To incorporate some previous commentary about the comparison of shows:

Good lord, I'm dumb. Yes, I meant Bonanza. But the scattershot theme of the episode still left me unsatisfied.

Even grading on a curve of recent Simpsons seasons…
…tonight's episode was sub-par. I didn't like the randomness of the jokes, and the episode seemed to have nothing hanging the episode together than these jokes, including the theme from "Rawhide" as the closing credits. Unless I missed something (entirely…

What dygitalninja said. I think it was just a scambling of memories of facts already known to Peter, though I would add that it may have been intended to emphasize lingering personal issues. To him, his father is the Secretary of Defense on Earth-2, and the scientist on Earth-1 is Walter.

Random Earth-2 weirdness of the week
When Fauxlivia and the nanny were pushing Henry in the carriage, someone was riding by in one of those 19th-century tricycles with the huge front wheel. I guess they don't have as many windy days in their world.

When I watched the movie on TV some time back, I noticed that he was Thor was played by him, too. It makes me wonder, did D'Onifrio get fat to play his role in "Full Metal Jacket", or did he starve himself to play this role? Kind of a big disparity.

I think the backlash against Cracked Rear View is a little overblown. Hootie and the Blowfish was popular with some nice, if not groundbreaking, songs. It's not a crime. The deep tracks on the album are stronger than you might think.

@ El Tigre

Talk radio
"Why do their questions seem so on-point, and written for maximum aggravation?"

Not only a patientless cold open…
…none of the segments ended with a "crash cart" moment, like nearly all of the segments in other episodes do. A nice change of pace, even if it's only going to happen once.

Enjoyable bit of fluff
We don't get any major plot twists after the first 45 minutes (other than the small one at the very end), but it was still an enjoyable watch. The story made some effort to make us care a little bit about the characters, within the scope of what this type of TV-movie is supposed to deliver.

Don't forget the 1984 movie "Dreamscape" with a young Dennis Quaid. I know it was mentioned briefly in the CNN link above, but inhabiting dreams is a full-fledged sub-genre that is beyond saying that one movie owns it.

Liked the episode. A truly geek question, though.
In one of the office scenes, there's a background shot of someone in an electric wheelchair moving past the hallway. Is this a callback to something earlier? Maybe the guy who had to keep answering the phone while shot in the gut?

As far as the "how they win" template goes, I think "For the Love of the Game" (Kevin Costner as a Detroit Tiger pitcher) is underrated. It's a lot of internal monologue of him alone on the mound as he's pitching toward a perfect game. Very low-key for the genre.

I'm not sure if this thread is ironic or not, but my early puberty days involved Beals' role in Flashdance back in 1983. There's a memorable scene where she takes off her bra without removing her sweatshirt.

Oh, one other thing. Gibbons mentions that he's paying for all of his generosity out of his campaign slush fund. I can't think that's anywhere near legal, can it? I'm not looking for a legal opinion, but this would seem to be an important plot point, to further the idea that Gibbons is being generous with money he…

Liam and Gibbons
I was wondering why Gibbons, who had been portrayed from the opening as the villain to be taken down, had since then been given some ambiguity about his motives (if not his sometimes brutal execution of a plan).

But what about that car? I guess medical dramas don't bring in the big auto sponsors.

?
"That leaves us with House and 13, by far the past element of the episode, and the one that had me rating this as highly as I do. "

The boat name…
…"Cleveland Steamer". There's a Google search you won't repeat.