I'm a little cranky (see below), but ehhhhh. This didn't really feel like a Simpsons episode, especially once the plot got going (and especially especially after it ended - Kim Jong Il song??). Maybe a second viewing will help. We'll see. What actually seemed to have the most potential was how everyone at SNPP besides Lenny and Carl seemed to shun Homer (and not just the new guy Wayne), which seems similar to a couple classic episodes but without being a retread. It also would have been an interesting connection to the friendship-themed stories on The Cleveland Show and Family Guy (though of course unplanned, unlike the Seth MacFarlane Hurricane Night that seems to be re- scheduled for next week). I'm also curious about the double shot of internet trend gags (the Taiwanese reenactment, which wasn't bad, and the autotune bit, which really felt uninspired and fell flat).
Also, thanks, I'm glad we had four separate references to the "Nedna" cliffhanger.
DYN: ...Charlie is seen (and heard!) at work again? ...a (less and less) rare censorship bleep used? ...in other topical news, one flashback seems to have a half-formed background gag about Osama bin Laden's actual whereabouts? ...the scissors coupon is on the front page of the newspaper?
Previous episode stuff CABF04: both Carl's word-of-the-day and the fakeout of it (aloof/he's here, concur/conquer there) FABF20: Marge's fantasy about the snack-based cooking competition (and the crazy modern kitchen prize) - also, with that in my mind, the nested horse-and-carriage bit for the silver helmet reminded me of the bread maker maker FABF23: Homer's T2-like fantasy aside, his tendency to "flash forward" reminded me quite a bit of The Ned Zone TOH segment, especially with a present-day poster saying only "don't do this" with a picture of a mushroom cloud Movie: When it was mentioned that Springfield appears on no maps or charts, my immediate reaction was to think of this very occurrence in the movie, and to realize it may not have actually been reinstated AABF10: Marge wants tips on how to drive more aggressively AABF22: "Pep closet" (this is not a phrase I've ever heard outside this show; do people actually use it?) JABF01: Holiday ice skater costumes include such things as the fake Grinch JABF14: Kiefer Sutherland guest stars
LUNCHLADY DORIS HABF15, JABF02, KABF06, LABF08, MABF12, NABF11, NABF13, NABF15, NABF16 I suppose there's no reason for me to STOP this tally now, even though the trend is obviously not going to stop.
Meta-reference Aside from all the fourth-wall stuff for Nedna (show intro and end, and Edna winking at camera), Wayne walks down a Little Ukraine street full of amusing store names, and comments on how he'd enjoy them if he weren't in his predicament.
Cliffhanger wrap-up
Actually, this is the first one in 16 years, isn't it? (And the second one total!) I guess there was a lot of hoopla about Who Shot Mr. Burns, too, but on the other hand that at least got a full episode to resolve it and not a tack-on to an unrelated one. I don't really care one way or the other about the outcome, by the way, but good for them.
For those who didn't catch the repeat of The Ned-liest Catch (NABF15) two weeks ago, it was exactly the same until the credits. No, really, it even had the encouragement to vote. Whereas the original had regular credits, this had a second part of Marge and Homer speaking to the audience, saying it is too late to vote and then rambling about how people might see the episode in the future. Presumably, this will be the version that shows up in syndication and on DVD, especially since it explicitly mentions reruns and DVD.
I'm going to make sure to tape the next airing of tonight's episode, though, just in case.
This brings me to something else: the opening sequence. We've had very short openings in the past (mostly season 1, 2F02, and stuff like JABF07's short premiere), but last season, two episodes (MABF22 and NABF11) had no opening at all, and NABF15/NABF16 as the season finale/ premiere had a title-only sequence very reminiscent of the short season 1 ones. I had wondered if that was first-airing-only to make room for the voting/results stuff, but... it's not looking that way. We'll see. Obviously, the time allowance for the show keeps eroding (it is now only about 25 seconds longer than the syndication slot!), but if the opening sequence has to disappear into a mere title card because of it, that's pretty sad. I know the TV landscape has changed quite a bit in 22 years, but I can't help but be reminded of the "Songs in the Key of Springfield" liner notes that glorify the main theme, and by extension the opening sequence, or some other holdouts in the field of doing real title sequences with iconically hummable tunes, such as all 3 Seth MacFarlane shows and Futurama. Well, Matt may have been fighting against cheesy 80s ballless synth, and Seth obviously was born 40 years too late, but they both have some very good points.
Finally, another bit of griping and complaining. In short (and this IS the short version): once my regular usenet server stopped working, I went to Google Groups and posted here with an apps account based on my email address. I can't now! A while back, the university moved its mail to a branded Gmail thing (which I still regard as a bad move), and this spring, Google decided to offer its various apps to those entities using their mail service (actually, the offer may have been mandatory). I regard this as an EXTREMELY bad move, as I haven't seen a single good thing come of it, but it's had plenty of ANNOYING AS FUCK results with a horrible transition that was about as un-smooth as possible. I somehow miraculously managed to post with my intended account at the end of last season (NABF15 was the only season 22 episode after the transition), but I can't seem to now, getting only a ridiculously cryptic message that I can't post to or join a.t.s from that account. Why not? Who knows? So until I can get that sorted out, which may never happen, I guess I'll post through this other goofy thing instead. (Incidentally, I can send mail through it "from" the address I want, but the same doesn't seem to apply to Groups. Go figure.) Not that I get any mail based on my newsgroup posts anyway, but don't... you know... use this gmail address for anything.
And THAT is why I am cranky and half incoherent, by the way. We'll see what happens next week.