Difference between revisions of "Oh Brother, Where Bart Thou?/References"

Revision as of 18:41, January 17, 2022

Cultural references

• The title of the episode is a reference to the name of a fictional book in the 1922 film Sullivan's Travels, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, which is also the title of a season two Simpsons episode, and a popular 2002 film.
• The television program that Huell Howser hosts, Under the Wrapper, is similar in appearance to the Food Network program Unwrapped.
• Bart plays on an Xbox.
• In Lisa's fashion show, Bart wears Hello Kitty tights. Bart says that he thought they were Spider-Man pants.
• Bart says that he's a "badass loner", like Wolverine.
• Bart dreams of famous brothers: The Marx Brothers (Chico, Harpo and Groucho Marx), the Blues brothers (Jake and Elwood) from the film The Blues Brothers, the Mario Bros. (Mario and Luigi), the Smith Brothers (William and Andrew), the Terwilliger brothers (Robert (aka "Bob") and Cecil), the Wright brothers (Wilbur and Orville), the Manning brothers (Peyton, Eli and Cooper), and the Smothers Brothers (Tom and Dick).
• During the dream sequence, "Get Together" by The Youngbloods plays.
• The Smith Brothers coughing then taking cough drops is a reference to the fact that the brothers were famous purveyors of cough drops, and, well over a century later, their product is still one of the most popular brands.
• Wilbur Wright saying "I want a turn! I want a turn!" while following the plane, which is being piloted by Orville, is a reference to the fact that Orville piloted the first flight of the Wright Flyer, with Wilbur following on foot.
• Peyton and Eli Manning's teasing of Cooper is a reference to the fact that Cooper never got drafted by an NFL team, while Peyton and Eli went on to become Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks with the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Giants respectively.
• The Smothers Brothers play the song "Boil That Cabbage Down", a variation of the folk song "Boil Them Cabbage Down".
• The Smothers Brothers mention CBS.

The South Park reference.

• The scene where Bart, Milhouse, Nelson, and Ralph are standing at the bus stop is a parody of South Park, with Bart dressed as Stan, Milhouse as Kyle, Nelson as Cartman, and Ralph as Kenny. When Otto hits Ralph with the school bus, he says "Oh my God, I killed Kenny!", which is a recurring line in the series.
• Nelson mentioned that his mother tricked Charles Barkley.
• Bart's vision of what life would be like in years to come if he had another sister is a spoof of Sex and the City, and Kim Cattrall (one of the stars of the series) even plays the imagined third sister.
• Bart mentioned that a "real life Jaws" bit off his dad's wiener, a reference to the movie Jaws.
• The scene with Bart and Charlie playing together is set to the finale of The Carnival of the Animals.
• Bart says that Charlie is an orphan, just like Annie, a reference to Little Orphan Annie.
• Bart takes Charlie to a movie called Sever V, which is a spoof of Saw V.

Continuity

• Bart replaces Marge's birth control pills with "Tac Tics" (a parody of the popular mint Tic Tacs) as he does with Mrs. Krabappel in the episode "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie".
• Barney's role as the Plow King is reprised from the episode "Mr. Plow".
• People at the awards ceremony includes:
  • Evelyn Peters from "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield".
  • Dr. Zweig from "Fear of Flying".
  • Admiral Carstairs from "Burns, Baby Burns".
  • Gabriel from "Brawl in the Family".
  • Defonzo Palmer from "Jazzy and the Pussycats".
  • Paris Texan from "Homerazzi".

Goofs

• In a scene, Marge's left eye gets duplicated in some frames.

Other airdates

• This episode premiered at 9:30pm on February 18, 2011 in the UK on Sky1, months after Season 21 finished airing on the network, and over a year since its original broadcast.