To Cur, with Love/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Gags

Credits

Quotes

	Season 24 Episode References
← 515 "The Day the Earth Stood Cool"	516 "To Cur, with Love"	"Homer Goes to Prep School" 517 →

Cultural references

• The episode's title is a reference to the 1967 British drama film To Sir, with Love.
  • The film has also been referenced in the title of the episode "To Surveil with Love" from season 21.

The "Excellence Prize" statue parodies the sculpture Perseus with the Head of Medusa. The Latin words "Pecunia" and "Malum" mean "Money" and "Evil"

• At the Montgomery Burns Prize contest, the Latin words "Pecunia" and "Malum" mean "Money" and "Evil", respectively.
• The "Excellence Prize" statue parodies the sculpture Perseus with the Head of Medusa.
• The flying mutated Blinky fish that appears while Mr. Burns is giving out awards has a rigid tongue with its own set of jaws, like the Xenomorph from Alien.
• Kent Brockman once turned down a job in Tampa, Florida.
• Martin's vehicle for the alternative energies contest is a giant rubber powered plane.
• The game Homer plays, Villageville, is a parody of FarmVille.
  • While cutting down trees, Homer calls himself "DeForest Kelley", a pun on the American actor of the same name. Homer thinks his joke is good and wants to send it to American comedian Conan O'Brien.
  • Homer is eating a tube of Pringles.
• Homer introduced the Black Plague into his Villageville world.
• Homer sticking his hand into his crotch is a reference to Al Bundy from the television sitcom, Married... with Children.
• Mrs. Cheddarworth's Cheese-Scented Window Cleaner is a pun on Mrs. Butterworth's, the brand of syrup.
• Abraham Simpson was watching Mannix, a real TV show.
• Abe mentions that the Jell-O at the Springfield Retirement Castle is being altered.
• The song during the Bongo-Homer bonding monantage is "Me and My Arrow" by Harry Nilsson.
  • The animation during this sequence hints the animated TV film The Point, which tells the story of Oblio, a pointless boy, and his dog Arrow, and for which "Me and My Arrow" was composed as the theme song.
  • The song is heard again right before the initial credits.
• Krusty was about to make an adult joke about Lady Godiva's hair, which was the only thing that covered her naked body.
• The song Homer is singing when the Springfield Animal Control truck is looking for Bongo is a parody of the children song "Bingo".
• The books Abe owns include:
  • A Farewell to Arm by Herman is a reference to A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.
  • i, Bully by Nelson is a pun on I, Robot by Isaac Asimov.
  • Postcards from the Hedge by McDonald's
    • It has also been referenced in the title of the episode "Postcards from the Wedge" from season 21.
  • Crying on the Inside by Dr. Hibbert is a pun on Laughing on the Outside, an album by Aretha Franklin.
• A young Lou wants to become a spokesman for black people like American civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy. In the future, Chief Wiggum names Ralph after Abernathy.
• According to Abe, Homer lost in Monopoly many times.
• Mr. Burns mentions McDonald's.
• Abe calls The Hounds the "Snoopys", a reference to Snoopy from Peanuts.
• Mr. Burns forced Abe always to wear a bolo tie.
• Homer mentions Snickers chocolate brand.

Mr. Burns is seen on a chalkboard explaining the United States fiscal cliff that came into effect a few weeks after this episode originally aired

• During the credits, Mr. Burns is seen on a chalkboard explaining the United States fiscal cliff that came into effect a few weeks after this episode originally aired. Some concepts related to the fiscal cliff can be seen, including the Bush tax cuts and the defense sequestration.
• Things seen at the Springfield Republican Party Headquarters:
  • A flag with the general election logo for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. Romney's campaign came to an end on November 6, 2012, upon defeat by incumbent president Barack Obama.
  • A picture of US president Theodore Roosevelt, and a leader of the Republican Party.
  • A book titled Nate Silver Can't Add, which references American statistician Nate Silver. Silver predicted with high accuracy the outcome of the 2012 and 2020 presidential elections in the US.
• A defeated Mr. Burns asks Smithers if he had any news from American Republican political consultant Karl Rove. Later, Mr. Burns tries to say good things in Spanish about Republican senator Marco Rubio.

Trivia

• This episode was never shown on the intended date in the East Coast due to a Fox News Special Report on the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which also interrupted The Cleveland Show during a commercial break.
• This episode was the first to have higher ratings on its encore airing, due to reasons aforementioned.

Continuity

• Waylon Smithers' father, Waylon Smithers, Sr., appears in the flashback to Homer's childhood. ("The Blunder Years")
• One of the music cues from "Bart the General" plays when Herman decides to open a gun shop.

Goofs

• In the flashback, Herman is shown as having his arm decapitated by a passing car. This contradicts "Bart the General" in which he states he did it to himself by sticking out of a moving bus' window.

← Season 23 Season 24 References Season 25 →

Moonshine River • Treehouse of Horror XXIII • Adventures in Baby-Getting • Gone Abie Gone • Penny-Wiseguys • A Tree Grows in Springfield • The Day the Earth Stood Cool • To Cur, with Love • Homer Goes to Prep School • A Test Before Trying • The Changing of the Guardian • Love Is a Many-Splintered Thing • Hardly Kirk-ing • Gorgeous Grampa • Black-Eyed, Please • Dark Knight Court • What Animated Women Want • Pulpit Friction • Whiskey Business • The Fabulous Faker Boy • The Saga of Carl • Dangers on a Train