Helter Shelter/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ Large Marge

Helter Shelter

The Great Louse Detective ►

Trivia

• This is the second to the last time to date that Bart has prank called Moe, this time via Morse code. The last time to date was in "24 Minutes", but, he did prank call a bunch of bars in Season 20's "Lost Verizon", and Season 22's "Love is a Many Strangled Thing" In the Family Guy and The Simpsons crossover "The Simpsons Guy" Bart prank called Moe, which impressed Stewie Griffin.
• This is the last episode to be traditionally inked and painted; for the episodes after it would be animated via digital ink and paint.
• Homer's line "Where's that kid with my latte?" was used earlier in "Beyond Blunderdome".
• This is the third time Bill Cosby has been parodied on The Simpsons. There is an extra gag in that the Cosby family are losing ratings on their reality show, so the producers choose on the Simpsons; in the early years, The Cosby Show was a ratings rival with The Simpsons.
• When the family realizes that they are seeing a hockey game, they are discouraged and disappointed, yet in "Lisa on Ice", the family seems to have an interest in the game.
• When Kozlov hands Lisa his hockey stick, it says "КОЗЛОВ" - the real Russian spelling of Kozlov.
• The Russian hockey player seems to be Atlanta Thrashers' Vyacheslav Kozlov.
• If you look closely, you can see a crossed hammer and a hockey stick on Kozlov's hockey stick, an obvious reference to the Soviet symbol of the hammer and sickle.
• In this episode Homer is upset that 1895 is too late to save Lincoln and too early to save Kennedy, and in Today, I am a Clown he again fantasizes about doing both.
• In the TV, there's a show called Law and Order: Elevator Inspectors Unit.
• Homer finally gets skybox tickets after being caught gatecrashing into one in Sunday, Cruddy Sunday.

Goofs

• At one point when Bart is in the video confessional booth, he complains of boredom and says "Mutt and Jeff Comics are not funny! They're gay, I get it!". However Mutt and Jeff was first published in 1907, 12 years after the shows 1895 setting.
• Apu says that Oreos were invented in 1896. However, they were invented in 1912.

Cultural references

• The title is a play on the Beatles song "Helter Skelter," a famous song which, it was claimed by prosecutors, was indirectly connected to the murders carried out by Charles Manson and his "family". "Helter Shelter" had earlier been the name of the shelter in the episode "Homer Loves Flanders".
  • There is also an episode of The Powerpuff Girls with the same name of this episode.
• The extermination company named "A Bug's Death" is a pun on Disney and Pixar's A Bug's Life.
• The SkyBox is a reference to the SkyDome (now the Rogers Center).
• The scene where the Simpsons are waiting for time to fly by mirrors the opening sequence of King of the Hill. It also uses the King of the Hill theme music.
• "Squiggy" being sent to boost their ratings is a reference to a lot of television shows sending in newer characters to save the show from being cancelled (often with disastrous results), such as Cousin Oliver on The Brady Bunch, Seven on Married...With Children, and Smitty (Adam Sandler's character) on The Cosby Show.
• A member of the crew says 'I can't eat anymore kangaroo testicles'. This is a reference to I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!
• Though not the first, this episode of The Simpsons contains a reference to the 1990s TV character Steve Urkel from the show Family Matters. When Marge attempts to buy groceries from the Kwik-E-Mart, Apu informs her that he is under instructions from the producers of the reality show to vett her purchases for items that were not available in 1895 (claiming that Oreos were invented in 1896). As such, he deems the breakfast cereal Urkel-O's "delicious, but forbidden."
• When Bart prank-calls Moe with morse code, Moe types back, mentioning the Transcontinental Railroad (1869) by saying "...I'm gonna drive a golden spike where your Union meets your Central Pacific!"
• "Law & Order: Elevator Inspectors Unit" is a reference to the TV show Law & Order and its various spin-offs.
• There is an action figure of Bender on Jeffery Albertson's shelf.
• One of the figurines sitting on Jeffery Albertson's shelf is a model of the Planet Express Ship from Futurama.
• This show the Simpsons go on is an obvious reference to Big Brother and simmilar reality programs.