DAMNIT! I just woke up and realized that this was where I saw it, and you beat me to the punch. Thanks a lot, you helpful bastard.
I didn’t see his name in the credits. I know he was first brought in to play the karate teacher Bart briefly studied under, and at least one of the times when that character has been brought back, one of the regular voice talents did his voice because Takei wasn’t available.
I’m guessing that same regular voice talent (whoever it is) did the voice we thought might be Takei’s last night.
A solid episode. I wonder if Ling will ever have playdates with the octuplets.
I don’t think so - I didn’t see his name in the credits or mentioned on SNPP. I did ask my roommate “why does every Asian character on this show sound like George Takei?” 
As a “bonus Simpsons” they re-ran the “smuggling prescription drugs from Canada” episode. I know this one got a thread of its own back when it originally aired, but I just wanted to say that this one made me want to throw a party, just so I could send out invitations that say “featuring Nasty Surprise” at the bottom.
Didn’t George Takai also play the game show host in the Japan episode?
[pointless hijack] I thought the dragon asked for Homer’s peanuts? [/pointless hijack]
He does Akira’s voice too.
I thought this was a great episode – funniest one in a number of years. Not quite up to Season Five standards, but maybe Season Seven or Eight. The “wacky” gags (e.g., the dragons) they tried in this episode seemed to actually make me laugh, as opposed to their track record in most recent episodes. Plus, the third act was pretty solid, and not just bizarre. All in all, I’d give it an B+ – no hugely LOL moments, but pretty consistent giggles and chuckles.
Come to think of it, the Canadian drug episode was pretty good, too. Might we be seeing a Simpsons Renaissance?
Kudos to Robert Wagner for bravely picking up where Troy McClure left off. I don’t know if I was laughing so hard because it was so funny, or just because it WAS Robert Wagner.
“Hmm, out of eggs, and if you’re watching this - so are you!”
“Meno-plause? I am NOT SAYING THAT!”
I thought it was an excellent episode. My favorite line was Homer to Selma aboard the jet: " Anything for you oh wise mountain ape."
It was a decent episode, but does anyone else get the feeling that the writers are just throwing out any old crap any more? It feels like they’re heading into the end of the series, so they can make any changes they want, because no one will have to deal with the aftermath. The one sister is a lesbian - the other adopts a baby - Comic Book Guy gets a name in one of the lamest reveals ever.
What next, Bart hits puberty and goes to high school?
Patty’s lesbianism wasn’t so much of a change as it was an opening up of a fairly long-standing aside. She and Smithers were in a gay pride parade several seasons ago atop a closet-shaped float, chanting “we’re gay, we’re glad, but don’t tell Mom and Dad!”
As for CBG’s getting a name, I thought how they handled it was brilliant. Lead people to think it’s going to be some huge deal and instead just reveal in an off-hand remark a name so ordinary most people probably don’t even remember it (I don’t).
I thought it was the best original episode in several years, though still not up to standard classic episode.
The entire conversation between Selma and the adoption official at the start was pretty good. Mr. Burns having the steering wheel on the wrong side was a nice touch. And the sign in Tianamen Square had me laughing out loud.
Homer: I just felt a chill run through the very center of my soul.
Lenny: Yeah, Sloppy Joes will do that to you.
Adoption official: No hen without a cock. I apoplogize if that is a double entendre in your language.
On the other hand, the dragons made no sense at all (and you just knew those stupid writers would bring them back for the final ‘joke’ at the end), fake Bart was pathetic (and you just knew he’d come back for a final joke too), and the entire acrobat scene, well, the less said about that, the better.
I don’t know if I am alone here, but I thought this episode, among nearly all the recent ones, was terrible. A few good jokes, but it seems as though the writers have sunk to cheap jokes (the unfunny kind) and random locations to move the plot instead of the plot moving with the jokes and scenery aiding…thoughts?
That was the one part my roomates and I laughed at the hardest. That bone cracking sound they use all the time is so hysterical.
And is the animators’ interview/short going to be a permanent fixture during the ending credits? I thought that was great!
The one at the end, on the other hand - while amusing - could’ve come straight from Futurama.
What struck me was the map behind the Chinese official when they were in his office - Taiwan was actually there - in **HUGE ** letters. I don’t China has ever officially acknowleged Taiwan’s existance - have they?
I want to know why they had the flag of the USSR draped over Mao instead of the flag of the PRC. 
Jeff Albertson.
I think we’re going to see a lot more of that type of thing going on with the credits. The producers are pissed that Fox has gotten into the habit of compressing the credits into an unreadable half-screen, dropping the audio, and running bumpers for other programs over them. It’s annoying enough for people who just want to check the credits, but it’s infuriating when they’ve taken the trouble to produce special closing music that relates to the episode, and you here the first few notes and then “DON’T MISS AN ALL NEW EPISODE OF THE ATTENDANT! THIS WEEK, THE FULL-SERVICE HOPEFULS FACE A NEW CHALLENGE-- MANAGEMENT WANTS AN INCREASE IN WINDSHIELD-WIPER FLUID SALES! CAN THEY DELIVER? WHO’S GOING TO HAVE TO HANG UP THEIR OVERALLS THIS WEEK? COMING UP NEXT, ONLY ON FOX!”
By superimposing the credits over something that is unambiguously content, (as opposed to something on the soundtrack that was merely written specifically for the show and recorded by studio musicians,) it is hoped that Fox can be broken of their outrageously annoying practice.