Difference between revisions of "Homer to the Max/References"

Revision as of 07:56, December 26, 2024

Cultural references

All in the Family 1999 is a fictional continuation series to All in the Family, portraying an atypical and progressive Archie Bunker

• The family are watching the mid-season replacement on FOX, which includes:
  • America's Funniest Tornadoes, an pun on America's Funniest Home Videos.
  • All in the Family 1999 is a fictional continuation series to the American sitcom All in the Family, portraying an atypical and progressive Archie Bunker, who says he "loves" to live with a diverse group of individuals. In the original series from the 1970s, Archie was known for his bigotry towards black people, Jews, and hippies, among many other groups.
• The TV show Police Cops is an homage to the TV series Miami Vice and Starsky & Hutch.
  • Homer Simpson is based on James "Sonny" Crockett (Don Johnson) while Lance Coffman is based on Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas).
  • The blood used in the series was donated by the American Red Cross.
• When Homer asks for one thing mankind has ever done that is any better to Police Cops, Lisa answers the Renaissance period of history.
• According to Bart, American actor Anthony Michael Hall stole Homer's car stereo.
• When Homer complains that the once-heroic character sharing his name was suddenly changed, Marge argues that the character is simply a comic relief now, "like Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now".
• Homer is sitting on a rocking chair looking out the window, referencing the 1974 horror film Black Christmas.
• The staff from By the Numbers Productions originally wanted to run a show called Titanic Meets Frasier, a pun on the 1997 film Titanic and the TV sitcom Frasier.
  • According to a producer, the ABC Television Network had already a similar project in development with American actors Annie Potts and Jeremy Piven.
• Some of Homer's potential names include:
  • "Hercules Rockefeller", a combination of divine hero Hercules and the Rockefeller family.
  • "Rembrandt Q. Einstein", a combination of Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt and German-born physicist Albert Einstein.
  • "Max Power", which Homer took from a hair-dryer in a similar way that "Max Headroom", the name of the protagonist of the TV series of the same name, was formed from a traffic sign.
• The song "Max Power" is a parody of "Goldfinger" from the James Bond film of the same name, originally written by John Barry, Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. John Swartzwelder wrote the parody lyrics.
• Trent Steele buys Homer Thai food. Lisa wonders what it is wrapped in a banana leaf. In Thai cuisine banana leaves are used to wrap fish, meat, and rice.

Actor Ed Begley, Jr., known for his environmental activism, shows Bill Clinton how solar power can run a pinwheel

• At Trent Steele's party:
  • American actor Woody Harrelson is wearing pants entirely made of hemps. Harrelson has been an enthusiast and supporter of the legalization of marijuana and hemp for many years.
  • American actor Ed Begley, Jr. shows how a solar panel can make a pinwheel run and is congratulated by former US President Bill Clinton. Ed Begley Jr. is known for his environmental activism.
  • Marge feels like Cinderella, the princess from the folk tale.
  • When Clinton dances with Marge, he gets interrupted and is informed that "Quebec's got the bomb". The joke lies in that Canada is not likely to develop their own nuclear weapon, and the fact that Clinton specifically says Quebec is a hint to Quebec's sovereignty movement, which had a close but unsuccessful referendum for sovereignty in 1995, a few years before this episode aired.
  • Steele references the "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" thought experiment.
• Chief Wiggum orders Eddie to swab Homer and Marge's eyes with Mace, a brand of tear gas, often used by the police.
  • The tree-huggers sequence references the case of Lundberg v. County of Humboldt, which arose out of a protest dispute in 1997 between environmental activists and the police, with the latter swabbing pepper spray in the eyes of eight of the activists.

Trivia

• A joke at the start of the episode draws attention to a pay dispute between Fox and the show's voice actors that was happening around the time this episode was produced. After noting that the fictional upcoming midseason TV show The Laughter Family is animated, Homer explains, "Networks like animation 'cause they don't have to pay the actors squat!" Ned Flanders is then seen walking past the Simpsons' living room window saying "Plus, they can replace them, and no one can tell the diddley-ifference!" Not only is this a direct reference, Ned's line is also spoken by a different voice actor than normal (Karl Wiedergott; Ned is normally voiced by Harry Shearer).
• While Lisa explains to Homer what TV producers do to their shows, Mr. Largo and the Capital City Goofball make cameo appearances in the background as she is saying, "They change characters, drop others, and push some into the background."

Goofs

• When Lisa is reading Homer's new name, her necklace is in front of the paper even though it should be behind the paper.

Continuity

• The guests at Trent Steele's party include:
  • Neil from "King of the Hill"
  • The executive from "When You Dish Upon a Star"
  • The TV executive who would later be named as Lindsey Naegle. "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" and "Girly Edition"
  • Chilton Danes from "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington".
• Homer mentions high-school girl Debbie Pinson. She later appears in Season 20 episode "Take My Life, Please".