Black Widower/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Gags

Credits

Quotes

	Season 3 Episode References
← 055 "Colonel Homer"	056 "Black Widower"	"The Otto Show" 057 →

Cultural references

• The episode title is a twist on the term "Black Widow", which in a criminological context refers to female killers who murder their husbands or boyfriends. It is clearly propely masculinized as "widower" is a term for a man who outlives his wife.
• Psycho: When Sideshow Bob goes to see Selma's dead corpse in the chair, he turns it around to see that Bart is there instead. He whacks the light, and as it swings back and forth, he sees Selma in the doorway. This sequence parodies the film's famous ending scene.
• Encyclopedia Brown: Bob's scheme (and its revealing) are similar to the pattern of how Encyclopedia Brown stories unfold.

Continuity

• When Sideshow Bob is arrested, he remarks that once the Democrats are back in power, he'll be back on the streets. Ironically, in "Sideshow Bob Roberts", it's actually the Republicans (along with Mayor Quimby) who are responsible for Bob being released from jail.