There Will Be Buds/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Credits

Quotes

	Season 28 Episode References
← 601 "Trust but Clarify"	602 "There Will Be Buds"	"Havana Wild Weekend" 603 →

Cultural references

• The episode's title is a pun on the 2007 American epic period drama film There Will Be Blood.
• The sports field Child Soldier Field is a pun on Soldier Field, the multipurpose stadium located in Chicago.
  • Advertising on the field includes Swapper Jack's, a parody of Trader Joe's, and U-Rent-It, whose logo is similar to U-Haul's.
• The first part of the episode alludes to concussions in American football, a serious form of brain injury that has been widely associated with contact sports such as football.
• At the Springfield Town Hall:
  • Doping in baseball is addressed by Ned, Helen, and Superintendent Chalmers.
  • Chief Wiggum proposes that the kids should do biathlon, while The Rich Texan suggests frisbee golf.
  • Finally, Kirk suggests lacrosse, the oldest organized sport in North America.
• Gudger College's mascot name, Sir Gudge-A-Lot, is a pun on Sir Mix-a-Lot.
• After Kirk's hand injury, American former football player Joe Theismann is shown throwing up into his hat. Joe Theismann suffered a compound fracture of his leg in a Monday Night Football game, considered to be one of the worst and most horrifying injuries ever shown on live TV.
• Kirk made a CD for the trip in the van with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy songs on it.
  • During the trip, they're listening to the song "You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby)" by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
    • The song is heard one more time in the van and is later heard during the credits.
• According to Kirk, the "craziest place" he has ever done it with Luann was at a Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant.
• On the van, the kids are watching classic lacrosse matches. Lisa praises an ankle-breaker performed by Gary Gait, the Canadian lacrosse player who is widely considered one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time.
  • Nelson mentions Gary's brother, Paul Gait, who is also considered one of the best lacrosse players of all time.
• Red Rash Inn is a parody of Red Roof Inn, an American economy hotel chain.
• At the motel room, the cruise ship in the picture is Royalty Valhalla, part of Royalty Cruises, which itself is a parody of Royal Caribbean.
• Marge compares Kirk to American professional football coach Jim Harbaugh.
• Homer mentions YouTube.

Kirk is dressed as and dances like the Blues Brothers in a music store, mirroring their iconic dance at Ray's Music Exchange in the 1980 comedy film The Blues Brothers.

• During the song "Pas de Dude":
  • The Godfather and Halo are mentioned in the chat Kirk had with Homer.
  • Kirk is dressed as one of the Blues Brothers and dances in a music store, mirroring their iconic dance at Ray's Music Exchange in the 1980 comedy film The Blues Brothers. On the website Kirk created, bluesbuddies.com:
    • "Celebrating the art of Jake and Elwood" refers to "Joliet" Jake (John Belushi) and Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd), the Blues Brothers.
    • "What's the better sequel? Blues Brothers 2000 or The Godfather Part II", referring to the sequels of The Blues Brothers and The Godfather, respectively.
    • "Top 5 Elwood Harmonica Solos". Elwood is known for playing a harmonica that he carried onstage in a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist.
    • "Blues Brothers 2025. A screenplay by Kirk Van Houten", another reference to Blues Brothers 2000.
  • Homer mentions the Oscars.
• WXPO 470AM "The Pipe" is the show commenting on the lacrosse match against Capitol City.
• During Kirk's video of his Crushin' It series:
  • MyTube is a parody of YouTube.
  • Wunder Bread is a parody of Wonder Bread, an American brand of sliced bread.
  • A drunk Kirk says that "jet fuel can't melt steel". This is a reference to a famous conspiracy theory surrounding the September 11 attacks that claims that the planes alone would not have been able to bring down both towers.

Trivia

• The episode was dedicated to Kevin Curran, who passed away on October 25th, one week before this episode aired.
• This is the last episode to be produced by Film Roman, before Fox Television Animation took over the series, starting with "Dad Behavior".

Continuity

• A Strupo poster is seen. ("The War of Art")
• A Royalty Valhalla poster is seen. ("A Totally Fun Thing Bart Will Never Do Again")
• Kirk is mentioned to have gone to Gudger College again. ("A Milhouse Divided")
• Clancy Wiggins is seen at the game at the beginning. ("Sky Police")

Goofs

• The placement of some of the people at the town meeting changes between scenes.
• There are 12 kids on the lacrosse team, but Field Lacrosse, the version being played in the episode, has a 10-player limit per team.
  • Furthermore, Apu's two children are not old enough to play either football or lacrosse.
• Kirk is surprised by Homer being his friend, but they were already friends in some previous episodes, such as "The War of Art" and "A Milhouse Divided".