Bart Sells His Soul/References

Cultural references

 * "In the Garden of Eden" is a parody of "" by.
 * Snake's girlfriend in this episode is named Shoshanna. This was a barb at, who at the time of the episode's airing was dating , who was 21 years his junior and still a teenager at the time they first dated.
 * Bart's saying that a soul is something adults make up to scare kids "Like the Boogeyman or Michael Jackson." is a reference to a.
 * Moe reads a book titled Your Gimmicky Restaurant by Benngian and Fuddrucker. The authors' names are references to the restaurant chains and.
 * Bart's prayer, "Are you there, God? It's me, Bart Simpson," is a reference to the young adult novel  by.

Trivia

 * When Chief Wiggum shines the flashlight to see who is harassing Ralph, Bart's pupils become cat-like.
 * This episode is notable for featuring the Seven Deadly Sins:
 * Lust: Homer and Marge remember making out to "".
 * Gluttony: Celebrated in the TV commercial for Uncle Moe's. When Moe is converting his bar into a restaurant, he acquires a gigantic deep-fat fryer, claiming it can deep-fry a buffalo in forty seconds, to which Homer grouses "Oh, I want it now"! Later, Homer gets Bart's meal at Moe's Tavern.
 * Greed: A flash at Reverend Lovejoy counting money. Also, Milhouse avariciously celebrates owning Bart's soul, saying, "Who's stupid now?"
 * Sloth: Bart and Milhouse slacking off cleaning the organ. Later, Milhouse's dad is very serious about wanting his sleep, although this is probably justified considering Bart traipsed by uninvited in the middle of the night.
 * Wrath: The minister gets angry at being fooled. Later, Moe loses his restaurant in a fit of anger.
 * Envy: Moe envies the profits of family restaurants. Lisa wishes she had five dollars. Bart envies the kids in his dream for their souls.
 * Pride: Bart is proud at fooling Milhouse out of five dollars, and is later humiliated at having his soul sold for pogs. Snake is seen with a trophy girlfriend (also a combination of Pride & Lust).

Goofs

 * Jasper's beard is incorrectly colored yellow while singing "In the Garden of Eden".
 * After the sponge incident, Bart is standing in the drive with a sponge packet in his hand. In the next shot he says "everything about me must go", but the packet has vanished from his hand.
 * When Bart is handing out "hymns", Mrs. Clark's hand is yellow.
 * When Reverend Lovejoy scolds the kids, Todd Flanders has Lewis' colors. Then when Milhouse snitches on Bart, Martin has Richard's colors.
 * When Bart laughs during the song, Ms. Albright has Lunchlady Dora's colors.

Continuity

 * Bart has previously made reference to the soul:
 * "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment": Bart doesn't fear Hell, and Bart defers to Lisa's soul-saving quest.
 * "Bart Gets Famous": Bart yearns to cast away "the shackles of the soul-crushing hellhole that is Springfield Elementary School".
 * "Lisa's Rival": Bart welcomes Lisa to "the nether regions of the soul".