Difference between revisions of "Lisa's First Word/References"

Revision as of 18:05, December 2, 2012

Cultural references

• Marge begins telling her story of Lisa's first word by saying: "This story begins in the unforgettable spring of 1983. Ms. Pac-man struck a blow for women's rights and a young Joe Piscopo taught us how to laugh", making references to the 1981 arcade video game Ms. Pac-Man and the American actor Joe Piscopo.
• Marge and her neighbors chat about the final epsode of M*A*S*H, which has just aired. One of them says she already misses Klinger.
• When Homer comes home from work, he is singing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", a song by Cyndi Lauper.
• The Krusty Burger scratch & win cards (and Krusty's resulting financial losses) were inspired by a promotional game McDonald's did for the 1984 Summer Olympics where an event would be revealed and prizes would be awarded dependent on whether Team USA scored a gold, silver, or bronze medal in that event. Prizes ranged from free McDonald's food to a $10,000 cash prize. Due to the boycott of the Games by the Soviet Union and its allies, Team USA won an unusually large number of medals, resulting in McDonald's losing millions of dollars in prize payouts for the promotion.
• When the Simpsons see Korean gymnast Kim Huang completing a perfect dismount with a broken leg, it is a reference to Mary Lou Retton's getting a perfect 10 for a vault in spite of having an injured knee.
• Bart's term of "Can't sleep, clown will eat me", was later used as a line in an Alice Cooper song. It has since become somewhat of a slang term to describe insomnia.
• When toddler Bart hears Lisa say her first word, he exclaims "Sufferin' succotash!", the catchphrase of Sylvester the Cat from Looney Tunes.

Trivia

• Lisa's birthday was revealed in this episode, but not directly. The date isn't mentioned, but it's the last day of the Olympics when Marge goes into labor, which makes Lisa's birthdate around 12 August 1984.
• Bart's first words were also revealed in this episode: "Ay Carumba!", which he said after seeing his parents having sex.
• When Bart is packing his toys up he is saying something, but it's not audible.
• Maggie said her first word in this episode. Although because no-one hears her say it, the family has presumed Maggie has spoken her first word a few times in other episodes, including "Good Night", The Simpsons Movie, "Four Great Women and a Manicure", and "Coming to Homerica".

Goofs

• Even though it is obvious Grandpa is a younger man in 1983, a picture of his elderly self hangs in the wall of his house.
• In the 1990 episode "Krusty Gets Busted", Krusty says he is (and always has been) illiterate. In this episode, Krusty successfully reads and deciphers a communique about the Soviets boycotting the 1984 Olympics.
• Sideshow Bob is in this episode, but he has turquoise colored hair.
• In one scene Todd Flanders has black hair.
• When Homer found out Marge was pregnant, he didn't rip his hair out. However, the fact that he did this was not revealed until "And Maggie Makes Three".
• On the title card of Itchy & Scratchy episode, "100-Yard Gash", there is only an opening inverted comma. There is no closing inverted comma.
• In the empty Simpson House, Homer imagines a TV and a couch in the living room. There is no window in the living room.
• Ned's mustache does not have curly ends, as it did in the flashback scene of "Moms I'd Like to Forget".
• Marge and her neighbors talk about the final epsode of M*A*S*H, which has just aired, and then Homer comes home from work singing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". However, the last episode of M*A*S*H originally aired on February 28, 1983 and "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" wasn't released until September 6, 1983.

Continuity

• The clown bed is a level gag in level 7 of The Simpsons: Hit & Run.