Lisa's Sax/References
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Cultural references
- While telling Bart and Lisa about 1990, Homer says that "Tracey Ullman was entertaining America with ... crudely-drawn filler material". This is a reference to The Simpsons' debut as "bumpers" airing before and after the show's commercials.
- Bart's blackboard punishment "I no longer want my MTV" is a reference to the old MTV slogan "I Want My MTV" (and a jab at the channel's declining quality due to lack of music videos and an uptick in non-music related shows, like The Real World).
- The song "Those Were the Days" parodies the opening theme song of the classic television show All in the Family. Another All in the Family reference is when Homer calls Bart "Meathead" like Archie called Mike in the original series classic.
- As Homer and Marge sing the song, they make the following cultural references (from the late 1960s to early 1980s):
- In the flashback, Dr. Hibbert fashioned his hair and attire like Mr. T in The A-Team.
- The song Lisa plays on her new saxophone near the end of the episode is "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty.
- A flashback to 1990 shows Homer watching Twin Peaks as Dale Cooper remarks, "That's some damn fine coffee you got here in Twin Peaks... and damn good cherry pie." The Giant is then shown waltzing with a white horse, under a tree with a traffic light hanging from a branch. Homer says: "Brilliant! I have absolutely no idea what's going on."
- When Lisa's saxophone gets run over, one of the people who runs over it is a man on a tricycle, who promptly falls over. This is a reference to a character played by Arte Johnson, an old man in a raincoat on a tricycle, which is a running gag from the NBC variety show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.
- When little Bart skips along the grass, he bears a resemblance to Charlie Brown sketches.
- In King Toot's music store, when Homer buys Lisa her first saxophone there is a guitar in the background that is similar to Eddie Van Halen's "Frankenstein" guitar.
- When Marge, Homer and Lisa visit a preschool recommended by a school psychologist, a child can be seen in the left hand corner of the screen, that appears to be painting Rene Magritte's famous painting "The Son of Man".
- The Warner Brothers Network is a reference to Warner Bros.
Trivia
- In addition to revealing Bart's reasons for being a troublemaker and underachiever, this episode is also notable for fueling suspicions of Milhouse's sexuality, after Dr. Pryor identifies the young Milhouse as having "flamboyantly homosexual tendencies." The episode is also notable for a rare glimpse at Snowball I.
- This is the last episode in which Doris Grau has a speaking role as Lunchlady Doris (although this episode aired nearly two years after her death). It would also mark the final time the character would speak until Season 18's "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" (voiced by Tress MacNeille).
- This was the first of very few episodes Al Jean ever wrote without Mike Reiss.
- At the age of 5, Bart wore the same clothes and shoes as in his current age of 10-year old.
- There is a goof involving the air conditioner scene, where Rod and Todd are 10 and 8 during the flashback, the same age they are currently. Bart and Lisa's ages are also goofed as well, since the episode aired in 1997. This would make Lisa age 1 and Bart age 3 because it flashed back to 1990 when 1992 would actually have fit their ages. Maybe this would mean this and all the other episodes of the 3Gxx series were produced between Seasons 8 and 9.
- The origin of Bart's catchphrase, "Eat My Shorts," is revealed: Principal Skinner tells Bart to apologize for his impressions, and Bart's response is "Eat my shorts!"
- This is also the last mention of Snowball I until Season 15.
- This is the only episode that shows the King Toot's music store across the street from Moe's Tavern. All others show the store next to Moe's, such as in "Lisa's Pony".
- In the flashbacks, Homer had two hairs on his head, but he didn't get two hairs until he found out Marge was pregnant with Maggie.
- The boy who eats worms was conceived by Al Jean in The Complete Ninth Season's commentary when he used to eat worms as a child and that he looks similar to him.
- When 5-year-old Bart mooned Principal Skinner, he sang the Batman theme, but changed it to "Buttman."
- The clips of Lisa playing the Saxophone include:
Goofs
- Rod and Todd are still the same age in this episode.
- When Homer has to choose between either an air conditioner or a Saxophone for Lisa, Lisa lacks any eyelashes.
- When Bart was walking on the grass, there wasn't any path, after Groundskeeper Willie shows the "Ach! Keep off the grass!" sign, there is a path.
- For a brief moment, one of the Mackleberry twins' skin tone changes to yellow.
