The Simpsons 151-155

Much Apu About Nothing.

This episode premiered on May 5th, 1996. The lead in show was Rudy Coby: Ridiculously Dangerous (a special featuring the magician/escape artist) and was followed by a repeat of The Simpsons. It ran opposite Lois and Clark, Murder, She Wrote and Mad About You.

The title of the episode comes from Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare. 

There is no chalkboard gag and the couch gag is a repeat of the big game hunter.

A bear is seen walking down the street in Evergreen Terrace. Ned panics and crashes into a tree, Maude can't open the front door so he jumps through a window, even though all the bear is doing is sitting in the middle of the street. Kent Brockman does an on the spot report from the news helicopter. Homer isn't worried until he finds out he's out of beer, he tries to crawl on a wire to his car but it breaks and he falls in front of the bear, which doesn't do anything. Wiggum shows up and accidentally shoots a dart into Barney, who likes the tranquilizer. They then tranq the bear which is loaded up into a Game And Fish truck, Barney is loaded into Moe's panel van. Homer forms a mob and marches to city hall to demand the mayor does something about the bear attacks. Quimby creates the bear patrol, the streets are swarming with vans and helicopters. Homer gets his paycheck and finds out that the city is charging him a $5 bear patrol tax. Everyone protests the new tax so Quimby blames immigrants, at school they start picking on Uter. Homer blames Bart's poor education on schools being packed with immigrants (is this episode in 1996 or 2023?)  It turns out Apu is an illegal immigrant, Homer tells him he's going to be missed after he's deported. Apu tells the story about how he came to America to study technology, his professor is Frink who built the Frinkiac 7 computer. Apu's Ph.D thesis is 200,000 computer punch cards that make up the first computerized tic-tac-toe game. Bart pulls one out screwing the whole thing up so Apu throws it away. Apu stayed in America after his student visa ran out so he could pay off his student loans (Some things never change). Kearney tries to buy beer using a fake ID, instead of getting mad at him Apu asks where he got it. Kearney sends Apu to Fat Tony who sells him everything he needs from birth to death certificates. Apu starts acting American by wearing a cowboy hat and Mets jersey. When Homer makes comments about his change Apu breaks down crying so Homer decides to change his position on Prop 24. Homer tries to convince Selma to marry Apu but she says her name is already Selma Bouvier Terwilliger Hutz McClure. She doesn't want to add Nahasapeemapetilon. Lisa points out that there was an amnesty act and Apu falls under the grandfather clause. (a bill signed by Ronald Reagan). Homer tutors Apu for the test, Lisa tells him to forget everything he learned. Apu passes his citizenship test and the Simpsons throw him a party. Homer asks all the party guests to vote no on Prop 24. The proposition passes by a 95% margin. Now that he is a citizen Apu gets jury duty, and tosses the letter in the trash. Meanwhile Groundskeeper Willie is deported. 

The house the Bushs moved into in the episode Two Bad Neighbors can be seen across the street.

At city hall Quimby is whiting out laws. 

Helen Lovejoy says her catchphrase "think of the children" for the first time. This was based on the Republicans claiming that American children were in danger from whatever the Democrats supported during the 1996 election. Well, some things never change. Quimby blames the "illegal immigrants" for high taxes. Like I said, some things never change. 

Homer's paycheck 40 hours, Fed. W/H 56.25, FICA 36.34, State W/H 10.45, Municipal Tax 9.37 Bear Patrol Tax 5.00 Net Pay 362.19. Homer makes $11.99 an hour.

Springfield Shopper headline Quimby's Proposition 24 On Ballot, Quimby Propositions 24 at Ballet. The Springfield Shopper is now 35¢. Police Prepare For Deportations. Bear Patrol Steps Up Bombing Campaign (in case you forgot the premise of this episode)

According to Abe the Simpsons came to America in 1929, the year after sliced bread had been invented.

Protest signs: United States for United Statesians /  The Only Good Foreigner is Rod Stewart (this joke would have been better if they had used the name of a member of the band Foreigner like Lou Gramm), Buy American / Get Eurass Back To Eurasia. Outside the Immigration office Mrs. Glick is holding the sign Homer made that says "Get Out". 

This episode features Manjula, Apu's arranged marriage bride, she is just a small child at the time.

Apu attends the Springfield Heights Institute of Technology. (SHIT) The 2006 movie Accepted will steal this joke. 

Frink's prediction about future computers, in 100 years they will be twice as powerful, 10,000 times larger and so expensive only the 5 richest kings of Europe could afford them. Look at us now. Frink uses a computer to try to figure out the ingredients in the Flaming Moe's episode. 

