I thought the Halloween episode where Homer cloned himself this year paid homage to Family Guy (when they are panning through the clones, Peter shows up in as one of the Homer clones - along with the Tracy Ullman-era Homer!)

"ssssshhhh... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

ssssshhhh... ahhhhhhhh...

ssssshhhh... ahhhhhhhh...

ssssshhhh... ahhhhhhhh...

ssssshhhh... ahhhhhhhh...

ssssshhhh... ahhhhhhhh..."

I really don't think that was an homage (which is meant to be complimentary), but rather a jab at Family Guy for ripping off the Homer character (saying that Peter is a Homer clone).

yeah, that's the one.

Agreed.

As for Sunday's episode... It was alright.

Actually, it's probably a 'rake scene', referring to, well, the Simpsons...I believe in the episode Cape Feare, when Sideshow Bob is trying to kill Bart [one of many], he is walking in a yard and steps on a metal rake, which then flies up and hits him in the face. He then turns around and walks in the other direction, where....he steps on another rake...for some reason the yard he's in has got a million rakes scattered about, and for like a minute and a half he keeps stepping on the rakes and getting smacked in the face. I don't know the truth to this part, but it's said that they needed to flesh out that episode by about 45 seconds, so they decided to do the rake thing; so now any grossly repetitive, time-filling scene is known as a rake scene.

Anyway, while this episode wasn't the 'worst episode ever,' imho, it wasn't one of the best. I like Flanders's debate with reality vs. religion, and it did make him more of a real person, but I would also like to see it come back in the future, with not necessarily regret, but with him having some second thoughts or a crisis of conscience about it. I actually didn't really like the chip thing; granted, she was attractive, but I don't really see Homer as a drooling, T&A staring troglodyte--the instances where he is tempted by others, the focus isn't so much on the appearance of the girl, but her personality and things they have in common [like the episode where, argh, can't remember her name, the blonde woman starts working at SNPP and she and Homer become King and Queen of Nuclear Power, or whatever.]

I thought the ending was particularly out of character for Ned, especially how he didn't seem to have any regrets the next morning. There were a few good bits, but overall I thought it was pretty lame.

Maybe she had a Gummi-Venus di Milo on her butt that we couldn't see

"She had more stars on her than Lisa's homework"

(or something like that)

I thought it was a pretty risque episode between that line and the one about the vegetables. Not that I mind.

My thoughts EXACTLY. That really ruined it for me, and I'm a HUGE fan.