In the Name of the Grandfather/References
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Contents
Cultural references[edit]
- The title of this episode is a play on the title of the 1993 film In the Name of the Father, which takes place in Ireland. In itself the line also refers to the traditional Catholic benediction: "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."
- Seymour Skinner compares the Deluxe Sprinkle King to Simon & Garfunkel, the American duo that was very popular in the 1960s.
- Grampa mentions about feeling "as lonely as Estes Kefauver at a meeting of Murder, Incorporated". When the Simpsons look at him blankly, he retorts, "That actually makes sense! Look it up!". Senator Estes Kefauver headed highly-publicized hearings into organized crime in the 1950s. The hearings were a serious blow to the Mob in America, though they are more remembered these days for a side hearing on juvenile delinquency that became a referendum on comic books and the direct cause for the creation of the Comics Code Authority.
- The things on Abe's dreams list include:
- Pitch in the Negro leagues. The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans.
- See the Chrysler Building. Famous building in New York City.
- See NBC go under.
- The pilot of Derry Air mentions some of the "names" that Ireland is known for:
- "Emerald Isle", referred to in the poem When Erin First Rose by William Drennan.
- "Potatoville". Ireland was under a period of starvation and disease in the mid 19th century, when potato crops were infected.
- "East Boston". People of Irish descent form the largest single ethnic group in Boston, Massachusetts.
- "The Land of Poetry". Poetry in Irish is among the oldest vernacular poetry in Europe, with the earliest examples dating from the 6th century.
- Kathy Ireland is shown during a short sequence. As revealed in the subtitles in the shot, the producers had invited her to appear and voice the cameo, but she declined.
- The dialogue for the German Krusty the Clown Show has a veiled Nazi reference within: Krusty's "Heil Heil" line in German was a reference to the mandatory greeting in Nazi Germany, "Heil Hitler" ("Heil" literally means "hail" as in greetings to). It was deleted in the German version.
- Also, Mel's lament in German, "Krusty spritzen der Gaswasser" is grammatically incorrect. The noun Gaswasser (The German normally say "mineralwasser" and it means seltzer water or club soda) is a neuter noun which takes the article "das." Also, the verb form is not correct. A closer rendition would be "Krusty spritzt das Gaswasser."
- Marge, Bart and Lisa parody the classic video game "Q-Bert" as they chase up and down the Giant's Causeway.
- Mac's Fifth Avenue is a parody of Saks Fifth Avenue.
- Sham Rock Café is a parody of Hard-Rock Cafe.
- Hewlett Fitzpackard is a parody of Hewlett-Packard.
- Mick-rosoft is a parody of Microsoft.
- Cisc O'systems is a parody of Cisco Systems.
- Bog Bath & Beyond is a parody of Bed Bath & Beyond.
- Taco Belfast is a parody of Taco Bell.
- Mr. Potato Head in Homer and Grampa's trial looks similar to the Mr. Potato Head toy.
- A scene outside Blarney Castle, which houses the famous Blarney Stone, shows a family taking a picture of a small pile of rocks called Blarney Rubble, a mock name of The Flintstones character Barney Rubble.
- Tom O'Flanagan describes himself as an "old man yelling at his tapes." This is a reference to the modern Irish play, Krapp's Last Tape.
- Homer mentions Knute Rockne and Larry Bird.
Trivia[edit]
- Dunkilderry's location is not clearly defined. Although the episode is set in the Republic of Ireland, the policemen's uniforms and vehicles at the raid appear more Northern Irish (PSNI). The vehicle doors are clearly marked with "POLICE", as in Northern Ireland and in the rest of the English-speaking world, but in the Republic of Ireland, the Police are generally and officially called "An Garda Síochána" (Irish Gaelic for: "Guardians of the Peace of Ireland"), and policemen are referred to as a "Garda" (plural: "Gardaí"), and their cars are also marked with the words "GARDA". Still, only one scene later, in the court, Chief Wiggum is seen accidentally knocking down the Irish flag, but one of the policemen who participated in the raid earlier (and therefore is Northern Irish), is guarding the Irish court.
- In numerous interviews before the episode aired, Al Jean stated Kenneth Branagh would play Tom O'Flanagan. For unknown reasons Branagh made no appearance in the episode and O'Flanagan was played by Colm Meaney.[1][2]
- Kathy Ireland was also stated in the Fox press release as appearing in the episode. She did, but a caption stated she refused to voice herself.[3]
- This is the only episode that Sky1 aired before anyone else, airing it a full 5 days before America.
- The VHS tapes that Tom O'Flanagan owns are labelled:
Goofs[edit]
During the opening shot of O'Flanagan's, there is an empty car in the middle of the street.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Kenneth Branagh lands role in The Simpsons", Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved on 2009-02-28.
- ↑ Keveney, Bill (2008-09-26). 'The Simpsons' hits a landmark. USA Today. Retrieved on 2009-02-28.
- ↑ Ponywether, Ariel (2009-03-23). Review -- The Simpsons: "In the Name of the Grandfather". FireFox. Retrieved on 2009-03-24.
