I went into this episode knowing the basic plot already, so I was prepared for the alternate storytelling style. Most of the notes I wrote down were near the end, but overall I enjoyed it fairly well. Things weren't overexplained (at first), Homer fell short of being whiny and annoying... It was interesting the way Homer could interact with his memories (when he called to Lisa I had been expecting a Christmas Carol sort of thing, but I don't know why I thought that would mess up the past). Best part of that: Bart and Lisa jumping on the "frame" and making (real) Homer bleed out the nose. Boy were there a lot of quick clips flying around (see below); I don't think that even at full size we could identify all of them.
Now, I realized that Homer had taken the forget-me-shot to forget about the surprise party revelation as soon as that part of the memory came around (and I assume most others did as well); with 2 or 3 minutes left in the episode after he fell into the party, I was wondering what else was supposed to happen, so I feared the worst when his motivation was spelled out explicitly by Lenny and Carl... but there were in fact some odd things I'd been wondering about (and wrote down), such as why Marge told Wiggum she walked into a door or why the party was right under the bridge, so I *was* pleased that they were explained.
Episodes like this (compare 3F18, CABF14 for example) tend to be pretty well-written and take advantage of the possibilities in a smart way, too, so it's no surprise that this followed suit. As with those, it also helped that it was not a stale rehash of old plotlines. Anyway... I guess that's it for a while (I still don't know which episodes were completed pre-strike, or if Fox is going to be completing some in the meantime like they did with Family Guy), except for inevitable movie DVD notes in a few days!
DYN: ...yet another new sax solo (making 28), unless it's a repeat of one of the last 3 new ones (which I haven't committed to memory yet)? ...in the repeat of the FABF08/GABF05 couch gag, Kang and Kodos laugh (as in GABF05), and Homer says "weird" (instead of "wow" or "cool")? ...after all of Homer's suggestions, Frink didn't say what he called his device (though he did refer to it as the "neural activator" much later)?
...no Bart and Lisa until act 2? ...usually an "It's a Wonderful Life" reference comes *before* any flashbacks? ...no fade to black before the (first) executive producer credit? (Fairly unusual when no special credits are used, 8F23 and 4F12 are the only ones that come to mind)
Previous episode references HABF13: Episode dealing with memory loss 7F05: Story told largely in flashback HABF19: Homer trying to remember something important FABF13: Since they made specific reference to it, I'll note this is the "first kiss" moment in case anyone else (ahem) forgot FABF12: Same party music from Edna's bachelorette party (also featuring Duffman!) heard CABF14: Another convoluted storyline playing with time (also, characters remark on how much sense it makes) BABF02: Similar weird time-lapse montage
Other references Family Guy (episode 4ACX24, Sibling Rivalry) had an Ice Age bit with Scrat and an acorn, though in that it was actual 3D animation The Truman Show?: I was trying to figure out what the music during Homer's time-lapse montage reminded me of, and I think it's a knockoff on this, even if that doesn't make a lot of sense
Homer's outfits There's no chance in hell I'm going to try to determine all the other clips that flew around (maybe once it comes to DVD so I can get slightly better resolution). But here are the things we see in the time-lapse progression of Homer's various outfits. (Note that they all seem to be in order, which might help place the unknown ones a bit.) 9F21: Barbershop quartet 1F10: Cowboy hat with camera 2F09: Collar and chain 3F05: Fat Homer (I guess it's from this, though his muzzle isn't stretched to match, and he's in his normal white shirt) 3F13: Town crier ????: Some sort of sailor (in particular he has a black hat) ????: Another one I can't identify, he's got a red vest and a bow tie around his bare neck 4F10, 5F16?: Winter coat, hat, backpack BABF07, CABF04?: Santa AABF07?: Baseball shirt (red and white) and red cap on backward (if these are supposed to be in order, this doesn't seem to fit - is there another?) DABF05: Jaws wired shut DABF13: Hulk DABF14: Civil War guy ??????: King of some sort, with huge crown and furry purple coat ??????: Black and red jacket (reminds me of Mr. Plow but not entirely) EABF16: Indian chief from Bart's group GABF21: Safety Salamander HABF10: Indian (the other one) getup HABF21 (I guess): Army stuff HABF22: Ice cream man Movie?: Fishing outfit (if it is from the movie, that's out of order too) JABF13: Fireman
Simpsons movie on DVD Boy, I sure have seen a number of commercials for this DVD (the first time I've ever seen any Simpsons DVD TV commercials). -A standard one with a couple clips (Imaweiner, Spider-Pig mostly - though just now I saw one with only the former) -Adult Swim's Aqua Teen Hunger Force version of several moments from the movie (in widescreen and apparently drawn on real footage) then tonight: -A short teaser between acts 1 and 2 -A GIANT bottom "third" after act 2 started (considering how boring that scene was, maybe it was intentional, along the lines of EABF09 and JABF16, except no mention was made of it being there) -Another standard one (not the same as the first) between acts 2 and 3 I'm surprised there weren't any over the credits, or over the Gracie/Fox logos. Another interesting thing to note is that while all promos for the movie itself were in the proper widescreen aspect, the (official) DVD promos have been in pan and scan (and boy do they look awful, e.g. the cramped Spider-Pig-on-ceiling bit, or the off-center rock-and-hard-place bit). In fact, ever since I found out it was being released in pan and scan, I was mighty surprised.
But here are a few notes about the other clips. Things I noticed (I wasn't looking particularly closely): DABF02 (family gathered near the tree) HABF22 (Marge holding popsicle stick Maggie head) FABF13 (mentioned above) 9F08 (chorus line couch gag) I also noticed that a good amount of older episodes were represented (just judging by the drawing style), so that's neat.
Finally Bart wonders if he could kick 10-year-old Homer's butt, but it looks like he said "ass." (Shades of 8F04?) (There's a reason I put this way down here, too, so don't read too much into it.)