Bart's New Friend/References
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Cultural references[edit]
- Don Bookner always felt something special in Homer, and compared it with what fans feel towards the Chicago Cubs.
- During his retirement, Don compares himself to Fred Flintstone, and says he would be "at the end of the dinosaur tail". This is a reference to The Flintstones opening.
- Homer has a stomachache when he realizes that he must do his job for the first time. Marge tells him that there is a word in Yiddish for what he feels (shpilkes), and Homer replies there are a lot of funny Yiddish words used in English for not so funny things.
- Attractions at the circus:
- Celtic Charms are a parody of Lucky Charms.
- Sven Golly's name is a pun on Svengali, a manipulative character which was featured in the novel Trilby.
- It may also be a pun on the hosted horror movie show Svengoolie.
- The ride attraction at Itchy & Scratchy Land where they were flying through Springfield is a reference to Mystery Science Theater 3000.
- A hypnotized Cletus proves the Zorn's lemma.
- "Buddy Ebsen died here" can be read on the Springfield General Hospital board. Ebsen was an actor who played Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies died on July 6, 2003 at Torrance Memorial Medical Center in Torrance, California.
- The saxophone riff that Lisa plays for Homer is from the 1978 song "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty.
- The Shawshank Redemption: Bart spray-paints "El Barto was here" on a wall, and Homer follows suit with "Homo too". The scene is a callback to the halfway house apartment to which both Brooks and Red are paroled. Brooks finds himself unable to adjust to life outside of prison and hangs himself from a support beam, first carving "BROOKS WAS HERE" into the beam. Years later, after Andy's escape, Red is paroled and lives in the same apartment. Red also struggles with adjusting to the outside world, but rather than killing himself, he decides to take Andy up on his invitation to join him in Mexico. Before he leaves, he carves "SO WAS RED" into the support beam next to Brooks's graffiti.
Continuity[edit]