to the DVD).

(Maggie's "Daddy" does match the original; compare DABF12 (Gump Roast), where it is not as heard here. Of course, given why this episode was shown, that only makes sense. I don't recall offhand if Elizabeth Taylor was credited in DABF12, but if she was, could it be that an alternate take was used in its presentation of the 9F08 clip?)

The episode itself ran from 7:58 to 8:30 (with at least the 7:30 American Dad also starting 2 minutes early), but I don't know why it needed the extra time (if that's what it was for); the total length was 21:49-50, which is the same as the longest new episodes tend to be these days (21:50).

HOWEVER! There is something I noticed when comparing this broadcast to the DVD: at about 19 minutes (on the DVD), when Dr. Hibbert's beginning his checkup of Lisa, there is silence where in other versions he chuckles before pronouncing her reflexes like those of Mary Lou Retton, and silence right after that where Lisa babbles a little. Every other version I've been able to check has those things, except the primary audio track on the region 1 DVD: -tonight's airing, -syndication, -subtitles on the DVD (for chuckling anyway), -the episode capsule (for chuckling - this may be built on a later airing), -and the Spanish and French audio tracks on the DVD (as well as a bit of the chuckle under the commentary). This can't possibly be a censorship or rights issue, so what happened? What I don't have are any of the original airings (or any non-region-1 DVD)... it's possible, I suppose, that these things were missing originally and put in for repeats. I didn't notice anything else amiss, and it seems like an odd thing to intentionally take *out*. Any help?

Other stuff: -Rating: PG-DLSV -Unusual for The Simpsons these days, but there was a (small!) bug in the lower right advertising the new show Breaking In at one point in act 2 - mostly unobtrusive but still surprising. (Fun also: since the episode isn't widescreen, the Fox bug itself isn't shown over it! With cropping it's not even visible.)

-Promos tonight for the Fox lineup did mention the Elizabeth Taylor connection, but most of them didn't have any clips. A promo before the credits of the 7:30 American Dad did have (silent) clips of the episode, mentioning reliving Maggie's first wordS, though cropped vertically to fit the widescreen frame.

-I found it amusing that the other Simpsons repeat tonight (NABF03, Moms I'd Like to Forget) is also flashback-heavy, and it was scheduled for tonight before the death of ET. And the new episode of The Cleveland Show (The Essence of Cleveland, 2APS19?) itself featured flashbacks to 1983-84 and a young child (Rallo) who learned he might be expecting a new baby sibling (OK, yeah, a bastard step-sibling, but still).

-Don del Grande: You might want to correct the episode air dates list. It includes tonight's 9F08 as a "-A" 7:00 slot instead of 8.

Don Del GrandeMatt Garvey

Matt Garvey wrote:

You forget that there is more commercial time per hour in network prime time now than there were was back then.

The Special Guest Voice credits for DABF12 are: Ed Asner, Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Stephen Hawking, Ron Howard, Elton John, Lucy Lawless, Joe Namath, *NSync, Elizabeth Taylor, and U2.

-- Don
Matt GarveyDon Del Grande

On Apr 4, 8:34 pm, Don Del Grande wrote:

No, I remember. I even noted that the total running time was almost exactly the same as the current maximum. But when 7F24 ran in 2009, it was given the extra time (32 minutes or so with ads); when the 7F75/ Jackson dedication in front of the LABF05 repeat ran, taking an extra 4 minutes or so, the entire Fox lineup ran late that same amount.

Then I'm stumped. I am on a bit of a DVD backlog and haven't yet looked at season 13 - I wonder if the voice was reinstated, or the credit ditched, or any comment made in the commentary. Don't tell me - I'll wait and see.

Don Del GrandeMatt Garvey

Matt Garvey wrote:

I noted when I first saw the episode that there were a number of credited "special guest voices" (including Stephen Hawking and U2) that did not have any speaking parts in the episode, so it's possible that it wasn't her as Maggie.

-- Don
Captain InfinityDon Del Grande

Once Upon A Time, Don Del Grande wrote:

It was Stephen Hawking, no question about it.

** Captain Infinity

Matt GarveyMatt Garvey

One other funny coincidence: On the 2011 daily desk calendar, once a week or so there's a still from an old episode. For today (4/6), it's from Lisa's First Word. (The picture is Bart and Lisa in her crib after he gives her a haircut.)

Sam WarrenMatt Garvey

The Gump Roast version is dubbed by Nancy Cartwright. (Or maybe it was the temp track?)