Love Everybody Loves Raymond or hate it, its almost total lack of subplots is a very bold strategy and gives the show a very different feel from most sitcoms. I'm not sure whether or not the international versions would stick to that.

Things cut in syndication (that you care about)

If you cared that much about continuity, I can't imagine what you did when they moved the town in Trash of the Titans.

And of course, the cream part of this was cut in syndication.

I'm 25 and saw this episode on its original airing (yes, that's probably unusual for someone my age). I didn't think it was a joke, but I did notice it and think "Wow, this school must be really high-tech!"

Weren't there three Indians last year?

He played Leavelle, the bodyguard trainer.

Does Joe Mantenga in "Bart the Murderer" count? (Probably not.)

Dude, The Simpsons has had roughly 3 political episodes since the "Bart-Mangled Banner"/"Fraudcast News" season finale ten years ago. They didn't even have the guts to go after Bush when he was at his lowest approval rating.

How does TV Club feel about Linda Hunt, though?

McDonald's works a lot harder to maintain the quality of its fountain drinks than most other restaurants. That's part of why they haven't installed Coke Freestyle machines – doesn't meet their standards.

The Simpsons is even more popular in the UK and (at least in the 90s) Australia than in America. International audiences are pretty familiar with American culture.

They only have two albums and have (not officially, but no more tours and no new material) broken up. If you haven't had your fill, check out Matt Jones and the Reconstruction, who often opened for them.

I'm not sure what it is with long-running animated series and adolescent male characters acting younger as the show progresses. Bobby Hill had the same problem, and he even explicitly aged at least two years!

"Oh yeah, this is Jeff's van!"

I liked the music so much that I wound up forgiving most of what was wrong with the episode - more for the melodies than the lyrics, and even so, the better stuff came early on. I suspect Alasdair was much the same.

14 days too late, here it is on Google Groups. Not the original, but someone who dug it up in 1999. The original is dated 2 June 1995: https://groups.google.com/d…

On every site I've used with this version of Disqus, guests can upvote comments but not downvote them.

Yes, but there's been cartoons based on live-action movies, and Glee had one of those!

Don't forget about when he returned with Sunday-only Opus in 2003! Or do, because it was very nicely shaded, but that's about the nicest I can say.