Difference between revisions of "Homer the Smithers/References"

Revision as of 14:13, January 24, 2026

Cultural references

• In the episode's couch gag, the family members are wearing fezzes and driving tiny cars in the way Shriners usually do during parades.

• At the Springfield Dragway, one of the dragsters in the Top Fuel race has Fox News as sponsor.
• For Mr. Burns' breakfast, Smithers prepared Zwieback, a form of rusk with origins in Germany.
• According to Smithers, Mrs. Burns had an affair with US President William Howard Taft.
• Mr. Burns demands dodo eggs in his lunch, to which Homer replies that the bird became extinct. The last accepted sighting of a dodo dates back to the year 1662.
• Marge mentions The Little Rascals, the American series of comedy short films produced from 1922 to 1944.
• Smithers asks Mr. Burns to FedEx his mail to him.
• The song "Relax", one of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's greatest hits, plays in the background at the club Smithers is attending. The song is often associated with gay club culture, including its music video, set in a gay nightclub.
• Smithers is leading a conga line.
• Mr. Burns throws Postum, the roasted grain beverage, at Homer.
• The sign of the Neat & Tidy store is zoomed in so that it appears to say AT&T, the American multinational telecommunications holding company.
• The last part of the episode parodies final scenes from the 1971 dystopian crime film A Clockwork Orange:
  • Mr. Burns falls from his office window in the same style Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) attempted suicide by jumping from a window at Frank Alexander’s house.
  • When Burns is injured and in bed, Smithers feeds him in the same way the Minister of the Interior (Anthony Sharp) feeds Alex during his hospital visit.

Trivia

• It is shown in this episode that Moe's Tavern number is 7648437 but the 7 must be used to contact an outside line. So the real number should be:648-4377.
• The last four digits for Burns' office is 5246.
• This is one of the few episodes in which Burns remembers Homer's name.
• This is the second time Burns vows to get revenge on Homer but instead gets rewarded because he was too beneficial. The first time was in "Blood Feud".
• Smithers uses a Macintosh computer, which doesn't have a mouse.
• Homer would later be Burns' assistant in "Homer vs. Dignity".
• When telling Smithers he doesn't need to diaper him or burp him, Mr. Burns proceeds to belch in a similar manner to Barney Gumble.

Goofs

• When Burns and Smithers are driving away, Burns is shown answering the phone. Later in the same episode, it shows that he never does that himself.
• When Burns sits back down after making his failed phone call to Smithers, his black eye disappears.
• If Burns were really 104 years old, he would have been born long after the dodo became extinct.
• Lisa is eating spaghetti and meatballs with the rest of the family in the first scene of the third act. This is a few episodes after she had officially turned vegetarian on "Lisa the Vegetarian". Lisa's vegetarianism wasn't mentioned again until "Homer's Phobia", so it may not have been considered to be canonical yet.
• When Smithers calls Homer, his phone is black, but in another scene, it's blue.
• At the race track, Smithers is shown to be feeding beer to Mr. Burns by the teaspoon, but in "Dancin' Homer", Burns drinks an entire tub of beer without any assistance.