The Strong Arms of the Ma/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Gags

Credits

Quotes

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Cultural references

• The episode title is a pun on the expression "the long arm of the law".
• The scene where Homer struggles to fit the family members and their purchases into the station wagon is a sight gag on the video game Tetris.
• When there's no room left in the car for Homer, Rainier Wolfcastle gives him a ride home, carrying him in a giant Snugli.
• The Twilight Zone: When Marge runs over the mailman and tells him that it will take a while for help to arrive, he says it's no problem as he's got plenty to read. Then, to his horror, he discovers that his glasses are broken, referencing the 1959 episode "Time Enough at Last".
• When the family eat dinner in the basement:
  • They sit at an air hockey table and pass the food around as though they were playing the game.
  • Lisa is bothered by the sight of people's feet as they walk by the window, and Homer reassures her by telling her it's just like Cheers, referring to the bar's being located in a basement.
• When Marge first takes steroids, the theme music from Popeye plays briefly.
• "Gonna Fly Now" (the theme music from the Rocky movie series) is played at a couple of places in the episode:
  • During the sequence where Marge is working out and meets up with a group of local bodybuilders (including Ruth Powers).
  • At the beginning of the closing credits.

Continuity

• The beginning of the episode features the opening sequence of the news show Eye on Springfield, first seen in "Flaming Moe's".
• When Marge comes out of the restroom at the Kwik-E-Mart, Bart's "El Barto" graffiti tag is visible on the wall.
• Ruth Powers makes a return appearance, voiced by Pamela Reed. She was last seen in "Marge on the Lam".
  • Ruth mentions having been in prison, apparently for offenses unrelated to the events of "Marge on the Lam". (In that episode, the voiceover narration at the end said that the auto theft charges against her were dropped.)
• The Simpsons now have a lemon tree in their backyard, similar to the one seen in "Lemon of Troy".

Trivia

• This episode is the fourth time in the series where the theme music from Popeye is played. The previous three were:
  • "Brother's Little Helper", when Bart sings his song about Ritalin at the end.
  • "Jaws Wired Shut", when Homer rescues Marge at the demolition derby.
  • "The Old Man and the Key", when Grampa's Viagra kicks in and he starts making out with his date.

Goofs

• Before Marge picks up the jukebox to slam it into other people in Moe's Tavern it wasn't playing anything, but when she went over to it, it started playing music.
• Regarding Marge not being able to whup the mugger in her first confrontation like she did Snake, let's not forget he was armed with a gun. I believe Snake only had a knife so Marge wouldn't have been as scared.
• When the family is eating dinner at the Air Hockey table, there are no goals on the ends of the table (where Lisa and Homer are sitting), except when there's a close up on Lisa. There is no goal when there's a close-up of Homer talking about "Cheers".
• When the lady smashed the piano saying "support the arts" her lips don't move.
• Homer packs lots of boxes in thecar, but when Marge drives the car, the boxes disappear.
• Otto thinks that a muscular Marge lifting the bus is just a hallucination caused by the pot he's smoking. Being a regular drug user, Otto should know that pot doesn't cause hallucinations.