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Notes for 7G08 (Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire) repeat and Fox 25th anniversary special
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Matthew Garvey
Apr 22, 2012, 11:58:14 PM4/22/12
to mx...@cwru.edu
7G08:
Rated PG-LV
In some sort of surround as delivered by Fox, but I'm not sure if it
was Dolby Surround processing on the original stereo track or the 5.1
mix also available on the DVD (the other recent airings of much older
episodes don't apply as much).
I compared it to the DVD, and pretty much everything seems to match
(no cuts, no alterations - even the upside-down background near the
end still sticks around), including the credits (20th logo is
arguable). The time is the 23:05 original (and stays within a half-
hour time slot). But there is one thing that jumped out at me, and
it's curious:
At around 12 minutes, when Homer asks when he gets paid, the Santa
school instructor barks "not a dime till Christmas Eve!" In the
version just broadcast tonight, there's a funny cloudy coloring over
that line (see some of the original takes for 7G01), and the right arm
is noticeably lighter, with the suit close to black. The entire suit
snaps to the lighter gray in the same shot as he gathers himself and
continues. On the DVD, it looks like a retake, perhaps from a later
(1989-90-91-93-94, though I'd suspect 89 or 90) repeat... it seems
unlikely to have been done at the DVD stage. The only other copy of
the episode I have is from a tape of unknown origin (full-length,
possibly an airing or the retail VHS), and it does have the glitchy
take. I don't know about syndication. Any extra info?
There was also a slight addition, between the end of the third act
(+execs) and the commercial break: a few seconds of a silent-movie-
esque intertitle card that read:
Congratulations FOX
on 25 years...
We still love you*
*This doesn't include Fox News
(Does it bug anyone else that people insist on capitalizing the O and
X? It's not an acronym!)
Other notes:
-Obviously, there are many things that seem weird about the episode
now, but one I just noticed was that it sounds almost like Patty and
Selma live out of town. The "how was your trip?" line from Homer
especially adds to this impression.
-The first episode of "Married... with Children" that preceded this
didn't seem to fare quite as well in the time department. I timed it
at about 21:45, when I'd expect it to be 23 minutes or more. But I
don't know the show that well. I did notice that the theme song seems
to be intact (which can't be said of all the DVDs, right?), and the
new Sony logo has wormed its way in the way that it always does. Both
episodes were also presented pillarboxed on Fox, but in 4:3 on the SD
feed.
-Closed captions (on Fox tonight at least) give Homer's line, exiting
Santa's workshop and banging his head, as "ho ho... yo!" not "d'oh" or
anything like that.
Fox 25th anniversary special (selected notes)
Overall not too bad, and as Seacrest said, they had to condense quite
a lot of stuff into 2 hours. (Many shows were overlooked entirely, of
course - including, I believe, Futurama, even though a clip of it was
used in the promos!)
Speaking of the SD feed: for some reason, even though Fox has been
very good in the last few years about letterboxing pretty much
everything it might have cause to, and being (I think) the only major
broadcast network to even start this practice again after the analog
switchoff, it did NOT present the special in widescreen on SD. I got
to watch it in widescreen on my big TV, but I recorded it off SD for
safekeeping and am pretty annoyed at this. I may have to seek out a
widescreen copy. Jeez.
(As for the formatting overall: almost everything was presented in its
original aspect ratio, pillarboxed as appropriate with plain black
bars. For some reason, though, a clip from MABF15 [Judge Me Tender] in
the section on jabs at Fox was shown in 4:3, not that episode's
original widescreen, and of course the clip from the movie was trimmed
to 16:9. And in the section on sports, everything was in 16:9, with
older 4:3 clips cropped to fit [then, of course, cut off on the sides
on the SD version!] - which seemed odd, almost as if someone
completely different was in charge of putting that together or it was
assumed stupid sports fans would tune in for just this segment and
revolt upon seeing black bars or something.)
The Simpsons section was fine - certainly an unexpected assembly of
clips, which was refreshing. I'm not sure why the stereo channels
seemed to be reversed, though. The "host" segments (joining Seth
MacFarlane's bunch and Bob's Burgers) weren't bad, nor was the guest
appearance from Zooey Deschanel. I kind of wish there was some
discussion from cast or producers like there was for many of the other
shows highlighted in the special, but considering there was a variety
of styles overall (some summaries hosted by Seacrest with montages of
clips, some chats with several cast members, some thoughts from just
one cast member or a few separately...) I guess it was fine, and
again, the current animated shows got their own hosty screen time.
Finally, there was a clip (noted above) of The Simpsons Movie: a
somewhat sped-up version of the nude skateboarding scene. "Bountiful
penis" was left in, but if you didn't catch it, the actual penis was
obscured, not by a "European version only" bar, but by a squarish tiny
"25th" logo. It went by in the blink of an eye (it was sped up!).
