Much Apu About Nothing/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"

Much Apu About Nothing

Homerpalooza ►

Trivia

• Strangely, Troy McClure appears as a cameo at the party, then switches to Dr. Nick.
• Manjula will appear in future episodes.

Trivia

• 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, though, 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's 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.

Citations

• The episode title is a pun on the William Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing.
• 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.

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

• 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.
• When Apu falls asleep the day before the test, his head rests on the open notebook. The next shot when he wakes up it's closed, even though it appears his head never moved. In the overhead shot imidiately after, the notebook is gone and a pen, paper and book are in place.
• Illegal immigrants can't become citizens.
• A city does not have the power to deport illegal immigrants.
• Groundskeeper Willie gets deported, even though it is stated in other episodes that he came to the U.S. legally. Given the general stupidity of Springfielders, it is likely that someone goofed.

◄ Season 6	Season 7 References/Trivia	Season 8 ►
Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two) • Radioactive Man • Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily • Bart Sells His Soul • Lisa the Vegetarian • Treehouse of Horror VI • King-Size Homer • Mother Simpson • Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming • The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular • Marge Be Not Proud • Team Homer • Two Bad Neighbors • Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield • Bart the Fink • Lisa the Iconoclast • Homer the Smithers • The Day the Violence Died • A Fish Called Selma • Bart on the Road • 22 Short Films About Springfield • Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish" • Much Apu About Nothing • Homerpalooza • Summer of 4 Ft. 2