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Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"
Much Apu About Nothing
Homerpalooza

Trivia[]

  • Apu is seen drinking Yoo-hoo, which is a real drink in the United States that is popular.
  • Strangely, Troy McClure appears as a cameo at the party, then switches to Dr. Nick Riviera.
  • Nelson's use of the term "Germania" is obviously meant to make him look stupid, but Germania was actually the term used by the Romans for an area similar to modern Germany. If Üter is from Bavaria, however, he would not likely be from the area which was Germania.
  • Apu claims to have developed the first tic-tac-toe program, which only the top human players could beat. The game has actually been strongly solved, and if both players play perfectly, it should always end in a draw.
  • Homer also had a problem with a bear in "The Fat and the Furriest". It is never revealed if it was the same bear of if they have any connections.
  • Homer earns $40 daily in the episode "Lisa's Rival", but in this episode, he earns $95.96 daily.
  • Homer's payslip reads:
Gross Pay (40 hours) = 479.80 ($11.995/hour)
Federal Withholding = 56.25
FICA = 36.34
State Withholding = 10.45
Municipal Tax = 9.37
Bear Patrol Tax = 5.00
---
Net Pay = 362.19
  • The entire sequence at the mayors office is littered with references to the cartoon Yogi Bear. From the way Moe pronounces picnic basket to his description of the bears as "smarter than the average bear" (as well as the implication that the "culprit" for stealing Moe's Picnic Basket was actually Mayor Quimby.
  • During the flashback scene when Apu is in India, he says goodbye to Manjula, which is a preview to the marriage of Apu and Manjula in "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons".
  • Despite the fact that Groundskeeper Willie is shown to have been deported, he still lives in Springfield in later episodes. He most likely escaped during the deportation process.
  • Selma Bouvier mentioned her brief marriage with Troy McClure from "A Fish Called Selma", with Robert Terwilliger from "Black Widower" and that she married Lionel Hutz although his marriage with Selma is never seen in any episode.
  • This episode, along with "22 Short Films About Springfield" are the only episodes where President Bush's house can be seen, non-counting the episode in which it made its debut. It also appeared in the next season's episode "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious".
  • This episode reveals that Apu (unless it was a fake birth date) was born on January 9th, 1962.
  • This episode aired on Josh Westein's 30th birthday, In addition during the start of the audio commentary for this episode he accidentally said that the episode first broadcast on May 5th, 1966, which is his date of birth.

Citations[]

  • The episode title is a pun on the William Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing.
  • The chant "We're here, we're queer, we don't want any more bears!" is a reference to LGBT slogans.
  • In the scene where the towns people crowd around the mayor outside his office on the left side of the screen there is a man with a cowboy hat and a green and red striped shirt that appears to look like Freddy Kruger From Nightmare on Elm Street.
  • Chief Wiggum's order of deportations, when he says "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" is a reference to The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus, the sonnet written on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
  • Homer references Siegfried & Roy in his speech saying immigrants "are training our tigers".

California References[]

  • At the time the episode was produced, California was having problems with bears roaming neighborhoods in search of food, as shown in Springfield at the beginning of the episode.
  • California at the time was also politicizing the large numbers of undocumented immigrants in the state. In 1994, voters had passed Proposition 187 (later declared unconstitutional) which would have denied services such as schooling and emergency Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrants, similar to Springfield voters passing Proposition 24. Moe keeps calling them "immigants", and claims, "I knew it was dem! Even when it was da bears, I knew it was dem." This is a parody of the xenophobia and ignorant bigotry that was plentiful. California's continuing issues with undocumented immigrants were one of the reasons for making the episode, according to Bill Oakley on the DVD commentary.
  • Voters use propositions to vote for government services, but against taxes that would pay for them, exactly what Mayor Quimby's advisor said about the "morons" of Springfield.

Goofs[]

  • In the faraway shot of the Angry Mob, one of the mob members' hair changes color a few times.
  • When the family is at the dinner table and Lisa is telling Homer she doesn't agree with the proposed new immigration law, the food on their plates changes from purple pie to mashed potatoes and meat and then back to purple pie.
  • Apu claims to have been in the United States for seven years, but Homer's Barbershop Quartet depicts him being in America eight years before the then-present day.
    • Also this episode is set almost three years after the aforementioned episode so in 1996 it would be some 11 years since that flashback.
  • When Mayor Quimby promises action against the bears to the townspeople, he wears his normal clothing but the next shot, when they are leaving, he suddenly wears a napkin around his neck.
  • Homer's "Yes on 24" button has entirely black text in the close-up. However, when the scene cuts to a farther-away shot, the words "Yes" and "24" are written in white while the word "on" is written in blue.
  • In this episode, Manjula is around eight or nine years old when Apu (obviously eighteen or older) graduates from college to study in Springfield, but in The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons, Apu and Manjula appear in the flashback describing their arranged marriage as both being seven.
    • Apu probably forgot Manjula's height since last seeing her in India.
  • Kiduplicate

    Two Ralphs

    Kearney uses a fake ID to purchase alcohol, but other episodes suggest that he is old enough to purchase it legally. His age is generally unclear for comedic purposes. Also, it's possible that he simply does not possess a legal ID, or that he avoids using it because it may connect him with some illegal activity he was known to have done.
  • When Willie offers that the students make fun of him instead of Uter, there are two Ralphs in the same shot.
  • Many of the states on Homer's U.S. map change color between the close-up shot and the faraway shot.
  • When Apu falls asleep the day before the test, his head rests on the open notebook. The next shot when he wakes up it is closed, even though it appears his head never moved. In the overhead shot immediately after, the notebook is gone and a pen, paper and book are in place of it.
  • Groundskeeper Willie gets deported, even though it is stated in other episodes that he came to the U.S. legally.
  • Taneck

    Willie with a tan neck

    When Willie is deported, his neck turns tan like his jacket for a frame.
  • Homer tells Apu that he is not a registered voter, yet he is shown voting for Bob in "Sideshow Bob Roberts".
    • Homer could've forgotten this or he could've just lie to Apu to make him not worry he would be deported.
  • Springfield had a referendum on whether to deport illegal immigrants, however illegal immigrants get deported anyway.
  • Lisa said that Apu, despite being an illegal immigrant, could become a citizen due to how long he had been living in the US, however illegal immigrants cannot become citizens under any circumstances. Although Lisa points out that a (fictional) grandfather clause allowing immigrants who had been in the country for a certain period of time had been declared.
  • In the last scene before the end credits, Apu complains about receiving a jury invitation, presumably for the first time as a legal, duty-eligible citizen, even though he had already served as a jury member in "The Boy Who Knew Too Much".

Legacy[]


Season 6 Season 7 References/Trivia Season 8
Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)Radioactive ManHome Sweet Homediddly-Dum-DoodilyBart Sells His SoulLisa the VegetarianTreehouse of Horror VIKing-Size HomerMother SimpsonSideshow Bob's Last GleamingThe Simpsons 138th Episode SpectacularMarge Be Not ProudTeam HomerTwo Bad NeighborsScenes from the Class Struggle in SpringfieldBart the FinkLisa the IconoclastHomer the SmithersThe Day the Violence DiedA Fish Called SelmaBart on the Road22 Short Films About SpringfieldRaging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"Much Apu About NothingHomerpaloozaSummer of 4 Ft. 2
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