Rated PG-LV
In some sort of surround as delivered by Fox, but I'm not sure if it
was Dolby Surround processing on the original stereo track or the 5.1
mix also available on the DVD (the other recent airings of much older
episodes don't apply as much).
I compared it to the DVD, and pretty much everything seems to match
(no cuts, no alterations - even the upside-down background near the
end still sticks around), including the credits (20th logo is
arguable). The time is the 23:05 original (and stays within a half-
hour time slot). But there is one thing that jumped out at me, and
it's curious:
At around 12 minutes, when Homer asks when he gets paid, the Santa
school instructor barks "not a dime till Christmas Eve!" In the
version just broadcast tonight, there's a funny cloudy coloring over
that line (see some of the original takes for 7G01), and the right arm
is noticeably lighter, with the suit close to black. The entire suit
snaps to the lighter gray in the same shot as he gathers himself and
continues. On the DVD, it looks like a retake, perhaps from a later
(1989-90-91-93-94, though I'd suspect 89 or 90) repeat... it seems
unlikely to have been done at the DVD stage. The only other copy of
the episode I have is from a tape of unknown origin (full-length,
possibly an airing or the retail VHS), and it does have the glitchy
take. I don't know about syndication. Any extra info?
There was also a slight addition, between the end of the third act
(+execs) and the commercial break: a few seconds of a silent-movie-
esque intertitle card that read:
Congratulations FOX
on 25 years...
We still love you*
*This doesn't include Fox News
(Does it bug anyone else that people insist on capitalizing the O and
X? It's not an acronym!)
Other notes:
-Obviously, there are many things that seem weird about the episode
now, but one I just noticed was that it sounds almost like Patty and
Selma live out of town. The "how was your trip?" line from Homer
especially adds to this impression.
-The first episode of "Married... with Children" that preceded this
didn't seem to fare quite as well in the time department. I timed it
at about 21:45, when I'd expect it to be 23 minutes or more. But I
don't know the show that well. I did notice that the theme song seems
to be intact (which can't be said of all the DVDs, right?), and the
new Sony logo has wormed its way in the way that it always does. Both
episodes were also presented pillarboxed on Fox, but in 4:3 on the SD
feed.
-Closed captions (on Fox tonight at least) give Homer's line, exiting
Santa's workshop and banging his head, as "ho ho... yo!" not "d'oh" or
anything like that.
Fox 25th anniversary special (selected notes)
Overall not too bad, and as Seacrest said, they had to condense quite
a lot of stuff into 2 hours. (Many shows were overlooked entirely, of
course - including, I believe, Futurama, even though a clip of it was
used in the promos!)
Speaking of the SD feed: for some reason, even though Fox has been
very good in the last few years about letterboxing pretty much
everything it might have cause to, and being (I think) the only major
broadcast network to even start this practice again after the analog
switchoff, it did NOT present the special in widescreen on SD. I got
to watch it in widescreen on my big TV, but I recorded it off SD for
safekeeping and am pretty annoyed at this. I may have to seek out a
widescreen copy. Jeez.
(As for the formatting overall: almost everything was presented in its
original aspect ratio, pillarboxed as appropriate with plain black
bars. For some reason, though, a clip from MABF15 [Judge Me Tender] in
the section on jabs at Fox was shown in 4:3, not that episode's
original widescreen, and of course the clip from the movie was trimmed
to 16:9. And in the section on sports, everything was in 16:9, with
older 4:3 clips cropped to fit [then, of course, cut off on the sides
on the SD version!] - which seemed odd, almost as if someone
completely different was in charge of putting that together or it was
assumed stupid sports fans would tune in for just this segment and
revolt upon seeing black bars or something.)
The Simpsons section was fine - certainly an unexpected assembly of
clips, which was refreshing. I'm not sure why the stereo channels
seemed to be reversed, though. The "host" segments (joining Seth
MacFarlane's bunch and Bob's Burgers) weren't bad, nor was the guest
appearance from Zooey Deschanel. I kind of wish there was some
discussion from cast or producers like there was for many of the other
shows highlighted in the special, but considering there was a variety
of styles overall (some summaries hosted by Seacrest with montages of
clips, some chats with several cast members, some thoughts from just
one cast member or a few separately...) I guess it was fine, and
again, the current animated shows got their own hosty screen time.
Finally, there was a clip (noted above) of The Simpsons Movie: a
somewhat sped-up version of the nude skateboarding scene. "Bountiful
penis" was left in, but if you didn't catch it, the actual penis was
obscured, not by a "European version only" bar, but by a squarish tiny
"25th" logo. It went by in the blink of an eye (it was sped up!).
