Murder, He Wrote/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Credits

Quotes

Cultural references

• The title of the comic story is a reference to the American television mystery series Murder, She Wrote.
• The entire story and style is a parody of the Japanese series Death Note. This includes some specific references, including a box of "Mell-O" (referencing the character Mello from Death Note) and a bag of "EAT IT!" potato chips (referencing an infamous scene from the English dub of the Death Note anime) on the kitchen table in one panel.
  • Krusty and Lisa are both turned into parodies of the characters Ryuk and L respectively, made clear in their slightly altered designs and their roles in comparison to Bart, who acts as a stand-in for Light Yagami. There even is mention of an "L" assisting the police, who Bart eventually suspects to be Lisa, only for it to turn out to be Ralph Wiggum instead.
• Kelly seems to be a parody of Misa Amane.
• Other names written in the notebook include Harry Houdini, Amelia Earhart, and Buddy Holly.
• Krusty mentions his canceled '70s sitcom, The Krusty Bunch, a parody of The Brady Bunch.
• The local news states "the dragonballs were returned unharmed" just before announcing Sideshow Bob's release from prison, a reference to Dragon Ball.
• Sideshow Bob mentions wanting to read the latest Germaine Greer novel now that he's out of prison.
• Sideshow Bob is seen falling face first into a hot dog cart labelled "Pika Dogs", in reference to the character Pikachu from Pokémon, with the character even being shown as a mascot on the cart.
• Kent Brockman mentions that older children may want to YouTube Sideshow Bob's death for their friends to see.
• Among the people who died from Marge's grocery list are Betty Crocker, Uncle Ben, and Sir Francis Oreo.

Trivia

• Death Note was parodied again in the "Death Tome" segment of the season 34 episode "Treehouse of Horror XXXIII". However, in this parody, Bart and Lisa have their roles swapped, with Lisa being a parody of Light Yagami and Bart being a parody of L.