The Simpsons 126-130

The Springfield Connection.

This episode premiered on May 7th, 1995. The lead in show was World's Funniest Outtakes (a knockoff of America's Funniest Videos) and it was followed by The Critic. It ran opposite Will You Marry Me? (a reality show special featuring people's unusual marriage proposals), Murder, She Wrote and the movie Jurassic Park. (The Simpsons had done several spoofs of it over the years)

The title of the episode comes from the 1971 movie The French Connection.

The chalkboard gag is "I will not mock Mrs. Dumbface" and the couch gag is a repeat of the James Bond opening.

Homer and Marge go to the park to hear the Springfield Pop orchestra play the Theme To Star Wars. Homer comments that they are butchering the classics and John Williams must be rolling around in his grave. (John Williams is still alive) When they finish with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Homer insists on leaving. On the way out Homer comes across Snake running a Three Card Monte game. When Marge exposes his scam Snake runs off with their money and she's the only one who tries to chase him down. She corners Snake but he pulls a knife so she bashes him with a trashcan lid. The cops arrest him but say he'll be back out on the streets in 12 hours. Marge realizes she's bored in her life and starts taking more risks. As she is checking out the magazine stand the police show up at their station and drag something inside, it turns out to be pizza. She decides to join the force but they all laugh at her, and then tell her "welcome aboard". Marge goes through the training course and has trouble climbing over the wall, instead of going through the door. At the shooting range Wiggum complains because Marge missed the baby and the blind man. Wiggum fails to see Marge drive the obstacle course because he's looking at a Magic Eye image, it's a pony. On Marge's first day she's sent to patrol Junkietown and Bumville. Apu tries to pay off Marge for protection but they both turn their backs on the money, Mr. Burns comes by and takes it and they both think the other picked up the cash. When Marge goes to the beauty salon everybody stops taking since she's a cop. Homer takes Marge's police tape and wraps it around Ned's house to make him think his family is dead. When Marge comes home she scares off Homer's poker buddies. She catches Homer parking across three handicapped spaces while buying beer for kids, she writes him a ticket so he starts to mock her, she ends up arresting him. When Homer is in jail he eats Hanz Moleman's last meal. An angry Homer draws a line down the center of the house "ala Lucy" however he draws himself into a corner. Herman comes over for poker night again but it turns out he's dealing knockoff jeans out of Homer's garage. When Homer catches them he gos to call the police. Herman tells him "not so fast" so he slowly walks towards the door. Marge shows up and arrests the smugglers, Herman takes Homer hostage in the treehouse. When he tries to escape by using the jeans to zip line they tear and he crashes into the ground. The cops say they can't hold Herman because the evidence disappeared, while they are putting on the counterfeit jeans. In frustration Marge quits the force. Meanwhile the rest of the card players are still sitting in the house. The show does a combination of Hill Street Blues and The Simpsons theme over the closing titles.  

Jebediah Springfield Park: Tonight 8:00 Medfly Spraying, 8:15 Springfield Pops, 8:30 Spraying: 2nd Pass. (In 1989 there was an infestation of medflies in California and it endangered the crops so the state did a spraying program. Citizens were warned to stay indoors when the planes were passing)

At the newsstand Marge looks at Sponge and Vacuum Magazine $3.95 US Preview of the '96 sponges. (1996 was 27 years ago)

Other magazines at the stand, Death Sports Magazines: Bear Baiter magazine $4.95 (guy on the cover is taunting a bear while wearing a steak costume), Rock Jumper #8 "The magazine for people who like to jump from rock to rock" $2.95 US,  Mosh Pitter No. 2 $3.95 US, Danger Liker "Minefields playground of the 90's (cover has people on pogo sticks in a minefield, one of them just blew up), Cliff Biker Magazine #9 $4.95 "The art of falling" (the cover photo is a guy and a bike falling down a cliff), Glass Eater #4 $4.95 US "Wine Bottles: Our ten favorite vintages".

Homer wears Marge's underwear, strictly as a comfort thing. (I wonder if this episode is banned in modern Florida)

When Lisa visits the police station they go by the drunk tank and Barney is in there. 