According to his fake passport Apu was born on Jan. 9th, 1962 in Green Bay Wisconsin. 

The magazine on the counter at the Kwik-E-Mart is Entertainment Weekly with Tom Cruise and Nichole Kidman. They were divorced in 2001.

Selma's marriages, Bob Terwilliger (Black Widower) Lionel Hutz (There wasn't an episode about the Hutz marriage) Troy McClure (A Fish Called Selma). 

Apu is asked to point out Springfield on the US map. When Lisa goes to do it Bart gets in the viewers way, this was a running joke about where Springfield was located. 

Sign in front of the Immigration office, The United States 131 Years Without A Civil War. (lets hope it stays that way)

Immigrants taking the citizenship test Bumblebee Man, Luigi, Apu, Dr. Nick, Yoko Ono (from the episode Homer's Barbershop Quartet), Akira (the sushi waiter from the episode One Fish, Two Fish) The British Guy (who tried to steal Homer's sugar in the episode Lisa's Rival), Moe wearing a fake mustache. 

Wiggum says the order of deportation is the tired, then the poor, then the huddle masses yearning to breath free. This is from the poem New Colossus by Emma Lazarus that is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.

Although this episode was made in 1996 it's still an accurate reflection of the politics of America today, which is kind of sad.

Homerpalooza

This episode premiered on May 19th 1996. The lead in show was World's Funniest Outtakes and it was followed by a new episode of The Simpsons. The show ran opposite The ABC Sunday Night Movie (The Firm), Murder, She Wrote And Mad About You. 

The name of the episode comes from the music festival Lollapalooza. 

There is no chalkboard gag and the couch gag is a repeat of the black light. 

Otto is accepting the award for the districts safest school bus driver but it's all a dream, while he's driving. He misses Jasper and crashes into the car crusher in the junk yard which crushes the school bus into a cube while the children bail out. The school sends a notice to the parents that bus service has been suspended for two weeks. Homer is happy because every day will be like a road trip, however the kids hate his music. Homer goes to the record store where he and the clerk get into an argument about the US Festival vs Hullabalooza. Homer flashes back to 1974, a cool guy calls his van the Second Base Machine and plays Frankenstein by Edgar Winters Group. Homer tries to move in when they turn on the strobe light, getting closer with each flash, but when they give him the evil eye he is back where he started. The next day Homer takes the kids to Hullabalooza at the Capitol City Amphitheater instead of school. The first band is Cypress Hill (they did their own voices and song). The kids freak out when Homer buys a Rastafarian hat. He sticks a Too Cool For This Planet sticker on it, everybody calls him a narc. The second band is Smashing Pumpkins (also did their own voices and songs). Homer gets upset about not fitting in and kicks an air cannon that shoots him in the stomach with the inflatable pig that Peter Frampton picked up at the Pink Floyd yard sale. The freak show director hires Homer to get shot in the stomach. While on tour he drinks a beer and his stomach makes an odd sound so the freak show manager sends him to a vet. The vet warns Homer that his stomach is a mess and he has to stop getting shot by cannonballs. Bart writes an essay about Homer, The Person I Admire Most, Homer now has to wonder if he should go through with the next show. Marge says the last time she got to go back stage was when Bart ripped his pants at the Christmas pageant, B-Real of Cypress Hill does the Nelson "ha ha". The London Symphony Orchestra shows up but nobody knows who they are playing with, they end up performing with Cypress Hill even though they were suppose to be with Peter Frampton. Mr. Burns laughs about people who thought he was crazy for investing in Ticketmaster and their "service charge". Peter Frampton (does his own voice and song) performs Do You Feel? Meanwhile Sonic Youth (they do their own voices) are breaking into his cooler. Homer goes on stage to do the cannon act even though it may kill him, when the cannon goes off he jumps to the side. All the Gen X are disillusioned, like normal. On the way home the kids tell their parents that they aren't cool. There is a techno version of the closing theme song.

Homer talks about rainbow suspenders and saying Jive Turkey. He listens to KFSL 103, the oldies station. Shining On by Grand Funk Railroad. Mississippi Queen by Mountain are playing. In the flashback Homer and Barney sings You Make Me Feel Like Dancing by Leo Sayer while Grandpa is complaining about those kids and their music, just like Homer is doing in the modern world

Carpool kids, Bart, Lisa, Nelson, Milhouse and Janie.

