TVSquad

(S18E22)

Rod: Daddy, what are you doing?

Ned Flanders: Imploring people I never met to pressure government with better things to do to punish a man who meant no harm for something nobody even saw, that's what I'm doing!

Like I said in my other review, the "24 Minutes" episode, on the surface, seemed like the better choice for the 400th episode, but I'm glad they picked this one. The only reference to this being a milestone of some sort occurred in the opening: a short from the Tracey Ullman days showing Homer trying to take a picture of his family. It was nice and simple and a way of saying, "hey, we've been going at it this long, and we're going to keep going." Maybe I'm just not one for a lot of fanfare and hoo-ha, but I found that quite touching.

(S04E02) Paul Rudd is a funny guy, and he should really do more comedy. He appeared in this episode, albeit briefly, as an instructor in Trudi's Lamaze class who informs the women, "your vagina will be ripped in half." That's about all we hear about Trudi and her pregnancy in this episode, though she does have a funny conversation with Williams where Williams explains to her that a baby must be fed everyday and cannot, as Trudi assumes, just have food laid out for it like a cat. Trudi counters with, "If I knew you were going to judge me on my parenting skills I never would have introduced you to my unborn child."

Rewinding to the beginning of the episode, the deputies discuss new policies on when they can and cannot shoot at a person. One of the new rules is that they can only shoot after they've already been shot once. Trudi inexplicably asks if she can shoot people and chickens who come into her yard.

The American Family Association, the same group that filed complaints against an episode of Without a Trace, have now set their sights on Fox Sports' recent coverage of the Food City 500 NASCAR race.  During the broadcast, which like all of Fox Sports' live events was aired without tape delay, a member of driver Martin Truex's team called another car "a piece of s---." This isn't the first time drivers or members of a race team have let blue language fly on the air, and so far complaints haven't helped much, especially when one considers that only broadcast networks are subject to fines, not cable channels. While I understand people wanting to keep such language from television during the hours when children are watching, a complete absence of swearing seems almost unnatural. As BC Beat notes, a sport as intense and dangerous as auto racing is going to conjure its share of curse words. It seems to be the nature of the beast.