Marge is seen running the obstacle course with a sunset background, this is a take on the sunset scene from the movie Platoon. When she has trouble with the wall is a take on every training scene in pretty much every movie. The shooting practice is a take on the Dirty Harry movie Magnum Force. The obstical course driving scene is a spoof on Police Academy, the driving on two wheels down a narrow alley is from Diamonds Are Forever, jumping the unfinished bridge is from Speed. Wiggum fails to see her drive because he is looking at a Magic Eye image book, they were computer generated dot patterns that when you unfocused your eye you could see a 3-D image. They were popular in the 90's.

When Marge gets her uniform she has to wear a Hard Rock Cafe shirt. 

Wiggum giving out assignments is a spoof on Hill Street Blues.

Apu offering Marge a bribe is a spoof on Serpico and the 1986 movie The Big Easy. 

When Marge is called to Skinner's house it is a take on the tv show Cops. 

Lisa complains about the police just supporting the wealthy so Marge pulls out a McGriff the crime dog puppet. It's based on McGruff, a PSA character telling kids how to look out for crime.

Lenny has a nudie deck of cards, The Girls Of The Internet. In the modern world you don't need to buy cards, you can just Google them. The guys at Homer's poker game, Carl, Lenny, Barney, Herman and Moe. 

Homer "When Marge said she was going to the police academy I though it would be fun and exciting, you know, like that movie Spaceballs. But instead it's been painful and disturbing like that movie Police Academy"

Moe thinks the word Garage is fancy French talk, he calls it the Car Hole. 

When Homer lectures Herman on counterfeit jeans he says "what about the hard working designers like Calvin Klein, Gloria Vanderbilt or Antoine Bugle Boy?" (Designer jeans were the rage in the 90's but fell off due to the high price, Bugle Boy declared bankruptcy in 2001and stopped production in 2018)

When Marge chase Herman into the yard it's like the gun range course, Milhouse and Grandpa pushing Maggie come out, then a witch pops up over the fence and Marge shoots. It turns out to be Ned putting out his Halloween decorations. He thinks Marge is criticizing him for doing it early. considering this episode aired in May I'd say she was right.

Lemon Of Troy

This episode premiered on May 14th 1995. Its lead in program was a Simpsons rerun and it was followed by The Critic. It ran opposite Lois and Clark, Murder, She Wrote and the made for TV movie Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build A Bridge. 

The title of the episode comes from the Iliad by Homer, Helen Of Troy.

The chalkboard gag is "The First Amendment does not cover burping" and the couch gag is a repeat of the Black And White cartoon.

Bart sees wet cement and rushes to write in it, passing a safe full of jewels that has just crashed open in front of him and Professor Frink offering him a ride on his flying motorcycle. Bart imagines the future where people are impressed by his ability to write in solid cement and then bring him back to life with a ray gun. He further impresses them with yoyo tricks. He gets caught by Marge who criticizes him for not having hometown pride. When Milhouse runs out of lemonade they head to the Springfield lemon tree, while there the kids from Shelbyville mock them. Grandpa tells the kids the story of how Shelbyville and Springfield were partners in their pioneer journey to the present location but split into two communities because Shelbyville wanted the right to marry his cousin. The next day, in the middle of class, Nelson runs in and says something happened and has everyone run off after him, they discover that the lemon tree was stolen. The Shelbyville kids boast about making lemonade so the Springfield kids start following them. The parents find out the kids have gone to Shelbyville so they set off in Ned's RV. Martin confronts a kid about his lemonade but the kid's older brother threatens Martin, Nelson is forced to step in and save Martin. Bart goes undercover to spy, he ends up going to the bluffs where they plan to spay Springfield Sucks, instead Bart writes "Springfield Rules Suckers!" and then he reveals himself, even though they don't know who he is. He tries to take off by spraying downward in hopes it will lift him off the ground like a jetpack but all he does is paint his shoes. He escapes by saying "Hey look! Someone's attractive cousin!" and jumps on a skateboard but get stuck in wet cement (irony) and has to run into the zoo. Bart runs through a door labeled Danger: Tiger Feeding Area that is wide open. Inside there are 12 doors with Roman numeral and a note that says "Caution: Exit through door 7 only. All other rooms contain man-eating tigers." He figures out which door to use by remembering Rocky VII: Adrians Revenge. Bart is about to give up when he spots a yellow lemon shaped rock, with a lemon behind it. The kids find the tree at the Shelbyville impound lot just as their fathers show up. Homer tries to climb over the fence of the impound lot but has to give up so he goes to take a shower in Neds RV. Bart comes up with a Trojan horse plan to have Ned's RV impounded with all them inside, Homer comments that nobody in history has ever done anything this clever. When Bart goes to open the impound lot gate he sets off the alarm and a dog tries to attack him. Ned can't start the RV because Homer is using the grill. The closing gate gouges holes in the side of the RV and tears off the rear bumper. Just when they think they have escaped they hit an arched sign that says "Welcome to Springfield" and the tree gets knocked off. Grandpa tells the story of the rescue of the lemon tree while an old guy in Shelbyville tells the story of the banishing of the haunted lemon tree and they all enjoy a glass of turnip juice. 