The record store is called Suicide Notes, Formerly Good Vibrations. Record selections, Reggae, Classical, Rhythm & Blues New Releases, Industrial, Hip-Hop, Rap, Oldies. The clerk is reading Mondo Frowno. There are Nine Inch Nails, Sonic Youth and a 1996 Hullabalooza posters on the wall. Records in the oldies rack, Boston, Styx, 

Homer says he just heard Styx on the King Biscuit Flour Hour. The show ran from 1973 to 1993, then broadcast repeats of classic episodes until 2005.

The US Festival was a music festival created by Steve Wozniak to counter the "Me Generation". It was held in September of 1982 and May of 1983. The two festivals were commercial flops and lost millions of dollars.

Stores at Springfield: Pizza, Discount Fashion, Thrift Shop. (they just aren't putting the effort into the backgrounds anymore)

Teenage Homer has a Led Zeppelin 1 and Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon poster on his wall.

Best quote of the episode,  Homer: "I use to rock and roll all night and party ev-e-ry day, then it was every other day. Now I'm lucky if I can find half hour a week in which to get funky". The lyrics from the Kiss song of course. 

Hullabalooza is sponsored by Clark Bars and Josten's class rings.

Hullabalooza signs: Free Nose Piercing with Every Admission. Duff. Buzz Cola. Laramie High Tars. Krusty Burgers. Register Not To Vote. Bungee Jump Against Racism. There is an announcement for a lost child, if not claimed she becomes the property of Blockbuster. A guy in the crowd is wearing a The Great Gazoo shirt (character from The Flintstones). Homer joins The pageant of the Transmundane (The Freak Show). The festival goes to the Raleigh-Durham Skoal Bowl. Guy in the crowd is wearing a Dr. Zaius shirt. Springfield billboard: Homer Simpsons The Pride of Springfield with an image of him getting hit by a cannonball. 

Homer getting shot by the cannon is a take on Frank "Cannonball" Richards. They even duplicate the famous video.

Animal Hospital "Cat Detailing While You Wait" Jimmi Hendrix left his dog, Rover Hendrix. 

Sumer of 4"2'

This episode premiered on May 19th 1996, right after the previous episode. It was followed by Married With Children and ran opposite the same programs as the previous episode. (Mad About You also ran two back to back episodes that week as their season finale)

The title of this episode came from the 1971 movie The Summer of '42.

There is no chalkboard gag and the couch gag is a repeat of the fax machine. 

It's the last day of school, Milhouse is describing his favorite kind of sprinklers while outside the ice cream trucks are lined up. When the bell goes off Mihouse shouts "Up yours Krabappal" and runs out the door, however it's the start of the day. The cops bring him back, they mention that they knew he would take off because they have someone on the inside, everyone looks at Martin. Lisa is in charge of the yearbook, the rest of the staff think she's going to be the most popular girl in school. When Lisa tells everyone they need the colored ticket they were issued at the first of the year Nelson asks who died and made her boss, she answers "Mr. Estes", Nelson jumps on the table and tosses the books out to the students. Lisa asks a group of kids to sign her yearbook, they pass it around the circle but nobody signed it. Meanwhile Bart has a line and Milhouse is making sure everyone moves at a proper pace. Seymour stands in line to get Bart's autograph but claims it's for his daughter, Seymour. Ned gets called into Jury Duty and offers his beach house to Homer. Marge tells Bart he can invite Milhouse and Lisa can invite a friend too, she doesn't have any. Lisa decides to reinvent herself for the summer so she leaves her suitcase empty, including the microscope she packed. Ned leaves post-it note instructions all over the beach house. Rod and Todd have a piggybank with a note that says "Please don't steal from me" so naturally Bart cleans it out. Homer forgot his swimsuit so he duct tapes the welcome mat to himself, the cops show up instantly. After getting new clothes Lisa heads out to find some kids, she goes to the library where Pippie Longstockings and The New Yorker guy try to convince her to come inside. When Alice tells her to run the Mad Hatter pulls a gun. Lisa heads to the boardwalk and hears the kids hanging out underneath it. She tells them about a place to skate, the library, so they think she's cool. Lisa clams she knows the place because of her dorky older brother. Bart tries to show off but the kids think he's overworking it. Bart ends up playing Mystery Date with Homer and Marge. Bart gets the dud, who looks like Milhouse. Lisa takes the kids to the tide pool, she starts to talk smart and has to fake being stupid again by claiming she learned it on Baywatch. When the kids complain about their parents bugging them over the 4th Of July Lisa suggests a beach party. Homer wants to light off his firecracker however Bart is out of matches so he uses the stove, but burns the fuse halfway. He quickly stuffs it into the dish washer and blows up the plumbing, brown water back flows into the kitchen (later Marge is seen cleaning up the mess). Bart is jealous of Lisa's new friends so he shows up at their party with her yearbook, Lisa runs off crying. The family goes to the fair and on the Gravitron ride Bart and Lisa try spitting on each other but just hit Milhouse. Lisa's bumper car doesn't work and Bart knocks her through the wall. Lisa leaves and when she gets back to the house she discovers the kids covered the family car in shells and spelled out Lisa Rules. Since they didn't clean the shells the seagulls follow them home. Bart got all the kids to sign Lisa's yearbook. The episode ends with The Beach Boys singing All Summer Long.

