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New Kid on the Block
Mr. Plow
Lisa's First Word

Citations[]

  • As with Family Guy, West was shown to have a flamboyant personality on The Simpsons as well.
  • West appears to still be driving what may be the Batmobile from the 20th Century Fox-made 1960s Batman television and film series. This explains why the car barely can even start operating, due to its advanced age. The 1966-1968 Batman television theme music also played when he hopped into the aging vehicle after Homer left his house.
  • Carnival of the Stars is a parody of Circus of the Stars.
  • Homer goes to the advertising firm of McMahon and Tate, which was the name of the advertising firm on Bewitched.
  • The Mr. Plow song is based on the Roto Rooter jingle.
  • The avant-garde Mr. Plow commercial which not even Homer was sure whether or not was promoting his business was based on a Russian perfume "Koyaanisqatsi" commercial the writers saw. The producers parodied the commercial without permission, however, due to troubles with international relations between the United States and Russia, as of 2009 the producers of the perfume commercial still have been unsuccessful at seeking litigation against The Simpsons TV show.
  • Kent Brockman reports Barney's accident, in which his attire, glasses, camera angles and facial expressions are in reference to Walter Cronkite's reporting of the John F. Kennedy shooting.
  • The snowmen at the end melted the same way as the main villains did at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
  • The scene of Homer crossing the rickety bridge in the plow is a parody of the 1977 thriller Sorcerer.
  • This is one of the few Simpsons episodes to feature the 1986 MGM lion roar heard. However, the official MGM lion roar can be heard in a Simpsons Movie short.
  • The scene where Bart hops off the bus for school and is attacked by the bullies is similar to the attack in The Godfather where Sonny Corleone is killed.
  • Homer asked the advertising company to do the advertisement, the crystal ball in the advertisement should be a tribute to the movie "Citizen Kane"

Trivia[]

  • The 1960s Batman television and film series which starred Adam West, and which is greatly referenced throughout West's guest appearance in the episode, were made and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The three Catwomen actresses he also referred-Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether and Eartha Kitt- were also were his co-workers. Meriwether played Catwoman in the 1966 Batman movie, while Newmar played her in first and second season of the television series. Kitt, who later was a posthumous Simpsons guest star, played her in the show's third and final season.
    • In addition to the ongoing Batman movie series which West referenced, West's guest appearance was also in tandem with a new Batman cartoon called Batman: The Animated Series was airing on Fox at the time. The most recent Batman film at the time, Batman Returns featured the voice of Herb Powell and James L. Brooks' Taxi star, Danny DeVito as the Penguin one year after his first Simpsons guest appearance, The other main villain in Batman Returns, Max Schreck (portrayed in the film by Christopher Walken), has been compared by some historians to Mr. Burns and the political ambitions he had in Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish.
  • In later years, West would continue working with 20th Century Fox's animation department as a regular on Family Guy. Mr Plow also aired five years before West worked with Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane on Turner Entertainment-owned Cartoon Network's Johnny Bravo.
  • The company that calls Homer about his delinquent payments is Komatsu Motors (the company that bought out Herb Powell's car company).
  • Original Channel 4 airings of this episode edits out Homer telling the insurance agent that Moe's is a pornography store instead of a bar.
  • Mr. Plow is mentioned by Ned Flanders in "Skinner's Sense of Snow".
  • Originally, the Plow King's identity was supposed to be Lenny, but it was changed to Barney due to Lenny not fitting in with the story.
  • It's implied that Barney's dad is dead (when he talks about being in the afterlife with his loved ones, like his dad and the plant he never watered). This will later be confirmed in "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"".
  • This episode revealed that Barney used to be a Harvard-bound genius before Homer introduced him to beer, though season nine's "Lisa's Sax" showed that Barney drank when he was really young (around 9 to 10 years old) and after causing a tricycle wreck, he told Homer that they should never drink again. It could be implied that Barney stuck to his promise (until this episode's flashback of what happened to Barney the night he was studying for his SATs), but Homer didn't.
  • Troy McClure mentions that the viewer may remember him from The Erotic Adventures of Hercules, the film Marge and Homer were watching in the episode "Selma's Choice."
  • This was the second time someone stole Homer's idea after "Flaming Moe's". This time, it is Barney.
  • Homer breaks the fourth wall with the line, "It may be on a lousy channel, but the Simpsons are on TV."
  • Linda Ronstadt sings two versions of the "Plow King" jingle: during Barney's commercial and later she sings a few lines in Spanish.
  • When Adam West is shown, the camera begins to rotate. This is a reference to the use of Dutch angles on the 60s Batman show starring West, in which Dutch angles were commonly used in scenes with villains, to show them as "crooked."
  • When Homer offered to pay Barney with a $10,000 bill for plowing the Forbidden Widow's Peak, Barney asked which president was on the bill to which Homer states that all of the presidents were on it. The $10,000 note was a real denomination note in the Large Denomination Series from 1863 to 1934, first in the Gold Certificate Series from 1865 to 1934, with the denomination entering the Legal Tender Series in 1878, and later in the Federal Note Series from 1918 to 1934.
    • The real $10,000 denomination note featured the Seventh US president, Andrew Jackson on the front in the Gold Certificate Series from 1870 to 1900, and the Legal Tender Series in 1878, while the Federal Note Series featured the Sixth Justice of US Supreme Court, Salmon Chase on the front from 1918 to 1934 and on the Gold Certificate Series from 1928 to 1934.

