Does an unobjected-to extension of time to file a post-judgment motion, even though unauthorized by the civil rules, permit appellate review of the underlying judgment when the notice of appeal is timely when measured from the disposition of that motion?

Question Presented is: Does an unobjected-to extension of time to file a post-judgment motion, even though unauthorized by the civil rules, permit appellate review of the underlying judgment when the notice of appeal is timely when measured from the disposition of that motion? This case also presents a second Question: Are a judge’s comments belittling the import of evidence that courts usually treated as establishing a prima facie case and impugning the motives of counsel, which the judge later wrote was only a “joke,” cured at the end of a trial by a generic instruction that the jury should reach its own verdict?