Saturdays of Thunder/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Gags

Credits

Quotes

	Season 3 Episode References
← 043 "Lisa's Pony"	044 "Saturdays of Thunder"	"Flaming Moe's" 045 →

Cultural references

• The episode title is a pun on the 1990 stock-car racing movie Days of Thunder.
  • Like Tom Cruise's character, Cole Trickle, Bart becomes a race car driver in this episode. He also agrees to drive Martin Prince's vehicle when Prince is injured, just as Cruise does for Michael Rooker's character, Rowdy Burns.
• Dr. Nick took the tombstone of American writer Edgar Allan Poe to I Can't Believe They Invented It!.
  • Troy McClure uses the phrase "Quoth the Raven, What a shine!", a pun on the phrase "Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore"" in Poe's famous narrative poem The Raven.
• Marge thought Patty wanted American actor Ed Asner's haircut. Patty actually wanted Mary Tyler Moore's.
• McBain's partner, Scoey is a parody of Sergeant Murtaugh, played by Danny Glover, in the Lethal Weapon film series.
• At the hairdresser's, Selma is reading Peephole, a parody of People magazine.
  • She reads about Henry Wilker, famous for portraying Fonzie in the American sitcom Happy Days.
• The Galloping Gazelle played at Soldier Field, a multi-purpose stadium in Chicago, Illinois. He's also been in two Pro Bowls.
• After Patty gets Mary Tyler Moore's haircut, Selma tells her she "could turn the world on with your smile". This is a reference to "Who can turn the world on with her smile?", part of the lyrics of "Love Is All Around" by Sonny Curtis, the theme song of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
• Homer missed Joe Theismann getting injured on the VHS Football's Greatest Injuries.
• Homer's hero is American actor Steve McQueen.
• The song "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin is heard as the waiting tone for the National Fatherhood Institute.

A parody of the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci can be seen at the National Fatherhood Institute

• There is a parody of the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci at the National Fatherhood Institute.
• The song "You're All I Need" by Nigel Martinez and Josie James is heard at the National Fatherhood Institute.
• Dave gives Homer a copy of Fatherhood by Bill Cosby.
• The song "Watching Scotty Grow" by Bobby Goldsboro is heard when Homer and Bart work together on the soapbox car Li'l Lightnin'.
• Nelson tries to run Bart's soapbox car off of the road with a whip and with spiked wheels, parodying the famous chariot race scene in the 1959 religious epic film Ben-Hur. The race commentator later mentions the film itself.
• The TV presenter mentions the Great Depression and former racing driver Al Unser Jr..
• There is a picture of Albert Einstein on the fridge.
• The race commentator compares the moment when Bart is being carried on people's shoulders to when Charles Lindbergh, also known as "Lucky Lindy", arrived in Le Bourget Airfield, the famous landing site of the Spirit of St. Louis.
• The song "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler is heard after Bart's victory.

Trivia

• The scene in which Bart welds with his mask up caused a battle between the show creators and the network censors. The censors were concerned that children would imitate Bart by misusing welding tools. The show creators were able to convince them that very few kids would use welding tools anyway.
• Tapes at the video shack include: "Du Du Du", "Border Siesta", "The Bad Football", "Speed Boat Bloopers", "Frisbee", "Super Jock 3", "Death By Knockout", "Bench Clearing Brawls", "Blood On The Ice", and "Football's Greatest Injuries".
• The head of the National Fatherhood Institute drinks from a Super Dad mug.
• Homer says his credit expiration date is "June 1989.. uh, 2012". 1989 is the year the first Simpsons episode aired.
• Homer double parks at the VHS Village.
• This is the first episode to feature the full version of the current theme music. (Although the full version of the opening for this episode was used outside of the USA, it was also released on all releases of the third season DVD.)
• The sign at the video store reads: VHS Village, Formerly the Beta Barn.
• Marge and her sisters read Idle Chatter and Peephole magazines at the beauty salon.
• Harry Shearer based the voice of Dave, the director of the Fatherhood Institute, on actor Mason Adams.
• This episode premiered November 14, 1991 and got high ratings due in part to the fact that it was immediately followed by the premiere of Michael Jackson's infamous "Black or White" music video, the one that ends with Jackson smashing the car windows.
• Deathrace 2000 was another inspiration for the episode.
• The spice rack from "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" is shown again.
• Bart's "Li'l Lightnin'" re-appears in Lego Dimensions, although for some reason is called the "Gravity Sprinter".
• Edgar Allan Poe was buried on October 8. 1849 the day after his death in Westminster Hall and Burying Ground in Baltimore, Maryland near his grandfather David Poe Sr.'s grave. The grave was unmarked at first, but the sexton, George W. Spence, placed a sandstone inscribed No. 80. His remains were reburied towards the front of the cemetery under a large memorial on November 17, 1875.

Goofs

• When Homer asks Flanders when a boy should start dating and immediately drives away, it shows him handling the steering wheel from the backseat of his car.