Lisa's Substitute/References
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Cultural references
"Mrs. Krabappel, you're trying to seduce me."
- Dustin Hoffman guest-starred as Mr. Bergstrom, but was credited at the time as "Sam Etic". However, a hint at his true identity is dropped in the scene where Mrs. Krabappel comes to see Bergstrom in the classroom after school. Edna seductively stretches her leg across the screen while Bergstrom is seen standing in the background, a sight gag on the movie poster for The Graduate, in which Hoffman starred as Benjamin Braddock. Bergstrom also accuses Edna of trying to seduce him, echoing Braddock's line, "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me."
- Lisa makes reference to there not being many Jewish cowboys, to which Mr. Bergstrom says that there were a few. In actual history of the Old West, there was a multiracial range of cowboys and settlers, with there being cowboys of black, Mexican, European and Native American heritage, as well as cowboys who were recent immigrants from other countries like Russia, France and Germany.
- The book that Mr. Bergstrom was reading to the class was Charlotte's Web.
- When Mr. Bergstrom first enters the classroom, the theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is heard.
- After Bart loses to Martin for the class president, a picture of Martin holding up a copy of The Daily Fourth Gradian headlined "Simpson Defeats Prince" is taken, which in turn ends up on the front page of The Daily Fourth Gradian under the headline "Prince Beats Simpson". This is a reference to the famous picture of then President Harry S. Truman holding up a copy of a prematurely printed edition of the Chicago Tribune headlined "Dewey Defeats Truman", taken the day after his unexpected victory over Governor of New York Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 presidential election.
Trivia
- This is one of the only two episodes in which the guest star uses a pseudonym instead of their real name (the other being "Stark Raving Dad"). Following the legal troubles surrounding "Stark Raving Dad", the producers stated henceforce no pseudonyms would be allowed. As a result, all voice actors must use their true names in the credits of The Simpsons.
- Dustin Hoffman's pseudonym "Sam Etic" was chosen as reference to his character being Jewish or "Semitic".
- In one particular scene, Maggie whimpers a little, Nancy Cartwright was asked to play Maggie and she accepted but she spotted her husband (they are divorced now) and her daughter (who was a baby at the time) walking into the studio. She asked one of the directors if her baby could do the little whimpers for Maggie. The director said yes and Nancy Cartwright's daughter actually made the whimpers of little Maggie.
- This is the last episode not to have any voices done by Hank Azaria, who had major roles in the three remaining second season episodes and would be promoted to the main voice cast in the following season.
- This is the show's first episode where the opening sequence starts at the driveway scene.
Goofs
- When Janey is looking at the picture, Chuck's skin is the same color as his hair.
- Throughout Mr. Bergstrom's hair changes between brown and black.
- When Milhouse and Lewis approach Bart in the playground, Lewis' shorts are blue, however a couple of shots later they're green.
- When Bart begins the "more asbestos" chant, Wendell is chanting with the rest of the class despite being a supporter of Martin.
