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Little Big Mom |
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Cultural References[]
- The episode title is a pun on the film Little Big Man (and/or the identically-named novel it was an adaption of). Another pun on the same film would later be made with the episode title Little Big Girl.
- The Virtual Doctor website says that it's from the creators of Dragon Quest and SimSandwich. Dragon Quest is a series of RPGs released by Square Enix (originally released as Dragon Warrior in the US). SimSandwich is a reference to the Sim series of games by Maxis (later acquired by Electronic Arts, who made The Simpsons Game), the most famous of which are SimCity and The Sims. The game title could be a reference to the numerous amount of titles for the Sim series in the mid 1990s that received poor reception and are little known such as SimPark, SimGolf and SimTunes. The Dragon Quest name is most likely coincidental and NOT meant as a reference to the real life game series of the same name.
- The "You Got Leprosy" line said by the Virtual Doctor is modeled after AOL's "You Got Mail" greeting. Elwood Edwards recorded numerous greetings himself in 1989, including "You Got Mail," which were then incorporated into AOL in October 1989
- In the hospital, Homer and Bart squirt interferon at each other.
- This medication is used to treat various cancers (e.g., leukemia, melanoma, AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma). It is also used to treat virus infections (e.g., chronic hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis C). This medication is the same as a protein that your body naturally produces (interferon)
- Shortly before the ghost of Lucille Ball visits Lisa, Homer and Bart watch an episode of her classic tv show "I Love Lucy."
- At the very end of the episode, Homer sings "Aloha 'Oe" between screams while he receives a needle treatment.
- Although Mr. Burns doesn’t appear in the episode, Lisa says his catchphrase Excellent! after tricking Homer and Bart into having leprosy.
- This is the first appearance of Flanders in his ski suit.
Trivia[]
- This episode mocked skiing two years before the South Park episode Asspen aired.
- During the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon, the pictures Itchy looks at in his photo album are from previous I&S cartoons (see "The Tears of a Clone").
- This is the first episode to air in the 2000s.
- There are four hospitals in Springfield at least.
- This is the first episode to be rated TV-14 on American TV for crude humor (Lisa tricking Homer and Bart into thinking they have leprosy, Bart telling Otto he has to go to the bathroom by saying, "I gotta blast a dookie"), comic violence (Homer getting repeatedly hit in the groin by moguls, the end where Homer and Bart are treated for leprosy off-screen with painful needle therapy), playing domestic violence for laughs (Homer and Bart watching an episode of I Love Lucy where Ricky beats his wife, Lucy), and sexual content (the infamous "Flanders skintight snowsuit" part).
Censorship and Bans[]
- Much like season 10's "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo", this episode is not shown in Japan (either on TV, DVD, or streaming) because the story of Lisa tricking Bart and Homer into thinking they have leprosy is considered very culturally insensitive (as Japan has a long and shameful history of discriminating against lepers).
Goofs[]
- When Bart is skiing, he is wearing gloves in most shots, but his gloves are missing at one point.
- Although the clock falls on Marge's left leg, it only breaks her right leg.
- Even if Marge's right leg grew hairs due to it being a week, it's unlikely that her left one didn't get hairy too.
- Lisa paints green spots on Bart and Homer to trick them into thinking they have leprosy, but in real life, leprosy spots are red or brown.