Homer's Barbershop Quartet/References
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< Homer's Barbershop Quartet
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Cultural references
- When Mayor Quimby says "Ich bin ein Springfield Swap Meet patron" it is a parody of what President John F. Kennedy said in Berlin in 1963, "Ich bin ein Berliner".
- Moe is selling oyster shells that resemble Lucille Ball.
- Principal Skinner's prisoner number was 24601, which was Jean Valjean's prisoner number in Les Misérables.
- The "junk" items Homer pulls out of the box include the United States Declaration of Independence, a copy of Action Comics #1, Inverted Jenny stamps and a Stradivarius violin.
- The album S' Wonderful S' Marvelous S' Krusty is a reference to the album 'S Wonderful! by Ray Conniff.
- Melvin and the Squirrels is a parody of Alvin and the Chipmunks. The "rodent invasion" to which he refers is a parody of the British Invasion.
- Homer mentions Joe Piscopo leaving Saturday Night Live to conquer Hollywood.
- Homer mentions that the song "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus was seven years away.
- The various performances in the beginning are a reference to The Beatles performances in Hamburg and Liverpool.
- Nigel says that Chief Wiggum is "too Village People".
- The scene where Homer abandons Wiggum in the wild parodies The Howling.
- The performance at Moe's Tavern is a reference to the Beatles performance at the Cavern Club for 292 performances from 1961 to 1963 and the Moe's Cavern is reference to The Cavern Club.
- After Wiggum was replaced by Barney, an angry mob was shouting "Wiggum forever, Barney never." The same thing happened to the Beatles when they replaced Pete Best with Ringo Starr, the fans said "Pete forever, Ringo never".
- The song "Al Capone's Vault" is about the primetime special aired live on April 21, 1986 The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults hosted by Geraldo Rivera.
- Grampa changes the radio station from The Be Sharps to Paul Harvey's retelling of the early life of Roy Cohn.
- There is a picture of Charlie Chaplin on the wall in Homer's hotel room.
- The song Lisa is referring to when she tells Homer "You beat out Dexys Midnight Runners" for a Grammy is Come on Eileen. Homer shows an inability to predict the future when he responds "Well, you haven't heard the last of them."
- The cover of Bigger Than Jesus, the Be-Sharps' second album, features the group walking on water—a triple parody:
- a direct parody of the art on The Beatles album Abbey Road,
- a reference to Jesus' walk on water, and
- a reference to John Lennon's remark that the Beatles were More popular than Jesus.
- Apu says that "A Be Sharps Surgeon General Warning" is worse than the song about Mr. T. Homer then says "I pity the fool who doesn't like he.", copying Mr. T's catchphrase.'
- The shot of the band listening to Barney and his new Japanese conceptual artist girlfriend's new song Number 8 (itself a parody of the Beatles' Revolution 9) is a recreation of photograph of the Beatles with Yoko Ono in 1969.
- The final scene where the Be Sharps sing on top of Moe's Tavern is a parody of an impromptu concert that the Beatles had on top of an office building. Right when the episode blacks out and the credits appear, Homer says: "I'd like to thank you on behalf of the group and I hope we passed the audition," an actual quote by John Lennon spoken right after they played "Get Back" on the rooftop.
- The Be Sharps are performing onboard for the Liberty Weekend concert celebrating the centennial of the Statue of Liberty opening to the public. Among the several navy battleships President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan were onboard USS John F. Kennedy.
Songs
- The original Be Sharps sing "Hello! Ma Baby", written by Joseph E. Howard and Ida Emerson.
- The original Be Sharps sing "Goodbye, My Coney Island Baby", originally by Les Applegate.
- Grampa sings a parody of Frank Sinatra's parody of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm".
- Groundskeeper Willie sings "Downtown", by Petula Clark.
- Jasper Beardsley sings "Theme from A Summer Place", the theme song for the film A Summer Place.
- Chief Wiggum sings "Talk to the Animals", from the film Doctor Dolittle.
- Barney sings "Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral" by James Royce Shannon.
- The Be Sharps sing "Sweet Adeline", written by Henry W. Armstrong and Richard Husch Gerard.
Trivia
- The chalkboard gag reads 'I will never win an Emmy', even though Nancy Cartwright did while voicing Bart in "Separate Vocations" in 1992, over a year before this episode aired.
- The First Church of Springfield marquee calls "The Be Sharps" by name, before the group had come up with the name.
- The famous Disneyland barbershop quartet, the Dapper Dans, provided the singing voices for the Be Sharps.
- Apu's new name (de Beaumarchais) is French for 'of the beautiful market', an obscure reference to the Kwik-E-Mart.
- This is the first episode to be dedicated in memory of someone, in this case Michael P. Schoenbrun.
Continuity
- Some bands from previous episodes appear at the Grammy award party in the flashback:
- Leon Kompowsky also appears at the Grammy party.
- In The Simpsons: Hit & Run, one of Apu's 3 costumes is his quartet outfit from this episode.
Goofs
- The sign outside the Church in 1985 credits the group as "The Be Sharps" before they even decided on the name.
- When the group (with Barney) performs at the Statue of Liberty, Chief Wiggum's voice can clearly be heard.
- Homer refers to Joe Piscopo leaving Saturday Night Live in 1985 when setting the scene for the story, but Piscopo left the show in 1984, before the show underwent a cast overhaul for season 10 (and again in seasons 11 and 12).
- In the final shot of the episode, Chief Wiggum is drawn off-model, and Lou disappears.
- Homer and Marge's bedroom had photos of Bart and Lisa when they were 10 and 8 years old. However, the story takes place when Bart and Lisa were only three years old and one year old respectively.
- After finding out Marge was pregnant with Lisa, he pulled out all but four hairs, but in this episode, Homer was seen with his hair before the second pregnancy.
- When Comic Book Guy shows Bart and Lisa a sample of Melvin and the Squirrels, behind it is another record when Comic Book Guy takes it out, but when Comic Book Guy says, "Melvin and the Squirrels. Part of the rodent invasion in the early 60s", another record of Melvin and the Squirrels appears.
- The 1985 Grammy Awards was the 27th, not the 29th.
- In a shot of the church congregation during the Be Sharps' performance, a woman sitting in a pew above Marge on screen has the bottom half of her body missing.
- After the "replacement Homer" malfunctions, the next scene shows Santa's Little Helper burying him in the yard. Santa's Little Helper did not become the Simpsons' pet until the Christmas special (and first episode), "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".
- When Homer returns to the Power Plant, he returns to a role as Safety Inspector, which he was not promoted to until 1990 in Homer's Odyssey.
- In the final scene, The Human Fly's glove changes color a few times between red and white.
- Even though Homer has a full of head of hair in 1985, the Be Sharps album covers and Marge's "replacement Homer" depict him as being bald.