Marge asks what happened to town pride and Lisa replies that it's been going downhill since the lake caught on fire. This is a reference the Cuyahoga River which was so polluted it caught on fire in 1969, sparking the Environmental Movement and eventually Earth Day.

Shelbyville is named after Shelbyville Manhattan. 

Continuity error, in the episode Black Widower, Shelbyville is 34 miles away however in this episode the two towns directly border each other. 

Mrs. Krabappal is teaching a class on Roman numerals so kids will know when motion pictures are copyrighted. Later when Bart is trapped in the lion cage at the Shelbyville zoo he complains he doesn't know what door to go out of since they never taught it in school.

When Milhouse puts on his camouflage outfit he envisions disappearing into the background and all that can be seen is his smile and glasses. This is a take on the Cheshire Cat from the Disney version of Alice In Wonderland. 

The kids who go to Shelbyville to find the tree, Bart, Martin, Nelson, Martin, Todd, and Data the kid with glasses who looks like SNL's Pat. 

The Shelbyville Daily "Once a week every week"

Shelbyville has a statue of Shelbyville Manhattan with two women, probably his cousins. 

Martin demands to know where a kid got his lemons for his lemonade stand, the kid replies "It's Country Time Mix, there's never been anything close to a lemon in it." Country Time's ingredients label: Sugar, Fructose, Citric Acid, contains less than 2% of Maltodextrin, sodium acid pyrophosphate, Magnesium oxide, sodium citrate, ascorbic acid (vitamin c), natural flavor, artificial color, Yellow 5 Lake, soy lecithin, Tocopherol, (Preserves Freshness)

Martin has a Baron Von Costume's Deluxe Disguise Kit.

People in Shelbyville drink Fudd beer. 

The Shelbyville kids rub on tattoos, Kill, Destroy, Motor Cycle. 

In Shelbyville an Asian guy runs the local convenience store. The bar is Joe's and run by a Moe looking guy wearing a bandana. Shelbyville Elementary has a female groundskeeper who looks and talks like Willie.

Bart escapes the tigers by remembering Rocky VII: Adrian's Revenge. When this show broadcast there were five Rocky movies. They made one more, Rocky Balboa and three Creed movies. 

At the impound lot the Shelbyville kids are riding their bikes around the tree in a take on The Road Warrior.

Milhouse meets a kid in Shelbyville who is also named Milhouse and comments "so this is what it feels like when the dove's cry", a line from the Prince song of the same name. Considering Milhouse's mother comes from Shelbyville it might be Milhouse's cousin. 

When the parents ask about their missing kids the people of Shelbyville comment "this is why we beat you at football nearly half the time"

Who Shot Mr. Burns Part 1

A quick note, if you haven't watched The Simpsons and don't know the answer to Who Shot Burns, you might want to skip the next two because they are spoilers.

