From:
mxg77@po.cwru.edu
Well hey, that was fairly enjoyable. It also managed to just avoid being a "travel" episode or a "profound backstory revelation" episode, both of which have really run out of steam. I can't help but wonder if the TV-14 rating is still for gay content,
here in 2019.
DYN:
...Homer and Marge do a whole grunting/"harder" bit while getting Homer's jacket together but without a gag about being overheard?
...Homer leaves an IOU for $15,140 in the Monopoly box (that's the standard amount of play money in a set)?
...for Abe's interview, a static backdrop of Springfield, with still image of tire fire, is used?
But enough about tonight's episode. I finally got a chance to look at 12/23/18's "anniversary" repeat of 7G08. There are many reasons I would not ever bother to watch the cable reruns on FXX, but one of the biggest is the CROPPING and other reformatting
to frame old episodes to 16:9. Unlike the previous Fox airing in 2012, this one
was faux-widescreen, so FUCK THAT. It looked like utter garbage, though in mild
fairness, I only noticed a few important details that were lost (the image of Grampa over
Marge's shoulder as she mentions him in her letter, Homer's eyeball in the dark
when he steals the tree, and the upside-down background at the end that is no longer quite as obvious).
The credits and one or two other shots were stretched instead of cropped, including the final "card photo" bit, so it looked awful, and amazingly, the shots of the Happy Little Elves (with TV screen border) were pillarboxed. The few opening credits were
shifted somehow, although Created By Matt Groening was stretched along with the
rest of its shot.
Other than that, the episode ran at full length (a bit over 23 minutes), with pretty much no cuts or alterations that I could notice. Still PG-LV. The shot ("not a dime till Christmas Eve") that had a milkier look in 2012 seems to match the DVD coloring
now, although for some reason the crowd shot after Homer's ho-ho-d'oh swearing tirade had very muted color for a few frames (the DVD is perfect color throughout).
Oh, and I was definitely right to record this just in case, but not for the reason I thought. Before the Gracie logo (it's the newer, post-HD one, by the way, and the Fox logo is modern but might have more vintage audio), there is a quick dedication to
Penny Marshall, who died 12/17/18 (making this the next Fox episode airing), with a picture of Ms. Botz from 7G01 (the "real" first episode, making this airing reflect both firsts!). Well, I guess you'll never see that one again.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)