These double-headers are going to wear me out, man. I can just sense it. The most bothersome thing about "The Heartbroke Kid" was that Bart seemed to be the only SES student who went overboard with the snacks. (I didn't see Ralph balloon out, or Martin, for example.) Otherwise, it was pretty enjoyable, if a little wacky. The youth hostel idea made for a solid subplot. Skinner's staple war: great. "Vertigo" Willie rake scene: not so great, but rescued by Bart. This was certainly no "Homer's Triple Bypass" in the emotional department, but that would be like trying to recreate "Lisa's Wedding" (Cough, cough, BABF13), so I enjoyed the lighter side. Albert Brooks was funny but seemed a little restrained. A good effort all around, but I'm still looking forward to the last several episodes of the season.
DYN: ...fat Bart didn't get run into by Lisa's bike in the parody opening? ...Albert Brooks is once again credited as "A. Brooks"? (Can someone explain this?)
Previous episode references DABF12: "Marge becomes a robot" 9F22, 4F07: "Three weeks later" sung and animated like the intro, and intro elements follow 9F09: Bart's heart attack and "what doesn't kill me" quoting 8F24: Fat camp DABF03: Fat Springfielders resulting from Big Sugar (and so forth) ...BABF14: Fat Wolfcastle BABF14: Homer singing and dancing to earn change (see also that capsule)
7F16, 8F23: Herb Powell seen BABF05: New residents at Simpson home a nuisance and a mess
Other references The Shawshank Redemption: I believe this is the inspiration for Krusty's poster pose, as well as the hidden hole behind it
Goofs A "zipper job" doesn't literally allow you to zip and unzip your chest, does it? The front window opening at all was a little odd, but that it opened two different ways in the same episode...
Scratchy's checklist (_ represents a check box):
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN:
_ Churned Into Butter _ Decapitated By A Windmill _ Impaled By The Space Needle _ Squashed By The Moon _ Printed Into Money _ Tricked Into Eating Yourself _ Hung By Your Intestine _ Impaled On A Cactus _ Killed In A Plane Crash With Buddy Holly
And the episodes involved:
Butter Off Dead (DABF15, noted as I&S #DABF06) Churned Into Butter [seems to be Lincoln at miniature golf course in 5F18, actually - did I&S do it?] Decapitated By A Windmill Skinless in Seattle (3F02) Impaled By The Space Needle Flay Me to the Moon (9F01, seen also in 2F33) Squashed By The Moon The Buck Chops Here (1F16) Printed Into Money Esophagus Now (3F03) Tricked Into Eating Yourself Why Do Fools Fall in Lava? (4F12) (he didn't die by hanging, though) Hung By Your Intestine Germs of Endearment (9F20) Impaled On A Cactus Bleeder of the Pack (EABF10) Killed In A Plane Crash With Buddy Holly
Other stuff -Each of the times there's been a parody Simpsons opening title within the episode, the animation of the clouds and words is markedly different from that of the real opening (season 1's or the rest). Does anyone know why this is? Even if they lost the cels or something, I have to imagine it could be recreated. (On a somewhat related note, this has been bugging me for a while: in many newer episodes, there seems to be a thin line in the cloud scene from about the middle of the screen straight down. What is that?) -Deleted line alert: In one ad (which ran during GABF10), Homer's list of things that should be allowed to happen to kids includes being "eaten by witches." -Deleted scene alert: As has happened with some frequency, Marcia Wallace was credited, and I don't seem to recall Mrs. Krabappel being in the show.