You Don't Have to Live Like a Referee/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Gags

Credits

Quotes

	Season 25 Episode References
← 545 "The War of Art"	546 "You Don't Have to Live Like a Referee"	"Luca$" 547 →

Cultural references

• The episode title is a reference to the chorus lyrics of the 1980 song "Refugee", by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "You don't have to live like a refugee."

During the episode's couch gag the Simpsons recreate the running of the bulls in Pamplona

• During the episode's couch gag:
  • The "Toreador Song" is played in the background.
  • The Simpsons recreate the running of the bulls in Pamplona.
• One of Lincoln–Douglas debates is recreated at the Springfield Elementary School, in particular the 1858 debate that took place in Illinois.
• The actor that portrays Abraham Lincoln says he also plays Frankenstein's Monster.
• Ezra, the Stuffwich Sandwich spokesman, is a parody of Jared Fogle, who became famous for appearing in ads for Subway sandwiches until his arrest in 2015.
• Nelson's speech mentions a man who "cut his foot off to save his family from Jigsaw." This is a reference to the character Dr. Lawrence Gordon from the movie Saw.
• Martin and Lisa are presenting their speech on Marie Curie, the famous Nobel-prize-winner physicist and chemist.
• The female figure Lisa thinks of is Margaret Mead, an American cultural anthropologist.
• "La Marseillaise" is heard during Martin's speech of Marie Curie.
• Bart compares giving a speech about Homer to climbing Mount Everest.
• The song playing while Lisa tries to figure out how to make Homer into a hero is "Heroes", by David Bowie.
• In Lisa's imagination, Homer is seen naked watching Thursday Night Football.
• While mowing the lawn, Homer sings "Grade School Hero", a parody of the song "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner.
• The magazine L'ESPN is a reference to ESPN, the sports channel.
• The executive vice president of the World Football Federation is arrested for corruption. This is a reference to the FIFA football association, which was several times linked with corruption.
• Homer thinks the best sporting event was the 2008 Super Bowl. This Super Bowl was ranked fifth on NFL.com's 100 Greatest Games, and is the highest ranked Super Bowl game. The new executive vice president remembered a pass made by MVP Eli Manning to David Tyree.

The premium HBO series that can be watched on the plane include Hung, Bored to Death and Enlightened

• The TV series that the lady on the plane can watch on HBO include Hung, Bored to Death and Enlightened. These three have all premiered on HBO in real life.
• Marge is using the app Tower of Babble to learn Portuguese. This is a parody of the language learning software Babbel, whose name is also a pun on the biblical Tower of Babel.
• The first match of the world cup in São Paulo is played at Arena Corinthians.
• The Simpson family eats at A Figueira Rubaiyat, a famous restaurant in São Paulo that is tucked under a 300-year-old tree.
• The song "Samba de Janeiro" (Club Mix) by German group Bellini is heard during the matches.
• The postcards for the locations in Brazil include:
  • Boa Viagem, Recife. Also, the football match is held at the Arena Pernambuco in Recife.
  • The Monument Abertura dos Portos and the Amazon Theatre in Manaus.
  • The National Congress Palace in Brasilia
  • Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro.
• Homer has a box of Lucky Stalks where he carries his sugarcane. This is a parody of Lucky Strike, the famous brand of cigarettes.
• The briber shows Homer a pirate copy of Man of Steel.
• While traveling in the Amazon River, the family witnesses the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.

Trivia

• Homer mentions that Rio is the naughtiest city ever since San Francisco got all nerdy.
• The app that Marge has on her tablet that is helping her with her Portuguese is called "Tower of Babble", possibly a reference to the Biblical story, Tower of Babel about how all of the different languages appeared in the world.
• In the episode, Germany wins the 2014 FIFA World Cup to Brazil. On July 13, 2014; Germany won the Final to Argentina.

Continuity

• This is the second time that the Simpson family travels to Brazil. The first was in the episode "Blame It on Lisa" from Season 13, Tiago, the samba school teacher, reappears and once again calls Marge a "stupid lady". Xoxchitla also reappears and Bart watches her show.
• This is also the second time that Homer Simpson is a referee in a soccer game. The first time was in the episode "Marge Gamer" from Season 18; the events from that episode are mentioned in Lisa's speech.
• The music playing in the background when the Simpsons go out to eat (after the Brazil vs. Luxembourg soccer match) is the music from Teleboobies, when Bart watched the show during the family's first visit to Brazil.
• In her speech, Lisa mentions Homer having once worked two jobs to get her a pony ("Lisa's Pony") and having bought her a saxophone ("Lisa's Sax").