Tasteless in 2005

The Houston Chronicle site, from which I view The Dinette Set, doesn't carry their Sunday strip. And I'm not sure I want to stare at 3 panels worth of marginalia anyway, so instead, I'll pull something from the archives which catches my fancy.

Way back in April of 2005, for example, The Dinette Set decided to wallow in some serious tastelessness, revolving around the taking of fish oil tablets. Burl and Joy's visitors have apparently been hearing about the benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids. But, since they don't care for fish they decide to take the tablets instead. Fair enough.

Unfortunately, this leads to a comment about Burl's digestive system which I think we could all have done without. Especially since that comment (instead of being a joke or even, say, funny) is just a description of something fairly unpleasant to either experience or imagine.

I suppose, by extension, we're supposed to be making fun of the couple taking the pills because it doesn't really eliminate the taste problems. But once you introduce the image of Burl belching, you've crossed a line and it doesn't matter what point you are trying to make.

Amazingly, however, Burt's belching isn't the most tasteless thing on display. Not by a long shot.

The heart shaped quotation not only conjures up a disgusting image, but the attribution to Karen Carpenter is in unbelievably bad taste. Plus. it shows an appalling lack of understanding of Bulimia (they don't eat their own vomit, for crying out loud). And the to-do list item regarding aphrodisiacs puts an image of Burl and Joy into one's mind which I think we could all do without.

Marginalia:

In this case, the running 911/411 gag features the fairly predictable "Smells=911". But the 411 gag is hopelessly obscured by tiny, fat-lined writing. I am open to guesses from any hawk-eyed folks out there.
Joy's "I [heart] Cape Scrod" shirt is a needless pun, since "I [heart] Cape Cod" also contains a fish pun. Though, perhaps the artist though Scrod was a funnier fish name than Cod. She's probably right about that, but it doesn't make the shirt any funnier.
Between the artist not having the guts to go ahead with the homoerotic gag and yet putting the thought into our head anyway, the less said about Burl's shirt, the better. Not that there's anything wrong with that...
I have to assume, given the context, that the guest's mug is supposed to say "CARP", although there's no doubt that it actually says "CARQ."
Credit where credit is due: I like "Check ingredients in Cod Liver Oil."
Points scored for, once again, being aware that they are in a one panel comic and making allowances in the spacing and indenting on their to-do list. I'm especially amazed at the foresight in leaving a touch of space inside the word "list" to allow for the word balloon.
Points off, however, for redundancy: "Spellcheck the list for mispellings." As opposed to spellchecking it for what, exactly?