Bart the Murderer/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Gags

Credits

Quotes

	Season 3 Episode References
← 038 "When Flanders Failed"	039 "Bart the Murderer"	"Homer Defined" 040 →

Cultural references

• This episode takes a lot of plot of Bart's afterschool job for Fat Tony is spoofing the rise of mobster Henry Hill in Goodfellas. As in the film, a school-aged boy mixes drinks for the local mob gang, his mother gets distressed after seeing him wear a snazzy new suit, the mobsters interfering when he is in trouble at school (in the movie they stop the local mailman through a violent treat from delivering letters from the school to his parents, in the episode they go directly to the principal's office) and there is also a cigarette hijacking. Fat Tony's character design was based Paul Sorvino who played Paulie Vario (renamed Paulie Cicero in the movie).
• The Jackie O's cereal's name is a reference to former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929–1994), wife of President John F. Kennedy. When she re-married (to shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis) five years after Kennedy's assassination, she was nicknamed "Jackie O" in popular culture.
  • Both during and after Kennedy's presidency, Mrs. Kennedy was known for her independent and widely respected fashion sense (particularly for the pink suit she was wearing the day JFK was assassinated), alluded to by the cereal box's color scheme and promise of stretch pants.
• The scene where Lisa waves to Bart as he tries to get on the school bus is a reference to The French Connection.
• "Ah, Fudge!" is also a common minced oath for the f-word.

The wrapper design for Ah Fudge! chocolate bar is based on the Hershey bar

• The wrapper design for Ah Fudge! chocolate bar is based on the Hershey bar.
• All the horses in the third race at Shelbyville Downs are named for famous cartoon phrases:
  • "Sufferin' Succotash" (Sylvester)
  • "Yabba-Dabba-Doo" (Fred Flintstone)
  • "Ooh Ain't I A Stinker" (Bugs Bunny)
  • "That's all, folks!" (Porky Pig)
  • "I Yam What I Yam" (Popeye)
  • "Don't Have A Cow" (Bart Simpson)
• "One Fine Day" by Gerry Goffin and Carole King is heard when Bart is serving drinks to the mob.
• The song Bart sings in the kitchen is Frank Sinatra's "Witchcraft".
• The Godfather gives Fat Tony the infamous mafia Kiss of death.
• Bart refers to Fat Tony as "patrón", the famous nickname of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
• Princess Opal describes an hypothetical wedding between TV personality Vanna White and politician Ted Kennedy. She also mentions how country singer Willie Nelson will astound his fans by swimming across the English Channel.
  • She later foresees the divorce of actress Delta Burke and Gerald McRaney, protagonist of the American sitcom Major Dad. In real life, however, Burke has been married to actor Gerald McRaney since May 28, 1989, and never divorced.
• Bart wakes up screaming, similar to Jack Wolt's (John Marley) scream when he wakes up to find his prize horse's severed head in bed next to him in The Godfather.
• Skinner frees himself from being trapped under the newspapers in a way similar to Angus MacGyver's escapes from MacGyver, the 1985 TV series.
• In Blood on the Blackboard: The Bart Simpson Story:
  • American actor and singer Richard Chamberlain portrays Seymour Skinner.
  • Joe Mantegna is Fat Tony. Mantegna is Fat Tony's voice actor.
  • British actress Jane Seymour is Fat Tony's lover. Presented as "the woman he loved" in reference to the 1988 film The Woman He Loved, in which Jane Seymour starred.
  • Neil Patrick Harris from the medical sitcom Doogie Howser, M.D. as Bart Simpson.

Continuity

• Bart imagines being put on an electric chair in the music video for "Deep, Deep Trouble".

Trivia

• Fat Tony's prisoner number was 8F03, the production code for this episode.

• • • Eat My Shorts is a horse running in another race (and another of Bart's catchphrases).
• There is a large drum of nuclear waste seen in Homer's basement in this episode.
• Bart's forgotten permission slip can be seen (just barely) under his pillowcase before he wakes up at the beginning of the episode.
• While imprisoned, Bart's cellmate is a seriously pumped-up Sideshow Bob.
• During the last scene, the Simpsons watch a movie based on this episode. When the narrator lists the actors, the actor playing Fat Tony is Joe Mantegna, who provides the voice of Fat Tony on The Simpsons.
• The producers attempted to have "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes play midway through the episode. Due to being unable to secure permission, they used "One Fine Day" instead.
• On the news, Fat Tony's real name is revealed as "William "Fat Tony" Williams" but would later change to "Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico" in "The Homer They Fall" whether or not this was a decision made by the shows writers or if the two names were separate aliases is unknown.

← Season 2 Season 3 References Season 4 →

Stark Raving Dad • Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington • When Flanders Failed • Bart the Murderer • Homer Defined • Like Father, Like Clown • Treehouse of Horror II • Lisa's Pony • Saturdays of Thunder • Flaming Moe's • Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk • I Married Marge • Radio Bart • Lisa the Greek • Homer Alone • Bart the Lover • Homer at the Bat • Separate Vocations • Dog of Death • Colonel Homer • Black Widower • The Otto Show • Bart's Friend Falls in Love • Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?