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In the Name of the Grandfather |
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Trivia[]
- Dunkilderry's location is not clearly defined. Although the episode is set in the Republic of Ireland, the policemen's uniforms and vehicles at the raid appear more Northern Irish (British, PSNI). The vehicle doors are clearly marked with "POLICE", as in Northern Ireland and in the rest of the English-speaking world, but in the Republic of Ireland, the Police are generally and officially called "An Garda Síochána" (Irish Gaelic for: "Guardians of the Peace of Ireland"), and policemen are referred to as a "Garda" (plural: "Gardaí"), and their cars are also marked with the words "GARDA". Still, only one scene later, in the court, Chief Wiggum is seen accidentally knocking down the Irish flag, but one of the policemen who participated in the raid earlier (and therefore is Northern Irish), is guarding the Irish court.
- Additionally, the Simpsons visit the Giant's Causeway, which is located in Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom). This therefore marks the Simpsons' second visit to the UK or rather third if Homer's visit to Scotland counts.
- This is the second time that Abraham Simpson's to-do list contains "sleep with Esther Williams" and "be first white man in Negro League". This same list would appear in the Season 17 episode The Monkey Suit.
- In numerous interviews before the episode aired, Al Jean stated Kenneth Branagh would play Tom O'Flanagan. For unknown reasons Branagh made no appearance in the episode and O'Flanagan was played by Colm Meaney.
- Kathy Ireland was also stated in the Fox press release as appearing in the episode. She did, but a caption stated she refused to voice herself.
- This is the third episode where Homer ends up in a prison outside America. The first two were "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" and "The Regina Monologues".
- An Irish reel accompanied by a tin whistle, a fiddle and an accordion is heard during the credits.
- This episode's plot setup & premise is fairly identical to Viva Ned Flanders' from Season 10, as in both episodes, Homer tries to take somebody, friend or family (Ned Flanders/Abe Simpson), to somewhere (Las Vegas/Ireland) to help them (To loosen up/To make up with them), only for both to get severely drunk, causing them to unintentionally do something that they never had the fond to do (Getting married despite already having wives/Owning a bar), and as such they do something that was against their rights for them to do (Running away/Allow free-smoking), causing them to get in heaps of trouble, & kicked out of the place (Through getting banned/Getting deported with a fine to pay).
- In this episode, Marge, Lisa, Bart and Maggie visit the Giant's Causeway, Guinness Brewery and the Blarney Stone in one day. This is improbable, but not impossible, because the Giant's Causeway is in County Antrim in Northern Ireland, the Brewery is in County Dublin, and the Blarney Stone is in County Cork.
Cultural references[]
- Lisa plays " Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral" on her sax in the Opening Sequence.
- The song is also played when Chief Wiggum tasers himself.
- The dialogue for the German Krusty the Clown Show has a veiled Nazi reference within: Krusty's "Heil Heil" line in German was a reference to the mandatory greeting in Nazi Germany, "Heil Hitler" ("Heil" literally means "hail", as in greetings to). It was muted in the German version, as it is illegal in Germany to mention Nazism and Hitler in media without historical context.
- Also, Mel's lament in German, "Krusty spritzen der Gaswasser" is grammatically incorrect. The noun Gaswasser (The German normally say "mineralwasser" and it means "seltzer water" or "club soda") is a neutral noun which takes the article "das." Also, the verb form is supposed to be in third-person singular, and the one depicted is an infinitive. A closer, more grammatically correct rendition of the sentence would be "Krusty spritzt das Mineralwasser."
- The episode takes its title from a traditional Catholic benediction: "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." or, a bit more likely, the Irish film In the name of the Father (1993).
- Marge, Bart and Lisa parody the classic video game "Q-Bert" as they chase up and down the Giant's Causeway.
The Simpsons version of Q*Bert (on the left), compared to the original Q*Bert (on the right)
- Kathy Ireland is shown during a short sequence. As revealed in the subtitles in the shot, the producers had invited her to appear and voice the cameo, but she declined.
- Grampa mentions about feeling "as lonely as Estes Kefauver at a meeting of Murder, Incorporated." When the Simpsons look at him blankly, he retorts, "That actually makes sense! Look it up!" Senator Estes Kefauver headed highly-publicized hearings into organized crime in the 1950s. The hearings were a serious blow to the Mob in America, though they are more remembered these days for a side hearing on juvenile deliquency that became a referendum on comic books and the direct cause for the creation of the Comics Code Authority.
- Mac's Fifth Avenue is a parody of Saks Fifth Avenue.
- Sham-Rock Cafe is a parody of Hard-Rock Cafe.
- Hewlett Fitzpackard is a parody of Hewlett-Packard.
- Mick-rosoft is a parody of Microsoft.
- Cisc O'systems is a parody of Cisco Systems.
- The busker guitarist is a reference to the Irish film/stage musical Once in which an Irish guitarist falls in love with a married Czech musician and at a certain point in the film also buys her a piano as a gift.
- The judge in Homer and Grandpa's trial looks similar to Mr. Potato Head.
- This is the second time the Simpsons had a RHD car. Their registration plate was 93-G-5127, meaning their car was sold in County Galway and was the 5,127th car registered in County Galway in 1993.
