Difference between revisions of "Thursdays with Abie/References"

Latest revision as of 06:28, December 12, 2024

Cultural references[edit]

• The title is a parody of Tuesdays with Morrie, a novel that had a television movie adaptation starring Hank Azaria, and whose author, Mitch Albom, guest stars in the episode.
• The title screen gag is a spoof of The Wizard of Oz. Agnes Skinner rides a bicycle across the screen as the Wicked Witch of the West's theme ("Miss Gulch") plays.
• Wet 'N' Wacky World was formerly John F. Kennedy naval museum.

Marge took a photo of a "Friendly Manitoba" license plate from Canada. "Friendly Manitoba" is the real slogan on Manitoban license plates since 1976.

• Marge took a photo of a "Friendly Manitoba" license plate from Canada. "Friendly Manitoba" is the real slogan on Manitoban license plates since 1976.
• According to Abe, he once high-dived into a damp sponge for the amusement of Chair of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker.
• Slimu's name is an obvious pun on Shamu, a famous performing orca at SeaWorld.
  • The song "I Got You (I Feel Good)" by James Brown and the US president anthem "Hail to the Chief" are heard during Slimu's show.
• One of the WW2 sailors compared riding a shark to riding the Cyclone at Coney Island. The Coney Island Cyclone is a wooden roller coaster and a very popular landmark in New York City.
• Another WW2 sailor read about dust evils in Yuma when he was in Boston.
• Marshall Goldman owns a Mapple computer, a parody of Apple Inc..
• The newspaper comic strip Cathy is on the Springfield Shopper.
• When Abe worked as a shoeshine boy at Springfield Union Station in 1933, one of his customers was reading a Springfield Shopper edition that had the headline "Curly To Shemp: You're Out!". A reference to The Three Stooges.
• The song that plays during the vintage train station scenes is "Chattanooga Choo Choo" by Glenn Miller Orchestra.

The Springfield Shopper headline "Curly To Shemp: You're Out!" is a reference to The Three Stooges

• The Hollywood stars seen departing the train are Jimmy Durante, Shirley Temple, W. C. Fields, Laurel & Hardy, James Cagney and Boris Karloff as Frankestein's Monster.
• A young Abe was cleaning American film actor Clark Gable's shoes.
• Gable mentions he worked as an extra in the 1930 film Du Barry, Woman of Passion.
• Abe read Gone with the Wind, a book by Margaret Mitchell that Grampa gave to Clark Gable, who later starred in a a film adaptation as Rhett Butler.
• Nelson sings a different version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb".
• Mr. Burns tells Homer a story about how he won the Opium War. Burns also mentions the Yangtze river.
• Marshall Goldman filled an application for a Pulitzer Prize.
• The play Out of the Mouth of Abe was created by "Jim Henson's Creature Shop". Jim Henson was an American puppeteer, best known for creating The Muppets.
• The classic railroad bulls sing "Old Dan Tucker", an American popular song.
• The failing banks Abe saw through the window included the IndyMac and the Washington Mutual. Both of these failed in 2008 due to insolvency. Abe compared the scene to the 1930s, when the Great Depression took place.
• Abe mentions he once was on the set of a Warner Brothers cartoon and Jack L. Warner approached him.
• Marshall Goldman sings a modified version of the "Bridal Chorus" when he is about to murder Abe.
• Homer mixes several things in his story, including Godzilla, Colonel Tom Parker, The Rolling Stones, the British Museum and Gracie Films.
• The sign for Shelbyville the train past had "Land of No Lakes" on it as a reference to "Land of 10,000 Lakes" a nickname for the U.S. state of Minnesota.

Trivia[edit]

• The license plate Marge takes a photo of is "MABF02", which is the production code for the episode.
• When Flanders shows Homer the Newspaper, The picture of Abe resembles the Internet Meme 'Awesome face'.
• Marshall Goldman's laptop is a Mapple computer, a company which has been seen before in a few other episodes.

Goofs[edit]

• In the scene where Carl and Lenny lowered Homer onto the train, Lenny is shown without his five-o-clock shadow.
• Oliver Hardy's moustache disappears in one frame