This episode premiered on May 21st, 1995. Its lead in show was Rudy Cody: The Coolest Magician On Earth and was followed by The Critic. It ran opposite Lois and Clark, 60 Minutes and seaQuest DSV.

The chalkboard gag is "This is not a clue...or is it?" and the couch gag is a repeat of the family repeatedly running past the couch cartoon style.

The school gerbil dies and Willie has to bury it in the basement, where he discovers oil. Chalmers shows up to chew out Skinner until a geologist tells them they struck oil and are sitting on top of the richest elementary school in the state. Homer gets upset that Burns can't remember his name. In the elevator Burns says hello to everyone by name except Homer, who is wearing his hardhat with his name on it plus a name tag. Homer sends Mr. Burns a box of candy with the family photo, Burns remembers his encounters with the family from Maggie finding Bobo to when he trained SLH to be a guard dog, however Homer's face is under a Sour Quince and gets tossed in the trash, so Mr. Burns sends a thank you note to the whole family but him. (note, Mr. Burns was just talking about stealing candy from a baby which was a major hint about the Who Shot Burns contest). When the school turns on the well pump they discover there is no pressure because Burns has slant drilled into the pocket. When Burns's well erupts it hits Bart's treehouse destroying the tree and injuring SLH. Due to the cost of building and tearing down the drill, plus the initial damage to the building the school eliminates the music department and maintenance, Willie is out of a job. Moe's gets shut down due to the toxic fumes coming off the oil pump. The pumping causes a sinkhole to form under the retirement home and it collapses. Burns feels that he conquered all his enemies except the sun so he plans to build a giant shield over the city. Mr. Smithers says the sundial will become useless (this was a clue). When Smithers points out how evil the plan is Burns fires him. Homer breaks into Burns office to spray paint his name on the wall but Burns still doesn't know who he is and Homer goes nuts. Grandpa has to move into the Simpson's house and brings his gun but Marge takes it to bury it, later we see the dug up box. The town holds a meeting about Burns but he shows up to tell them about his sun blocker. Everyone threatens him and most are packing weapons. Burns goes around a corner and gets into an argument with someone and then there is a shot, he comes stumbling out and falls on the sundial. Dr. Hibbert says "Well, I couldn't possibly solve this mystery, can you?" and points at the camera, however he was talking to Wiggum who says he'll give it a shot. To Be Continued.... The show closes with a combination of the Dragnet and Simpson closing credit theme. 

Willie is reading My Weekly Reader, based upon the publication Weekly Reader, a magazine aimed at kids. It ran from 1928 to 2012.

Mr. Bruns has an overnight package so it goes through a number of hands until it winds up at Homer's desk where he returns it to Mr. Burns. This is a spoof on the FedEx commercials featuring John Moschitta Jr., once holder of the Guinness Book Of World Records fastest talking human.

When Homer screws up the package delivery Mr. Burns tries to drop a weight on him but it turns out to be a 1000 grams which is equal to 2.2 pounds. Burns thought it sounded heavier. However dropping a 2 pound weight on someone would hurt.

Executive Spa: Physical Fitness For Better Tyranny

Burns Construction Co. "Building a better tomorrow......for him"

Springfield Shopper headline "Awful School Awful Rich"

Suggestions for the school's new money, Willie wants a crystal bucket for his slop water and a new filthy blanket for his shed. Lunch Lady Dorris is tired of the cafeteria staff complaining about the mice so she wants to hire a new staff, Lisa wants to hire Tito Puente to teach a jazz class (he did his own voice over), Ralph wants chocolate microscopes, Otto wants a double guitar, Skinner wants more rubber stamps, Burns show up dressed as Jimbo to ask that the school sign over the oil to the local energy concern, run by Burns of course. (This was 17 years before the  "How you doing fellow kids?" bit ran on 30 Rock) Bart wanted to resurrect the 3 Stooges.

Continuity error, in this episode Mr Burns is 104 years old however in the episode Simpson and Delilah he claims to be 84.

Mr. Burns says he owns the electric company, water works and a hotel on Baltic Ave. as part of his Monopoly, all spaces on the board game.