Cultural Reference[]

  • The advertising agent at McMahon and Tate Advertising has a Rubik's Cube on his desk.
  • On December 17, 2015 Google partnered up with 20th Century Fox to produce a YouTube ad version of Mr. Plow, in order to showcase the efficiency of YouTube advertisements helping small businesses.
  • Linda Ronstadt tells Barney she wants to record a Spanish version of the Plow King jingle for her next album. At the time the episode was made, Ronstadt was in the midst of recording a series of Spanish-language albums. Her costume in the Plow King commercial is based on one of the outfits she wore when performing songs from her Spanish albums.

Goofs[]

Bluesuitmags

Maggie with a blue snowsuit

  • The green car Homer sits inside initially has a roof. However, when the scene transitions to a close up, it becomes a convertible.
  • When Homer is about to drive up the mountain to save Barney and Marge is begging him not to, Maggie’s coat is blue. But when the family is watching the mountain goat fall down the mountain, her coat is orange.
  • When The Simpsons are driving to save Barney, they come across a rickety bridge. At first, the bridge is covered in snow, the angle then changes to reveal another, more sturdy bridge and the snow disappears.
  • When Homer is about to crash on Marge's car the wiper disappears as it clear the snow out of the windshield.
  • When Homer hitches a ride to a car dealership, as a pickup truck pulls up to Homer, the farmer driving it can be seen in silhouette wearing a farmer's hat. But shortly after when we see a clear view of the farmer driving the truck (with his pig Zeke in the passenger seat), he is no longer wearing a hat. It's possible that he took his hat off.
  • When Barney tries to give a flier to a woman while he is wearing a diaper, his diaper pin disappears for a few frames.
  • Homer could have sued Barney as he was attempting to put Homer out of business which is industrial espionage.
  • The Spanish-language dub of the episode renders the joke about Linda Ronstadt recording a Spanish version of the Plow King jingle meaningless by having the dubbing actress simply sing the same translated-Spanish lyrics from earlier in the episode, rather than singing the English words instead.
  • When Snake Jailbird and his partner arrive to rob the Kwik-E-Mart after Homer gets rid of the snow, Snake's tattoo isn't colored in and it's just an outline.
Season 3 Season 4 References/Trivia Season 5
Kamp KrustyA Streetcar Named MargeHomer the HereticLisa the Beauty QueenTreehouse of Horror IIIItchy & Scratchy: The MovieMarge Gets a JobNew Kid on the BlockMr. PlowLisa's First WordHomer's Triple BypassMarge vs. the MonorailSelma's ChoiceBrother from the Same PlanetI Love LisaDufflessLast Exit to SpringfieldSo It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip ShowThe FrontWhacking DayMarge in ChainsKrusty Gets Kancelled
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