Fraudcast News/References
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Contents
Cultural references
- The title of the episode is a play on the name of James L. Brooks' 1987 film, Broadcast News. Brooks is co-developer and producer of The Simpsons.
- The episode's couch gag is a street bench in Japan, and everyone is a famous anime character: Homer is Ultraman, Marge is Jun from Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Lisa is Usagi Tsukino, the protagonist from Sailor Moon, Bart is Astro Boy and Maggie is Pikachu from Pokémon.
- The Squeaky-voiced teen shouts "Why did they cancelled Futurama?".
- Blood, Sweat & Tears perform their 1968 hit "Spinning Wheel" at Geezer Rock.
The collapse of Geezer Rock is a reference to when the Old Man of the Mountain in New Hampshire collapsed in 2003
- The collapse of Geezer Rock is a reference to when the Old Man of the Mountain in New Hampshire collapsed in 2003.
- Lisa wants to be like Katharine Graham, owner of the Washington Post for many years including during Watergate.
- Homer suggest Lisa could also be like the lady who wheeled around Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler who was paralyzed from waist down after being shot.
- Lenny refers to a tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
- The Itchy & Scratchy Show episode title "What's Nuked, Pussycat?" parodies the 1965 comedy film What's New Pussycat?.
- One of the ponies that Mr. Burns uses to tempt Lisa is named Honeysuckle, which was also the name of a character in the original My Little Pony TV series which was voiced by Nancy Cartwright.
- The episode's title is also a reference to the Darkwing Duck episode of the same name.
- Milhouse mentions that the story he filed from Baghdad was made up, as he was actually in Basra, a city in southern Iraq. This city was damaged heavily during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein.
Ralph got persuaded to work at the Chicago Tribune in the same way the Chicago Sun-Times hired columnist Michael Sneed away from Chicago Tribune
- Ralph got persuaded to work at the Chicago Tribune. This is a reference to December 1986, when the Chicago Sun-Times hired high-profile gossip columnist Michael Sneed away from the rival Chicago Tribune.
- The term "Ralphings" seen in the newspaper is a parody of "Sneedlings", the name of the column by Michael Sneed.
- Homer plays "Wannabe", the hit song from by Spice Girls, on the boombox.
- When Principal Skinner has Vietnam flashbacks due to the smell of ink from the mimeo machine, the song "Incense and Peppermints" plays.
- The Vietnamese soldiers shout "đi đi mau" at Skinner. This phrase, meaning "Get lost!" in Vietnamese was borrowed into English by American military personnel returning from the Vietnam War, as well as by Vietnamese immigrants; and was popularized by the movie The Deer Hunter.
- The Lenny Saver is a pun on The Pennysaver.
- Homer makes a reference to Xerox, the American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services.
- Mr. Burns thinks Rupert Murdoch, former CEO of Fox, controls all the media.
Trivia
- This is the second episode of the series to have the hit song from the Spice Girls, "Wannabe" to be played, the first being "Maximum Homerdrive".
Continuity
- The lovers' lane underneath Geezer Rock was previously seen when the Simpsons were fleeing from Werewolf Flanders and Homer suggested they split up and each hide in ridiculously spooky places. ("Treehouse of Horror X")
Goofs
- When the astronaut is shown reading the Red Dress Press during a space walk, the shot is reversed, with Florida and Cuba shown on the west coast of North America.