This episode aired 12 years before the movie There Will Be Blood that had a similar plot line. 

The patrons at Moe's and Mr Smithers both spend the afternoon watching Pardon my Zinger, a fictional tv show that comes on Comedy Central at 3:00 pm. (clue)

The show's cliffhanger was based on the classic "Who shot JR" from the series Dallas. Originally it was Who killed JR but Larry Hagman was offered a truckload of cash to come back so they changed the tag line. Also it was pretty easy to figure out that it was Kristin Shepard since it was announced that actress Mary Crosby was leaving the show. Oh, another spoiler alert there.

This was the last episode of Season 6. The season felt extra long and in fact ran for 25 episodes. The final one was both a cliffhanger and a contest, the person who could guess the name of the character who shot Burns would get a "guest appearance on the show", basically be drawn as an animated character. The story of the winner gets kind of muddy, the story is that nobody guessed the right character and they randomly picked a person, Fayla Gibson, who took the cash prize instead. There is a rumor that nobody was ever picked or they had a winning entry but couldn't contact the person. Nobody seems to have a clear answer as to what happened. Personally I don't believe that nobody guessed because I figured it out but it was an on line contest and at the time I didn't own a computer. 

The Simpsons Most Wanted

This live action special aired on September 17th 1995. It ran between the repeat of Who Shot Mr. Burns Part 1 and the premier of Part 2. It ran opposite AFV, 60 Minutes and Minor Adjustments (A short lived series about a child psychologist) Since this was a special it isn't counted as a Simpsons episode and isn't available on Disney Plus. Also there isn't a chalkboard or couch gag in it.

The special opens with Matt Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted, flying over Miami looking for the person who shot Mr. Burns, rumored to be fleeing to Cuba. There are a series of clips of the action scenes from previous episodes of The Simpsons. In the Most Wanted headquarters every desk has a box of donuts. This is basically a clip show and gives several hints about who shot Mr. Burns but there is nothing new in the program (except for the suggestion of paying attention to the number 3)

Guests on the show: LA police chief Daryl Gates, Dr Lydia Hansen (A fictional character played by Elizabeth Hayes), Jimmy Vaccaro (bookmaker for The Mirage hotel in Las Vegas), Dennis Franz (he did a guest appearance on Homer Badman), Courtney Thorne-Smith, Kevin Nealon (hints around about Smithers' sexuality), Chris Elliott (makes joke about Dallas), Andrew Shue (star of Melrose Place). 

Who Shot Mr. Burns Part 2

This episode premiered on September 17th 1995 (4 months after part 1). the lead in program was Springfields Most Wanted, (see above). It was followed by Partners, a short lived sitcom. It ran opposite Lois and Clark, Cybill (a sitcom staring Cybill Shepard) and Mad About You. Warner Brothers, in order to compete with Fox, had launched a new network, The WB, however I don't plan to list all the programs that came and went on the growing cable networks and plan to just stick to the big three. btw, the WB would be changed to the CW when the network combined with the UPN, a channel created by United and Paramount to compete with Fox.

The chalkboard gag is "I will not complain about the solution when I hear it" and the couch gag is the couch is pulled away and a mugshot background drops down while the family faces forward, a version of the Dragnet song plays. Homer is about 6', Marge is 5' but her hair is over 7', and the kids are all under three feet.

