Smart and Smarter/References
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Cultural references[edit]
- The episode's title is a pun on the film Dumb and Dumber.
- The pancake restaurant The Flapjack Stack used to be called The Leaning Tower of Pizza, a pun on the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
- Henry, who is voiced by Simon Cowell, is a parody of Cowell's stage persona on American Idol.
- Henry mentions American restaurant chain Chuck E. Cheese.
- After noticing that Maggie doesn't speak, Henry recommends her to work at Gap Inc. in the future.
- Trying to defend her sister, Lisa mentions that Albert Einstein did not speak until he was three. The late talker condition is also known as the Einstein syndrome.
- Henry refers to Maggie as "my quiet American", a reference to the novel and later film The Quiet American.
- When Henry says that Maggie could already be teaching in Florida, Homer shouts "Go Seminoles", referring to the Florida State Seminoles.
- To cheer Lisa up, Homer gives the example of how the "world's most famous dwarf", American journalist Katie Couric, escaped from the circus to become successful. In real life, Couric is 5 feet, 2½ inches (1.59m) tall. She has also been described as "pixieish". Homer is also referring to the media circus.
- Milhouse thinks Lisa is an Oakland Raiders fan when she is dressing as a Goth. The Raider Nation members, the official name for the fans of the Oakland Raiders (the team would move to Las Vegas in 2019), are known for dressing in black elaborate costumes.
- The song "Who's That Girl?" by British pop duo Eurythmics is heard when Lisa tries to get attention at Springfield Elementary School.
- During the black-and-white dream sequence:
- The song heard at Springfield Natural History Museum is "Moon River", composed by Henry Mancini.
- During the end credits, Simon Cowell makes comments about various members of the production team.
Continuity[edit]
- There's a few references to "Lisa's Substitute":
- Marge gives Lisa the paper quoting "You are Lisa Simpson" but Lisa says she already got one and points at the paper Mr. Bergstrom gave her, which is framed in Lisa's room next to a photo of Mr. Bergstrom.
- The poster looking for Lisa that says "Free Beer: Now that I got your attention...", which is like the one where Bart's campaign poster says "Sex: Now that I got your attention..."
- Lisa said her I.Q. is 159. In "Homer's Enemy", Homer states Lisa's I.Q. is 156. This could be explained by the fact that there is no universal scale for one's I.Q. That is to say, the same person can achieve very different scores on different tests.
- A Phonics Frog is seen within Bart's toys in "Treehouse of Horror XVIII".
- When Lisa first went on the giant tongue at the museum, there were no markings on it, but when Lisa released she was on the "bitter" side, the markings are seen.
