Matt Garvey
2024-12-18 01:09:03 UTC
Happy anniversary! Today's Disney+-only double-episode debut has the
dubious distinction of occurring 35 years to the day after the first
full episode's Fox premiere (for a Christmas episode of course). It only
hit me in the middle that that probably explains the choice of date (a
Tuesday of all things), though I imagine reasons for making it a
streaming exclusive rather than a broadcast include the long-term
effects of the strike delay, and so on. I hope it does find its way into
network/cable/syndication distribution, along with the others yet to come!
Overall positive reaction, I think. I didn't know where it was headed,
and I might have picked a few other directions for Ned's crisis (once I
realized that was the main story) but this was satisfactory. I didn't
need him to return to faith, by the way. Episodes came to mind like
3F02, 9F01, 5F05, as well as Ned's various personal tests over the
years, and this works fairly well with them, not quite establishing a
particular supernatural quality but also not ripping the rug out just
for kicks. It did have a bit of a classic feel, so that's nice.
Note: the episode itself (with credits, but not dub credits) runs just
over 43 minutes, which is about right for broadcast these days
(splitting it into halves would necessitate some cuts or something for
more credits/another intro). And I am definitely of the mind to count
this as two episodes for reckoning totals, etc.; it's got two codes,
runs twice as long... and even has "first half" and "second half" writer
and director credits (as separate episodes would)! But wow, it's really
hard to tell where the broadcast act breaks should be, let alone the
split between halves.
Previous episode stuff
FABF02, BABF07: Talking astrolabes and Funzos prominently seen as Homer
shops for presents
7G11: Homer says they already "did" getting Marge a bowling ball (though
that was a birthday gift)
7G08: Homer has been (a mall) Santa before, memorably, in the first
aired episode (happy anniversary!)
DABF02: Ned asks about when Lisa first became Buddhist
dubious distinction of occurring 35 years to the day after the first
full episode's Fox premiere (for a Christmas episode of course). It only
hit me in the middle that that probably explains the choice of date (a
Tuesday of all things), though I imagine reasons for making it a
streaming exclusive rather than a broadcast include the long-term
effects of the strike delay, and so on. I hope it does find its way into
network/cable/syndication distribution, along with the others yet to come!
Overall positive reaction, I think. I didn't know where it was headed,
and I might have picked a few other directions for Ned's crisis (once I
realized that was the main story) but this was satisfactory. I didn't
need him to return to faith, by the way. Episodes came to mind like
3F02, 9F01, 5F05, as well as Ned's various personal tests over the
years, and this works fairly well with them, not quite establishing a
particular supernatural quality but also not ripping the rug out just
for kicks. It did have a bit of a classic feel, so that's nice.
Note: the episode itself (with credits, but not dub credits) runs just
over 43 minutes, which is about right for broadcast these days
(splitting it into halves would necessitate some cuts or something for
more credits/another intro). And I am definitely of the mind to count
this as two episodes for reckoning totals, etc.; it's got two codes,
runs twice as long... and even has "first half" and "second half" writer
and director credits (as separate episodes would)! But wow, it's really
hard to tell where the broadcast act breaks should be, let alone the
split between halves.
Previous episode stuff
FABF02, BABF07: Talking astrolabes and Funzos prominently seen as Homer
shops for presents
7G11: Homer says they already "did" getting Marge a bowling ball (though
that was a birthday gift)
7G08: Homer has been (a mall) Santa before, memorably, in the first
aired episode (happy anniversary!)
DABF02: Ned asks about when Lisa first became Buddhist