I happened to see for the first time last night the syndicated showing of the Simpsons 2014 Christmas episode “I Won’t Be Home For Christmas” There is one scene where Moe finds Homer’s wallet accidentally left on a bar stool and opens it up. While reading Homer’s drivers license, he notes Homer’s listed weight, and remarks, "239 pounds? Who’s he foolin’?"
Now the specificity of that number caught me. As it’s exactly (snort) trump’s weight in his most recent physical, the line seems to be a specific put down. But it was broadcast in 2014. Did they just get lucky on the number, or was the episode tweaked this year? Neither Wikipedia nor IMDB mentions any change.
It’s a coincidence - actually, it’s more likely a reference to the 1991 episode, “Brush with Greatness” (where Marge paints Mr. Burns’s portrait), where Homer, who started a diet after he got stuck in a water slide tube, says, “I’m 239 and feelin’ fine!”, only for Burns to respond something like, “You’re the fattest thing I’ve ever seen - and I’ve been on safari!”
It’s extremely unlikely they would alter a 3 year old episode just to insert a quick dig at the current POTUS for syndication. Animation is very expensive and time-/labor-intensive, and they have new episodes they need to be producing.
OTOH, it’s not without precedence to re-dub some dialogue; the dialogue for “Lisa the Greek” was altered three times to accurately reflect the current year’s Super Bowl teams. It originally aired a few days before Super Bowl XXVI in 1992, then re-aired a few days before the next three Super Bowls, ending with Super Bowl XXIX. Fun fact: Lisa correctly chose the IRL winner each time.
I agree with the first, but I had considered if any show would touch up some animation to keep it topical it would be the Simpsons. With cg it’s not as hard. A slight editing of the image, and a bit of new dialog, and bob’s your uncle.
Probably a coincidence. As was said, we already know Homer’s weight from the other episode. They have to cut something in syndication to make room for more commercials. It has to be a throwaway line that won’t affect the plot. Someone, at some point, has to decide – this joke is the one to go. Usually its something Maggie does, a particular “suckle-suckle” noise, or her silent emoting just gets the snip.
Off topic: I saw the movie *Tron:Legacy *on TV. I enjoy it. And the evil sycophant program Jarvis gives Sam the stick, who starts waving it around, “What do I do with this?” “I’ll give you a hint … not that.” Every time since on TV, that joke is cut, And I’m like – Aw, c’mon, that makes everyone turning the stick into a Light Cycle that much cooler. Even Sam’s response, “Now this I can do.” after pretending it was a light saber for a second, now adds to his depth of personality.
My point is, I believe the most import quality the syndication cutter must have is respect for the added time needed. But a high up there qualification must also be a soul-less disregard for asides that provide character development opportunities.
With cg it’s not as hard. A slight editing of the image, and a bit of new dialog, and bob’s your uncle.