Difference between revisions of "Simprovised/References"

Revision as of 16:43, June 20, 2025

Cultural references

• The episode title is a play on the word "improvised."
• "22nd City" is a reference to famous improvisational group The Second City, which refers to Chicago but here shows how far down Springfield is on the improv list.
• When the leader of the improv class answers Homer's questions with "Yes! Annnd?" he is demonstrating the two primary rules of improv: always agree with the premise; then extend it.
• Homer references Webster's Dictionary.
  • The same night the episode aired, in the episode of Family Guy, Chris Griffin quoted Webster's Dictionary in a speech too.
• Homer dreams of ALF.
• Homer and Marge reference Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein.
• Homer holds a copy of Truth in Comedy: The Manual for Improvisation by Charna Halpern, Del Close and Kim "Howard" Johnson.
• Lisa and Moe mention Barbra Streisand.
• Homer wants Meryl Streep to play him in a movie.
• Springfield Fringe Festival is a reference to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
  • Comic Book Guy is dressed as Henry VIII.
    • He is holding a turkey drumstick in his left hand, a reference to the urban legend that there exists a portrait of Henry VIII holding a turkey drumstick.
  • His companion is dressed as Elizabeth I.
  • The stand "Luigi's Medical Marinara" is a reference to medical marijuana.
  • The stand for "Blue Bronco Energy Drink" is a reference to Red Bull.
• The person seated next to label "Philosophy: Objectivism" is Ayn Rand.
• On the cover of "Treehouse Beautiful" magazine (a reference to "House Beautiful" magazine), Ralph is dressed as Tom Wolfe, in white suit.
• The music heard as Bart looks through the spyglass at the neighbors is the Flower Duet from the opera Lakme by Leo Delibes.
• The treehouses shown as part of the Historical Treehouse Preservation District:
  • A gleaming metal curvilinear treehouse designed by Frank Gehry.
  • A treehouse in the style of a medieval French Gothic cathedral, with rose window and flying buttresses.
  • The house from Up, which appears to be floating in air like in the movie, is shown to be suspended from a tree by a rope.
• The music heard over the historical treehouses is "The Great Gate of Kiev" from Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Moussorgsky.
• When Homer finds the cookies Marge has discarded next to the tree and he says "The Keebler elves are real" he is referring to cookies made by the Keebler Company, whose advertising claimed they were made by elves living in a hollow tree.
• "Down-N-Out Burger" is a parody of In-N-Out Burger.
• "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer plays at kiss cam.

Homer Live

Main article: Simprovised/Homer Live

Continuity

• The Treehouse of Horror series is referenced in Ralph's treehouse (Treehouse of Horrors: The Complete Collection is shown on a shelf).
• Marge's carpentry skills are also put to use, and subsequently undervalued. ("Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em")
• Bart's treehouse gets a makeover. ("Old Yeller-Belly" and "Marge's Son Poisoning")

Trivia

• In the last three minutes of the episode, Homer was "Live-voiced" (by Dan Castellaneta) and answered questions fans asked him on the phone. During the show, Homer answered live on Twitter and Facebook to fans posts too.
  • In the season 8 episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", June Bellamy says "very few cartoons are broadcast live". Ironically, 19 seasons later, part of "Simprovised" was broadcasted live.
• The UK airing of the episode, scheduled to air at the same time as the one in the US, was pulled at the last minute.^[1]
• This is the 2nd consecutive episode in which the house from Up appears, having appeared in the previous episode a week before.

Goofs

• At the Springfield Fringe Festival, Lisa's tie changes from gray to blue, and later back to gray.
• At the dining room, when Homer ask Maggie to pass the gravy, and pour on his food, his neck is animated behind his shirt collar and his left arm behind the sleeve.
• There are two Luanns in the crowd at the Springfield Fringe Festival.

References