Good balance of Stewie and Brian
Stewie's bit this episode of trying to join in the switching with Brian was hilarious. I never like it when Stewie seems to have romantic feelings with Brian, it's funnier when he just wants to be his best friend and hijinks partner.

Good
I know nothing will ever stop the lazy shock comedy that comes with every horrible tragedy, but at least one of its all-time hacks got a little punch in the wallet for it this time.

I could not agree more. I generally hate recurring characters, but the way Kenan angrily summarizes those movie plots, I could just watch all day.

I agree that the facial cream sketch was a total failure, but I did appreciate that it was at least crazy and weird. I'd rather have a failed shot at something crazy than a successful Charlie Sheen reference-0-rama.

The discussion about the lightsaber fights was top-grade film criticism, definitely. Also the revelation that the prequels made lightsabers look ridiculous even in their own context. Why DOES that tentacle-head guy have one?

Redletter media reviews
I just recently saw the Redletter media reviews of the three prequels. Holy shit, watching them is almost as much fun as watching the ORIGINAL films.

Also, Newman's getting a massage, like, right in the boardroom, for some reason! What??!

Also Leigh's delivery of her praising the hula hoop: "Finally there would be a thingamajig that would bring everyone together! …even if it kept them apart spatially."

Uproarious laughter
There's like a thousand hilarious quotes and scenes in this movie, but of all of them, the montage with them constantly laughing is the best.

The Coen brothers have repeatedly said that Barton Fink is more a mix and mash of images and themes that "felt right" to them. That shouldn't prevent you from applying any theory or framework you'd like onto it, of course, but just be aware that there's going to be lots of contradicting and ambiguous material…

She was, that prudish bitch!

Fox promo
Ten years later and I still remember the promo Fox aired for this episode, the shot where Rachel whipped her shirt off on the bar. You'll never convince me the studio notes at Fox aren't constantly demanding promo-ready scenes like that.

Deep in the rightwing marshlands, one can observe these ancient tribes who still believe in supply-side economics. They are a simple and happy people, these savages, but be careful not to point out how thoroughly their ideology has been debunked, lest you are hear their dreaded "class warfare" battle cry.

I'll assume that she was the barely tolerable Rockefeller-type Republican and not the modern day Victoria Jackson Republican.

Bob, that's such a great line I googled it, thinking you stole it.

That's not really appropriate for this situation. For one thing, there's no cactus trees in the sky for nurses to catch their blouses on.

Well, when I criticized the US cable news media as excessively Israelcentric and anti-Arab, you responded by accusing me of knee-jerk anti-Zionism and compared me to a Nazi supporter. So I'm just guessing — juuuust got a hunch — where any debate of actual Israeli policies with you is likely to lead. So let's just skip…

Karla, I'd love to get into a debate with you where I criticize the policies of the government of Israel and you respond with shrieks about how I want the destruction of the Jewish people, but here's the thing: I wasn't even criticizing Israel. I was criticizing the US cable news media, especially the right wing of…

That's exactly what I was saying during World War II. I'm such a slave to trends, you guys!!!

But how does it all relate to Israel????
Not to hijack this, because this special was great, but it was especially nice to see it after being inundated with the eternally-terrified and Israelcentric perspective of US cable news.