Smithers wakes up from a terrible hangover to find he's trashed his apartment. The police are investigating the crime and they ask two witnesses if they saw Smithers shoot Burns, it's Maggie and SLH (clue). While walking down the street Smithers finds a gun in his pocket, he flashes back on shooting at someone while he was drunk. The people go and tear down Mr. Burns' sun blocker and accidentally drop it on Shelbyville. Smithers goes to the confessional to admit he shot Burns, it turns out to be a sting operation run by Wiggum. Sideshow Mel figures out that Smithers didn't shoot Burns however the police release Dr. Colossus and tell him to stay away from Death Mountain. It turns out Smithers shot Jasper, the police go to the retirement home where they find out he was shot in his wooden leg. The suspects are eliminated one by one. After drinking warm cream Wiggum has a strange dream telling him to check out Burns' suit. Wiggum finds an eyelash and has to bribe the DNA tech with a carton of cigarettes to analyze it, it turns out to belong to one of the Simpsons. When Burns comes out of his coma he only says one thing "Homer Simpson" so the police go to arrest him. They find a gun covered in his fingerprints and the bullet matches the gun. When Wiggum crashes the police van Homer escapes. Homer's finger prints got on the gun when he was looking for his dropped ice cream. Smithers offers a $50,000 reward for the capture of Homer. When the police scanner announces that Homer is at the hospital the police and a mob head there but are stopped by Lisa. Burns recovers and tells the police that Homer didn't shoot him, but instead identifies Maggie as his shooter. He tried to steal her candy but dropped his gun into the car. The show ends with a mambo version of the Simpsons theme song. 

Mr. Smithers is drinking Vagrant's Choice Fortified Scotch "May cause ejection of stomach contents"

Smithers wakes up and finds Mr. Burns in his shower, this is a spoof on the Bobby Ewing returns from the dead on Dallas. It then turns into Speed Racer aka Speedway Squad "in color"

Kent Brockman says "dozens of people are gunned down in Springfield every day but none of them was important.

The Veterans Hospital, a falling down building that looks like a converted warehouse, Burns was pronounced dead but when he was transferred to Springfield General he was upgraded to "alive".

A guy in a muffler costume, from Autoland "Muffler Sale" shoves a sales pamphlet in Smithers' pocket while he is on the ground crying. 

Barney, Moe, Carl, Lenny, Larry, Otto, Snake, Bumblebee Man, Willie, Krusty and Skinner go to tear down Burns' sun blocker.

Bumblebee Man drives a KMEX tv truck. (This is a continuity error since he has been on Channel Ocho and Channel 6)

Cathedral Of The Downtown "Archbishop Carries Less Than $20"

When in the confessional Smithers says he's not a Catholic but did try to march in the St. Patrick's Day parade although they wouldn't let him, another hint about his sexuality and a reference to the Gay groups that were banned from the parade in NYC and Chicago. 

Self aware joke, when Smithers says Burns crossed the line from everyday villainy to cartoon villainy they cut to Dr. Colossus, a character made up for this episode. 

Dave Shutton, the Springfield Daily Shopper reporter makes an appearance by name. 

When asked about shooting Burns Smithers says he feels as low as Madonna missing Tailhook. This is a reference to Madonna's reputation in the 90's and the sex scandal that rocked the U.S. Navy in 1991.

Krusty is mad that Smithers stole his Madonna joke however he stole it from Friday's episode of Pardon My Zinger, this joke will be proof that Smithers didn't shoot Burns. 

Sideshow Mel's full name is Melvin Van Horn. 

To solve the case Wiggum reads Agatha Christie's Ten Trite Tales.

Nightclub: Chez Guevara Palacio de Dansa Cubana. The name is a take on Che Guevara, Castro's right hand man during the Cuban Revolution. 

Skinner planned on ambushing Burns but grabbed the wrong makeup and did up his face with eyeliner and lashes, he gets caught by Chalmers.

The Willie interrogation scene where he wears a kilt is a take on the Sharon Stone scene from the 1992 film Basic Instinct.

Dated reference, while hooked up to the lie detector Moe says he's going home to ogle the women in the Victoria's Secret catalog but it buzzes so he changes it to the Sears catalog. Victoria's Secret eliminated their mail catalog in 2017 and the Big Book Sears catalog ended in 1993 although they still send out specialty category catalogs. 

Wiggum's dream is a spoof on the 1990 TV series Twin Peaks. 

The police van crashing at the drive thru window is a spoof on the train crash scene and Homer disguised as a hospital worker to sneak in and see Burns are from the 1993 movie The Fugitive.

Dr. Nick shows up and is the only one who realizes Burns can only say Homer Simpson. 

Stuff under Homer's car seat, an 8-track of Pipin' Hot Bread, gum, pineapple shaped air freshener, Burns gun, lollypop.

