Bart to the Future/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Gags

Credits

Quotes

	Season 11 Episode References
← 242 "Pygmoelian"	243 "Bart to the Future"	"Days of Wine and D'oh'ses" 244 →

Cultural references

• The title is a pun on Back to the Future. Nelson's hairstyle and attire are a tribute to the 1985-A Biff Tannen from Back to the Future II.
• When Bart asks why a vision of his own future has an unrelated reference to Abraham Lincoln's gold, the Indian says "I guess the spirits thought the main vision was a little thin", a barb at sitcom writers who pepper thin plots with side plots.
• The Native American casino the Simpsons visit is called Caesar's Pow-Wow Casino, a reference to Caesar's Palace. The "Indian" who pokes his head out of the sign is the image of the logo for the Cleveland Indians baseball team.
• One of the entertainers appearing at the Pow-Wow is Carrot Scalp, a reference to comedian Carrot Top. The year before this episode aired, there was a Carrot Top parody named Carrot Scalp featured on Family Guy in the season 1 episode "The Son Also Draws".
• Dances with Wolves: Punned in the name of casino employee Dances with Focus Groups.
• Helen Thomas, seen in pink at Lisa's press conference, was president of the White House Correspondents' Association.
• The portrait of Ted Kennedy in the White House conference room implies that he had been President of the United States.
• The "Greenspan" that Bart addresses is both a reference to and likeness of Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve.
• Camp David is the summer retreat of the American President.

Trivia

• It aired exactly five years after Season 6's "Lisa's Wedding", which also depicted the Simpsons' universe in the future. An interesting point were the endings of both episodes; whereas the fortune teller told Lisa her future could not be changed, the Indian mystic tells Bart to try and change his future for the better. However, it should be noted that Lisa's fortune teller is implied to be a phony, meaning her foretelling of her future may be partially or completely inaccurate.
• The scene in which Bart talks to the ghost of Billy Carter in a bar at Camp David is most likely a reference to "Treehouse of Horror V", where Homer talks to Moe's ghost in the bar of Burns's hotel. Both of these scenes are parodies of a scene in Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining.
• In 2003, Entertainment Weekly named this the worst episode of the entire series.
• Following a tiny tradition in the series, Ned, the kindest person (and holiest), has bad things happen to him in this episode, yet he remains faithful. In previous episodes, his house was blown down, Maude died, he got married to another woman in Vegas, The Leftorium was bankrupt...
• At the time the episode aired, it was the one set furthest into the future, beating out both "Lisa's Wedding" and "Future-Drama". It would not be surpassed until the Season 23 episode "Holidays of Future Passed".
• When Bart interrupts Lisa's speech, she chokes him and says Homer's catchphrase "Why you little!".
• When Lisa sends Bart to Camp David to spearhead the phony "Coolness Report" initiative, he enlists some of his childhood friends to help him out. Among those in attendance, a now "physically fit" adult version of Üter can be seen! He's very easy to overlook, since there are only 2 visual clues as to his true identity. His trademark green traditional German lederhosen outfit, (which he has always been seen wearing in every episode he has ever appeared in) and the same blond/gray hair color he's had since childhood. The fact that he is no longer short and plump, and now has a much different longer hairstyle, makes identifying him a bonafide Simpsons trivia "easter egg".
• Helen Thomas is shown sitting in the second row, but in real life she had a reserved seat in the first row.

In the future

• Bart is 40 years old, Lisa is 38 (same age as Homer in the present), Homer is 68 and Marge is 66.
• Bart and Ralph are roommates. Ralph seems to have steady employment (since he's the one who pays the rent), but Bart's only job is his band, which as of the beginning of the episode still hasn't had a gig.
• In everyday vocabulary, "smell you later" has replaced "goodbye", which Bart still can't believe.
• Nelson owns a bar. One of its features is a laser grid covering the stage. The grid activates when thrown objects (presumably from dissatisfied audience members) hit it, thereby preventing performers on the stage from being hit by them.
• There are now hovering vehicles (a. la. Back to the Future II), both buses and automobiles. Hover-buses have higher fares; fortunately for Bart and Ralph, wheeled buses still exist.
• Virtual food can be eaten, using a kit that consists of virtual reality goggles and an electronic straw. (Homer, however, doesn't like virtual fudge.)
• Soylent Green is a common snack food.
• Maggie has a daughter, named Maggie Jr.
• Homer has a robotic prostate. Unlike a real prostate, it is visible from outside the body.
• Ned Flanders is blind. His eyes fell out ten years after he had "that trendy laser surgery".
• Rod and Todd are shown to be gay in the future. Ned agrees to give Bart money because Bart hasn't outed them.
• Lisa has been elected President of the United States:
  • She succeeds Donald Trump, from whom her administration has inherited "quite a budget crunch".
    • (In real life, Donald Trump won the US election in 2016 and served from 2017 to 2021)
  • Milhouse is a member of Lisa's Cabinet, presumably Secretary of the Treasury as he gives a presentation regarding the state of the budget. He still has an unrequited crush on Lisa.
  • Kearney is the head of Lisa's Secret Service protective detail. He offers to have Bart killed, telling her that "every President gets three free murders".
  • Lisa identifies herself as "America's first straight female President". Lenny later mentions that he voted for Chastity Bono rather than Lisa, so it's possible that Bono was the non-straight female President to whom Lisa refers, and that Bono served some time prior to both Lisa and Trump.

Continuity

• Marge mentions that she had a gambling problem. ("$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)")
• Gabbo and Arthur Crandall make a return appearance as one of the entertainment acts at Caesar's Pow-Wow Casino.
• Homer's makeshift guest bedroom from "Lisa's Wedding" makes a reappearance.
• Milhouse is balding in the same way as "Lisa's Wedding".

Goofs

• According to future Ned Flanders, your eyes pop out ten years after you have laser eye surgery - but in "Last Tap Dance in Springfield", Homer has laser eye surgery, and in this episode he still has his eyes. Though this was probably because continuity is horrible and this episode was shown before.
• The mosquitoes took the park ranger's class ring from his right hand, but it was previously shown on his left
• When Bart plugged in the amp, you can see a white Carl sitting next to Lenny.
• When Bart throws the Future Duff Beer can on the floor, it turns into a normal Duff Beer can. The other cans are also labeled just "Duff Beer".
• Not a goof: Chastity Bono, referred to as lesbian and female in the episode, is now Chaz Bono, a transgender man. However, at the time the episode aired, Bono was a lesbian woman. It wasn't until 2008 (several years after the episode aired) that he began the process of transitioning from female to male.
• When Bart and Ralph arrive back at their 'house', the sign on the door reads "EVICT". When the sign is seen closer up, it says "EVICTED" and is now in red.
• Helen Thomas is shown seated in the second row at the press conference. However, Helen Thomas actually had an assigned seat in the first row.

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Beyond Blunderdome • Brother's Little Helper • Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner? • Treehouse of Horror X • E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) • Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder • Eight Misbehavin' • Take My Wife, Sleaze • Grift of the Magi • Little Big Mom • Faith Off • The Mansion Family • Saddlesore Galactica • Alone Again, Natura-Diddily • Missionary: Impossible • Pygmoelian • Bart to the Future • Days of Wine and D'oh'ses • Kill the Alligator and Run • Last Tap Dance in Springfield • It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge • Behind the Laughter