The Man Who Flew Too Much/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Gags

Credits

Quotes

	Season 36 Episode References
← 778/779 "O C'mon All Ye Faithful"	780 "The Man Who Flew Too Much"	"Bottle Episode" 781 →

Cultural references

• The episode title is a reference to the 1956 mystery thriller film The Man Who Knew Too Much.
• The couch gag social media account is a reference to Out Of Context Simpsons Couch Gags on Twitter @OOCCouchGags, as confirmed by showrunner and writer Al Jean.
• Part of the episode is based on the Miracle of the Andes, a flight carrying an Uruguayan rugby team that crashed in the Andes Mountains in 1972. The tragedy was adapted into several films, including the 1993 film Alive and most recently the 2023 film Society of the Snow. Marge watched the movie in "Fear of Flying".
  • Due to the lack of food, Moe tries to resort to cannibalism, mirroring the actions of the passengers in the aftermath of the crash.
• "Bowl Me to the Moon" is a parody of "Fly Me to the Moon" by Frank Sinatra.
• The bowling shoe spray Charlotte's Dead is a pun on the children's book Charlotte's Web.
• Kent Brockman refers to the Pin Pals as "Super Bowlers".
• Comic Book Guy has figures of "the Unsellable X-Men", modified to represent the Pin Pals.
  • Carl is Cyclops.
  • Ned is Professor X.
  • Fausto is Colossus.
  • Moe is Jean Grey.
  • Homer is Wolverine.
• The book From Heck being sold at The Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop is a parody of From Hell, a graphic novel by writer Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell.
• At the ceremony, the band plays "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow", with a modified version sung by the people at the church at the end.
• Ned says "O captain, my captain" when introducing Homer on stage, referencing the poem "O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman.
• The mascot on Moe's peanuts is a parody of Mr. Peanut, the mascot for Planters.
• One of the crashed helicopters is named "Blackhawk Dead", a reference to the book Black Hawk Down.
• Elements depicted in the "Map of Heaven":
  • The pearly gates, an informal name for the gateway to Heaven.
  • The throne of God, symbolizing God's central authority in Heaven.
  • Gabriel's Trumpet Shop is a reference to the archangel Gabriel, who is commonly depicted carrying a trumpet.
  • Mary Merch, a gift shop dedicated to merchandise related to the Virgin Mary.
  • Seraphim and Cherubim, which represent angelic hierarchies, with the Seraphim humorously depicted with multiple eyes, reflecting biblical descriptions, and the Cherubim shown with child-like angelic features.
  • Holy Spirits, referencing the Holy Spirit.
  • St. Peter’s Log Flume, referencing St. Peter and the 1946 Disney film Song of the South.
    • The Splash Mountain log flume ride, which opened at Disneyland in 1989, was based on the animated portions of Song of the South.
• Luigi tells Chief Wiggum that the cops put his daughters through college. He then says "Seven Sisters", but clarifies that he means he had seven daughters and that he wasn't referring to the Seven Sisters colleges.
• Moe tells Bart he'll use his intestines as violin strings to play "Flight of the Bumblebee", adding that he'll go Rimsky-Korsakov on him.

The bowling team crashes in the mountains in a similar way a rugby team crashed in the Andes in 1972, as depicted in the 1993 film Alive, among others

• Moe mentions people getting frostbite at Buffalo Bills games. Buffalo, New York, is known for its harsh winters, including freezing temperatures, snow, and wind, which are common during the NFL season.
• Moe refers to Barney as "Optimist Prime," referencing Optimus Prime from Transformers.
• "Silent Night" plays when Marge is decorating the house for Christmas.
• The Pin Pals discuss the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz, with Homer misremembering what each character wanted from the Wizard.
• When Homer tells Ned he hasn't called him "Stupid Flanders" once while on the mountain, Ned asks if Homer wants a Nobel Peace Prize.
• Patty mentions pickleball, the fast-growing racket sport in the United States.
• Patty also tells Marge that she and Selma used Generative artificial intelligence to make an image of Homer as a corpse.
• Mona appears to Homer as if she is in Hell with Machiavelli, Che Guevara, and Casanova.
  • Casanova complains that although he died in 1978, he is being "MeToo'd". Casanova is referring to the MeToo movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture. During his lifetime, Casanova was surrounded by controversial sexual behavior, including being accused of rape.
• The scene where Homer frees himself from the snow is inspired by the opening of the comic The Amazing Spider-Man #33.
• The First Church of Springfield marquee reads "Four funerals and a funeral," referencing the film Four Weddings and a Funeral.
• Fausto's fate is based on Beck Weathers, a survivor of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster.
• Homer says "That'll do, Flanders. That'll do," referencing the ending of Babe.

Trivia

• Marge mentions that Grampa is 87 years old.
• Moe has a peanut allergy.
• During the Gracie Films gag, the sound of a bowling strike is heard.

Continuity

• The couch gag account @Springfield has a birth date of January 14, 1990, the date of the very first couch gag. ("Bart the Genius")
• The couch gag tweet refers to the Ferris wheel couch gag. ("Left Behind")
• Charlotte's Dead makes another appearance, this time as a bowling shoe spray. ("Mobile Homer")
• The Pin Pals appear. Mr. Burns also wears a shirt that says "I was a Pin Pal before it was cool." ("Team Homer")
• Fausto appears, this time as part of the Pin Pals. Like his first appearance in "The Wife Aquatic", Homer and Fausto go missing and are presumed dead. Both of them then enter a church during their funeral service.
• Barney is shown to still be a helicopter pilot. ("Days of Wine and D'oh'ses")
• Ned reads a magazine called Holy Rollers. Ned was previously part of a bowling team called the Holy Rollers. ("Team Homer")
• Miss Hoover sits with Gil at the Pin Pals' funeral. The two marry in "Habeas Tortoise".

Goofs

• Carl's body proportion when he clung for his life above the hole are wrong, and the whole episode's animation in general looked weird.
• Grampa says that he never told Homer he loved him, though he previously did "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" and "Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble"".

References

← Season 35 Season 36 References Upcoming episodes →
Aired
Bart's Birthday • The Yellow Lotus • Desperately Seeking Lisa • Shoddy Heat • Treehouse of Horror XXXV • Women in Shorts • Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes • Convenience Airways • Homer and Her Sisters • O C'mon All Ye Faithful • The Man Who Flew Too Much • Bottle Episode
Unscheduled
The Past and the Furious • Yellow Planet • The Last Man Expanding • P.S., I Hate You • Abe League of Their Moe • Estranger Things • Men Behaving Manly • Keep Chalm and Gary On
Unknown Production Code
The Beautiful Shame • Marge and Homer and Moe and Maya