Homer's file photo has him wearing a Haig in 88 t shirt. Alexander Haig was Nixon's Chief of Staff, NATO Commander, Reagan's Secretary of State (probably involved in the Iran/Contra scandal) and ran an unsuccessful Presidential campaign in 1988, he never got higher than 1% of the vote. He even backed Bob Dole in hopes of a VP spot but Bush sr. won the election and never forgave Haig for the negative campaigning.

The police are called to the Marvin Monroe Memorial Hospital. He is (was?) a long time character, the psychiatrist, from the series. 

Burns is in room 2F20. 

Wiggum says "no jury in the world's gonna convict a baby, well maybe Texas". That joke still makes sense today.

In the episode Itchy and Scratchy and Marge Maggie shoots a photo of Homer with a dart gun. Was this foreshadowing?

This was the first episode of the 7th season and the resolution of the two parter cliffhanger. To this day people argue about the episode from the conclusion to did anyone really win the contest. 

Radioactive Man (The Simpsons Episode)

This episode premiered on September 24th, 1995. The lead in show was Space: Above and Beyond (a short lived science fiction series) and was followed by Married With Children. It ran opposite the movies Lethal Weapon 3, Who's Daughter Is She? and The Unspoken Truth. The show also ran an hour later than usual because of a football game.

The chalkboard gag is "Bewitched does not promote satanism" and the couch gag is the family feeds out of the couch like a fax sheet, but falls underneath.

When Comic Book Guy tells Bart and Milhouse there is a planned Radioactive Man movie both their hats fly into the air, because the air conditioner sucked them off. When trying to find out who is going to star in the movie a nerd is hiding under the conference table in Hollywood when they choose Rainer Wolfcastle. The producers choose Springfield for their shooting location. When Skinner announces that Radio Man, Nelson shouts Radioactive Man stupid, Skinner corrects himself and then announces a student will be chosen to play Fallout Boy everyone's hat flies off, then Skinner announces they are going to fix the air conditioner. When Nelson is rejected for the part of Fallout Boy he laughs at his reflection in the mirror and realizes how painful it is. The producer spots Martin and realizes he's perfect for the part but since he didn't sign up they pass on him. Bart gives a perfect reading but he's too short. He tries to stretch himself by tying himself to the dog and cat but they don't do anything. When Bart fakes being taller they announce they found their new Fallout Boy, but point at Milhouse, who isn't happy with the sudden fame and his parents spending his future money. Homer rents out the house to the movie production and they start tearing holes in the wall. They are trying to get Wolfcastle to say the lines correctly but instead of "Up and Atom" he says "Up and At Them". Bart goes to wish Milhouse well, and mooch off his fame, but Milhouse explodes, turns out to be a dummy, and then he gets run over by an x-ray truck, turns out to be his stunt double, the Estonian Dwarf (first seen in the episode Burns' Heir as a Christmas Village elf and then as fake Lisa). When Milhouse asks if the x-ray machine is real they say they'll look into it and then we see his skull. The studio is painting horses to look like cows because real cows don't look like cows on film. Homer tries to out lazy the teamsters. The city charges the production a "not wearing puffy director's pants" tax. Milhouse becomes disillusioned with the movies while Bart enjoys the perks of his trailer. When they do the acid scene Milhouse doesn't show up and Wolfcastle gets hit with a wave that destroys the set. An editor tries to save the film but it's a mess so they fire him. The police send dogs after Milhouse but can't say if he'll survive. While searching for Milhouse Bart goes to Slot Car Heaven, the mostly abandon Spirograph Factor, where he talks to Dr. Spirograph. He finds Milhouse in the 6th corner of his four corner treehouse. The production sends in Mickey Rooney (he does his own voice work) to talk to Milhouse, they bugged Barts can phone. When Milhouse refuses Rooney tries to play the part himself. It doesn't matter because the production is bankrupt. The show ends with the production returning to a helpful Hollywood that offers them free access to the boutiques until they are back on their feet. The scene is nothing like the real Hollywood that could use a good scrub down. It end with Lean On Me by Bill Withers.

