Black Widower/References
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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.
- Cool Hand Luke: Sideshow Bob's flashback to the prisoner roadside clean-up crew with the guard wearing mirrored-sunglasses.
- 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.
- Jerry Lewis: The caricature of Krusty on the telethon is based on the Al Hirshfeld caricature of Jerry Lewis that has become the symbol of his MDA telethon.
- Scooby-Doo: The ending where Bart and Selma explain how they figured out Sideshow Bob's plan to kill Selma and Chief Wiggum explaining how he accidentally blew up the hotel room, followed by a lame joke ("Now let's get out of this gas-filled hallway before we all suffocate.") and everybody laughing as it fades out is a parody of the ending of countless Scooby-Doo episodes where the gang explains how they figured out the mystery and what the villain's plan was.
- The Wizard of Oz: Sideshow Bob says when leaving prison "Bye, bye Snake. I'll miss you most of all." This is a take on one of the last lines in the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz," when Dorothy is leaving Oz she says the same thing to Scarecrow.
- Dinosaurs: The show the family is watching at the beginning of the episode is a parody of the show.
- Batman: Homer says "To the Simpson-mobile!" This is an obvious parody of the famous line from the show.
- Les Miserables: Sideshow Bob's prison number, 24601, is the same as Jean Valjean's prison number in the novel/musical/movie.
Trivia
- License plates Sideshow Bob makes in Prison:
- "DIE BART"
- "RIP BART"
- "I H8 BART"
- "BART DOA."
- At prison, Sideshow Bob's number is 24601.
- Snake is given a name in this episode. Previously, he was only mentioned by name in the script and referred to by the writers as "Jailbird".
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.
Goofs
- Even though Sideshow Bob was number 24601, his shirt was numbered 1211.
- When Krusty totals up the pledges at his telethon, the total displayed on the counter behind him is $385,382.35. A few seconds later, when he's kicking Bob, the counter has mysteriously gone down to $311,011.11.
- When Lisa clutches Marge's dress when Sideshow Bob appears, the white thing behind her is supposed to be Marge's gloved hand, but it isn't.
- After Selma puckers up, Sideshow Bob's lips don't move when he says, "Although kissing you..."
- Patty's dress changes color from purple to pink during the reception.