Wiseguy
Apr 23, 2012, 3:53:49 AM4/23/12
to
Matthew Garvey <mx...@po.cwru.edu> wrote in news:08707545-96b5-4a69-9151-
008f35...@f37g2000yqc.googlegroups.com:
>
> -The first episode of "Married... with Children" that preceded this
> didn't seem to fare quite as well in the time department. I timed it
> at about 21:45, when I'd expect it to be 23 minutes or more. But I
> don't know the show that well. I did notice that the theme song seems
> to be intact (which can't be said of all the DVDs, right?), and the
> new Sony logo has wormed its way in the way that it always does. Both
> episodes were also presented pillarboxed on Fox, but in 4:3 on the SD
> feed.
>
The opening credits was the short syndicated version. The original had
more of the theme song and blank black background when displaying the cast
credits.
008f35...@f37g2000yqc.googlegroups.com:
>
> -The first episode of "Married... with Children" that preceded this
> didn't seem to fare quite as well in the time department. I timed it
> at about 21:45, when I'd expect it to be 23 minutes or more. But I
> don't know the show that well. I did notice that the theme song seems
> to be intact (which can't be said of all the DVDs, right?), and the
> new Sony logo has wormed its way in the way that it always does. Both
> episodes were also presented pillarboxed on Fox, but in 4:3 on the SD
> feed.
>
more of the theme song and blank black background when displaying the cast
credits.
Captain Infinity
Apr 23, 2012, 8:28:47 AM4/23/12
to
Once Upon A Time,
**
Captain Infinity
Matthew Garvey wrote:
>Finally, there was a clip (noted above) of The Simpsons Movie: a
>somewhat sped-up version of the nude skateboarding scene. "Bountiful
>penis" was left in, but if you didn't catch it, the actual penis was
>obscured, not by a "European version only" bar, but by a squarish tiny
>"25th" logo. It went by in the blink of an eye (it was sped up!).
Thank goodness! Who wants to see a penis anyway? Yuck.
>Finally, there was a clip (noted above) of The Simpsons Movie: a
>somewhat sped-up version of the nude skateboarding scene. "Bountiful
>penis" was left in, but if you didn't catch it, the actual penis was
>obscured, not by a "European version only" bar, but by a squarish tiny
>"25th" logo. It went by in the blink of an eye (it was sped up!).
**
Captain Infinity
Theodore Heise
Jun 22, 2012, 6:09:05 PM6/22/12
to
On Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:58:14 -0700 (PDT),
Matthew Garvey <mx...@po.cwru.edu> wrote:
> 7G08:
>
> Rated PG-LV
I somehow missed this epsiode (Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire),
and haven't seen it come on again since. Anyone have hints on how
to find when it might be aired again?
--
Theodore (Ted) Heise <th...@heise.nu> Bloomington, IN, USA
Matthew Garvey <mx...@po.cwru.edu> wrote:
> 7G08:
>
> Rated PG-LV
I somehow missed this epsiode (Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire),
and haven't seen it come on again since. Anyone have hints on how
to find when it might be aired again?
--
Theodore (Ted) Heise <th...@heise.nu> Bloomington, IN, USA
OFF Fan
Jun 22, 2012, 9:52:29 PM6/22/12
to
On Fri, 22 Jun 2012 18:09:05 -0400, Theodore Heise <th...@heise.nu>
wrote:
>On Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:58:14 -0700 (PDT),
> Matthew Garvey <mx...@po.cwru.edu> wrote:
>> 7G08:
>>
>> Rated PG-LV
>
>I somehow missed this epsiode (Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire),
>and haven't seen it come on again since. Anyone have hints on how
>to find when it might be aired again?
Step 1. Build a time machine. Ask Professor Frink for help, if
needed.
Step 2. Go back in time to April 22, 2012 and watch the episode.
wrote:
>On Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:58:14 -0700 (PDT),
> Matthew Garvey <mx...@po.cwru.edu> wrote:
>> 7G08:
>>
>> Rated PG-LV
>
>I somehow missed this epsiode (Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire),
>and haven't seen it come on again since. Anyone have hints on how
>to find when it might be aired again?
needed.
Step 2. Go back in time to April 22, 2012 and watch the episode.
Wiseguy
Jun 23, 2012, 3:01:23 AM6/23/12
to
OFF Fan <ho...@simpson.dna> wrote in
news:188au7laiqig1kfpp...@4ax.com:
or either buy the season 1 dvds or the christmas dvd volume 1
news:188au7laiqig1kfpp...@4ax.com:
OFF Fan
Jun 23, 2012, 6:11:26 AM6/23/12
to
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