This episode was a spoof on both the 1960's TV version and the 1989 movie versions of Batman.

The first appearance of Radioactive Man comics was in the first regular season episode Bart The Genius. 

This is the first mention of the 1960's TV Radioactive Man, Dirk Richter.

Superhero comics at the Android Dungeon: Batboy, Birdguy (19 years before the movie Birdman), Mr. Smarty Pants!, Cat Girl, DogKid, Snake Kid, Batchick, Power Person, ManBoy, Tree Man, Nick, Mr Hop, The Human Bee, Lava Lady, Mister Amazing, Star Dog, Iguana Girl and Radiation Dude (a knockoff of Radioactive Man)

Comic Book Guy has the flying toasters screen saver on his computer. He goes to the web site alt-dot-nerd-dot-obsessive to find out information about the movie. 

Comic Book Guy's computer screen:

Internet Reply

>Hello-world

Segmentation Fault [core dumped]

>readnews

alt.binaries.pictures.erotica

rec.arts. startrek.fandom

rec.org.mensa

rec.games.corewar

alt.comic.radioactiveman

>need to know star rm pic

Among the nerds that reply to Comic Book Guy is Prince.

In the 60's version of Radioactive Man the worst villain is The Scout Master (a Paul Lynde voice) This is a reference to the Boy Scouts pedophile scandals.

Variety want ads: Lip Inject Claimants "Saline or Silly Putty", Wanted, Good, Better and Best Boys. Flim Springfield (the producer points out the misspelling)

Among the words that pop up on the screen during the 60's Radioactive Man fight are Bort, the name tag from the episode Itchy And Scratchy Land. 

Springfield Shopper headline: WHO WILL BE FALLOUT BOY? Who will be Fallout Boy? Milhouse Disappears! Movie On Hold. Variety headline: Milhouse Meltdown: Ankles Pic-Flick Sic. Springfield Shopper: Spinning Newspaper Injures Printer.

Springfield signs, Welcome Hollywood Money, at the Springfield Savings, There's No $ Like Show $, We (heart) Phonies, Welcome Film Bucks, Will fawn over Hollywood types!, taped over the name Springfield Hollywood Cafe, Special Mogul Burger, Mover & Shaker Shakes, Movie Money Welcome Here. At Springfield General Hospital Our Extra Patients Make Patient Extras. Sign on car rear bumper Welcome Movie Money. Le Pamper Hair Salon "Giant Horrible Toupees $1000/lb" (anyone told trump?), Springfield Hardware "Movie Screws $10, Snake with a sandwich board "Give Me A Million Dollars or I'll Bash You" Springfield Elementary Fallout Boy Auditions Here, well not here....inside. 

Homer quickly flips through the channels and the combined conversations say "Everybody is taking about Radioactive Man y'all"

Moe was one of the Little Rascals, his movie poster is for the film Laff and a Haff. He played Smelly and when he would look into an exhaust pipe he'd get a face full of soot. When Alfalfa steals his bit be beats the actor to death. This is a reference to the death of Carl Switzer who was shot during an argument. Moe says William Faulkner (best known for The Sound And The Fury) was a writer for the Our Gang comedies. 

Homer asks the director if he did Unnatural Discretion and then starts saying what a stinker of a movie it was. This is in reference to Indecent Proposal. To get rid of Homer they send him to the food truck. 

Krusty the Clown tries out for the part of Krispy The Clown, they offer him the part of Angry the Clown, Silly Sailor and Dr. Clowneous. 

The Silly Sailor scene is a spoof of the 1995 movie Waterworld. 

Poster on telephone pole: Milhouse! $8,000,000 Reward Dead Or Alive, with Dead crossed out. 

Slot Car Heaven 1/24th the size, 3/8 the fun. Otto and Comic Book Guy are racing slot cars (Otto's is the school bus which he crashes into a wall)

We are at 130 episodes and into Season 7. Only 27 seasons, or 28 depending on this fall, and a movie to go. I'm looking forward to the next 28 years of episodes.....