Difference between revisions of "The Town/References"

Revision as of 09:45, October 11, 2016

Cultural references

• The title of the episode is a reference to the movie The Town, which also takes place in Boston.
• Homer references the Aerosmith, and Ben and Casey Affleck.
• Marge references The Real Housewives.
• Bart references The Departed and its theme song is sung by the kids in detention and it is later played during the end credits.
• Ted and Mark Wahlberg are seen in a crowd, referencing Ted, which takes place in Boston.
• Boston Americans is a reference to the former name of the Boston Red Sox baseball team.
  • The quarterback is a parody of Tom Brady, the coach is a parody of Bill Belichick, Bonkowski is a parody of Rob Gronkowski, the mascot is a parody of Pat Patriot, and the scandals are parodies of headsets and Spygate respectively.
• Bart (wearing a blue cap) being intimidated by Apu and Sideshow Mel (wearing red clothes) is a reference to the rivalry between the gangs Crips (identified by their blue clothing) and Bloods (identified by their red clothing).
• The Duck family from Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings are seen when the Simpsons walk by Charles River.
• The Cheers (which takes place in Boston) theme is heard a couple of times during the episode. Also several Cheers characters (Cliff Clavin, Carla Tortelli and Norm Peterson) appear in the parade crowd.
• Conan O'Brien appears in the parade crowd.
• The song played while Homer plays candlepin bowling is "The Man in Me" by Bob Dylan.
• There is a Larry Bird statue in Boston similar to the Statue of Liberty.
• Several references to the Massachussets area appear:
  • Mass. Ave is a reference to the Massachusetts Avenue.
  • Newbound Comics stickers adorn the wall of the tunnel and the neighborhood Lisa and Bart walk through.
  • "Jordan's Furniture & Motel", complete with a poster for area UHF TV station WSBK-TV's The Movie Loft.
• At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, nerds are seen playing Magic: The Gathering and playing with Oculus Rifts.

Trivia

• The tunnel scene was slightly edited from the version on the trailer:
  • Homer's line went from "Delicious, delicious rage." to "I've never loved hating anything so much!"
  • Smog was added to the background.
• This episode ended up airing on the Pacific Coast at 9:12pm PT due to overtime of the 2nd 2016 Presidential Debate, and other lead-out programs airing first.

Goofs

• Inside the tunnel, a blue truck is behind the Simpsons family's wagon, after the townie throws a cup at them, there's a car instead.