'Round Springfield/References
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Cultural references
- The title is a play on the song "'Round Midnight" by Thelonious Monk and the film Round Midnight.
- Homer has a Starland Vocal Band tattoo on his arm
- The music just before Bart's operation is a parody of the theme music of ER.
- Bart's showing off his appendectomy scar (which prompts a number of other children to want the operation) is reminiscent of the children's book Madeline: Madeline has her appendix out, says her favorite thing about the experience is her scar, and the rest of the girls in her school want to have their appendixes out as well.
- When Bleeding Gums Murphy tells Lisa about his career, he mentions guest spots on The Tonight Show (when Steve Allen was hosting) and on The Cosby Show.
- Both Steve Allen and Bill Cosby use Murphy's guest appearances as opportunities to make blatant product endorsements, while virtually ignoring Murphy himself.
- According to the banner in front of Springfield Elementary School, Barbra Streisand is playing the night after the recital, and tickets are still available. The recital, however, is sold out.
- When Bleeding Gums Murphy appears to Lisa near the end he is joined by Darth Vader, Mufasa, and James Earl Jones (saying "This is CNN").
- Although all three roles were portrayed by Jones, the characters in this scene were voiced by Harry Shearer.
- Additionally, Mufasa accidentally mentions "Kimba" and corrects himself by saying "Simba." This is a reference to the debate regarding The Lion King's resemblance to the anime Kimba the White Lion.
- Robert Chaporo and Albert Dershman are parodies of attorneys Robert Shapiro and Alan Dershowitz.
- Lisa and Bleeding Gums play Carole King's song "Jazzman" twice.
- When Lisa asks to jam "One more time!", Bleeding Gums protests that he's got a date with Billie Holiday.
Trivia
- Groundskeeper Willie, teaching French class, calls the students "cheese-eatin' surrender monkeys." The phrase has since entered the pop-culture lexicon, and it gained a lot of notoriety in the events leading up to the Iraq War.
- This episode was the first in which a recurring character was killed off, something the staff felt that it would be a great storyline, with a lot of emotions.
- They decided on Bleeding Gums Murphy, although Mike Reiss stated "I had been polling for years to kill Marge's mom, but this was a better idea".
- Mike Reiss's father, a doctor, was the medical consultant on this episode. He stated that it was not possible to get appendicitis from eating a piece of metal.
- This was one of two episodes in season 6 that was created with the help of the staff of The Critic, with the other being "A Star Is Burns".
Continuity
- In "The Funeral" Homer said, "This is the last funeral we're going to." They have since attended the funerals of:
- In Man vs. Beast vs. Food, when telling Krusty who he is, Bart mentioned he received a huge settlement after eating a Metal Krusty-O.
References
