Girls Just Want to Have Sums/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Gags

Credits

Quotes

Trivia

• Hank Azaria, voice of Moe Szyslak, stars in the Broadway musical Spamalot, which was parodied in this episode.
• During "Stab-A-lot" Marge and Lisa wear different formal clothes than they do in all preceding episodes.
• When Lisa started to dress like a boy, her waist was round just like Homer's and Bart's. Usually, her waist is like Marge's.
• In the promos for this episode, the gag where Bart says he can walk around with Bart Jr. hanging out, then pulls out his frog, the frog's subtitled line "I thought he meant his penis" was removed. The subtitle wasn't removed on Global.

Cultural References

• The title is a play on the song "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", by Cyndi Lauper.
• The Broadway Version of The Lion King is completely parodied by the Itchy and Scratchy Musical, Stab-A-Lot. Its title is a parody of Spamalot. The song "It's Symbiotic" is a parody of the song "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar.
• The book for the Itchy & Scratchy musical is said to have been written by acclaimed playwright Tom Stoppard.
• The song that Otto plays after he lets the girls off is "Breaking the Law" by Judas Priest.
• The song that Martin, "Best Flautist" plays and continues playing at the end credits is "Thick As a Brick" by Jethro Tull.
• The Waitresses' I Know What Boys Like is used in this episode.
• Seymour Skinner's remark that men are better than women at math and Science is a reference to Lawrence Summers, the president of Harvard University.
• The episode's basic storyline is similar to William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The line "We've been Yentld!" is a reference to a film with a similar storyline.
• The music that plays in scenes featuring the boys' playground is very reminiscent of the score from Stanley Kubrick's film version of A Clockwork Orange. Both A Clockwork Orange and the episode feature somewhat apocalyptic, violent settings.
• In the girls' section of the elementary school, paintings by Frida Kahlo and Georgia O'Keeffe hang on the walls, joined in humorous juxtaposition by a Cathy cartoon, implying an equivalent position in the female-artist pantheon for Cathy Guisewite.
• Julianna, the director of "Stab-A-Lot," is based on Julie Taymor, who won two Tony Awards for Direction and Costume Design of the original Broadway adaptation of "Disney's The Lion King."
• One Guy Named Moe parodies a Broadway comedy from the late 80s called Five Guys Named Moe.