I had exactly the same thought. He could at least have busted out the Green Lantern lantern.

Word to the Latin philologist.

Nice tuxedo. Nice tuxedo to DIE IN!

That's an interesting question - DOES Evil Spock count? Maybe he was just acting logically, unemotionally evil.

Has anyone else noticed that there's a little "whew, everything's okay now" theme—just a few bars, on harmonica I believe—the crops up occasionally in season 2 and seems to have been reused in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.? Or have my ears gone insane?

Bonus points to Urgh. After Zach's comment about the episode being almost Lynchian someone had to say it.

Sounds delightfully familiar
"Washington dodges the roadside marauders and cannibals who scramble for scarce resources, and when he can't dodge them, he runs them through with a sharp sword."

"…which makes this probably the only show I cover that could even possibly have an extended riff on the novel Flatland."

"Did you tell him about the Case of the Guy Who Lied about His Age?"
"Yep."
"Was he impressed?"
"Yeah."
"Was he really impressed?"
"Fuckin' flabbergasted."

He is quite Pullmany here…also Pullmany but in a slightly different way in Rick, where he growls a bit more.

Hi, Beth Grant!
Lurved you as Ralph's mom on My Name is Earl!

Backwards
Having seen Red Dwarf long before I ever saw TOS, "Spectre of the Gun" always reminds me of "Gunmen of the Apocalypse." Especially with both episodes taking place inside one character's mind, more or less.

Please, please, please let them make a reference to that site on The Big Bang Theory.

Question
In Velvet Goldmine, there's one scene of a concert by a musician called "Polly Small" - was she supposed to be a stand-in for Joan Jett?

Two things
1) Re: The "one parent comes to town to tell their kid they're divorcing the other parent" feels like something I've seen a number of times on shows like this." Northern Exposure is the one that leaps immediately to mind.

When Penny lowered her voice register without Sheldon having to comment, I wondered whether she had figured out exactly what he was doing and was actually exploiting him for free chocolate. So much so that I was surprised it wasn't revealed at the end of the episode.

Thanks for the advice, folks - I'm off to the soulless printed-matter retail center of your choice!

Listen, man, at least in the 80's there were conventions to which your mom could drive you. Being a geek in the twelfth century must have been a BITCH.

Yes, I missed these while they were gone. Not that The Prisoner isn't a worthy project, but how will I know what to think about these episodes if Mr. Handlen doesn't break it down for me?

I agree - this episode is best the first time you see it. Especially if you haven't been ruined by the rotten spoiler ZH describes above. The iTunes description of this episode is pretty similar and similarly infuriating.