The character of Erin is voiced by Christina Ricci.

Yearbook Office "Immortalizing your awkward phase" Retrospecticus Springfield Elementary School.

Bart Simpson Yearbook Signing "No Personalized Greetings". 

Lisa's Yearbook Stats. Junior Over-Achievement 1-2 / Record for most hand raised in a semester (763) / Most Popular Student's Sister / Spelling Bee Queen 2 / Camera Club Head Shutterbug 1,2 / Tidiest Locker (Unopposed) 1,2 / State Champion Fraction Follies / Voted "Student you'd most likely copy off of" 1,2 / Miss Perfect Attendance / Grammar Rodeo Head Buckaroo (In the episode Bart's Road Trip he claimed he was going to the Grammar Rodeo in Alberta Canada) / The French and German Table / Teachers Pet. She also says she was the bathroom timer. (we didn't have yearbooks in grade school. They didn't start until Jr. High, aka Middle School)

Lisa reads Tome, a novel by Gore Vidal. She says he has kissed more boys than she will. 

Ned served on the jury in the episode The Boy Who Knew Too Much

Ned's beach house is at Little Pwagmattasquarmsettport, America's Scrod Basket. Springfield is America's Crud Bucket. Places at the beach, The Sherbert Shoppe, The Candle District, Big Sue's Tap Water Taffy. Tern For The Wurst Deli, Beachcombers Barber Shop. Gull Things Considered news stand (a spoof on the show All Things Considered) L'il Valu-Mart, there is an Apu guy working the counter.

Teejay's Zaymart "Dressing Rooms across street in Gorham bldg." 

Milhouse says that Lisa looks like Blossom, the show ran from 1991 to 1995.

When Homer tries to buy illegal fireworks he asks for a bunch of random stuff. This is a take on the American Graffiti scene where Terry tries to buy a bottle of whiskey, Homer even asks for a bottle of Old Harper. He also gets a copy of American Breast Enthusiast. The illegal fireworks: Sparkling Joy Bazooka, Mailbox Grenades. Yang Tse Doodle Fireworks, Whistling Menace, Play More With Claymore, Bright Color Assailant, Flaming Stinkers, Bang Time Fun Bomb, L'il Military, M-320 (this is what Homer buys).

Self aware joke, to impress her new friends Lisa says "Don't have a cow man" and Bart gets mad because it's his catchphrase. Marge points out that he hasn't said it in four years. 

This is the second time Bart passes the Fourth Grade, the first time was in the episode Kamp Krusty.

This was the final episode of the 1995-96, 7th season. Only 28 more seasons to go.

Treehouse of Horror VII

This episode premiered on October 27th, 1996. Both the lead in and following shows were repeats of Simpsons episodes. It ran opposite Lois and Clark, Touched By An Angel and Third Rock From The Sun.

Homer tries to light a candle in the pumpkin and sets himself on fire. The family goes into the living room but The Grim Reaper is on their couch and they all drop dead, he puts his feet up on the pile of corpses.

The Thing And I

The title of this episode is based upon the musical The King And I

Bart and Lisa hear strange sounds coming from the attic, Homer and Marge tell them to ignore it but Homer then takes a bucket of fish heads up the ladder. During a dark and stormy night the kids break into the attic where they see someone creepy. It manages to get out so Marge calls Dr. Hibbert to tell him Hugo has escaped. Marge confesses that Bart has a twin brother. Hibbert shows up and says he remembers Bart's Siamese twin (Lisa corrects him and says the proper term is Conjoined twins). Hibbert tells the story of how he found out Hugo was pure evil so they chained him in the attic. The family goes in search of Hugo and leaves Bart home alone to record the hockey game. It turns out Hugo never left and he plans to sew himself back to Bart. Hibbert comes back to catch Hugo but discovers that he was the good twin and Bart is really the evil twin. Bart says "Don't look so shocked". In the end they let Hugo out and lock Bart in the attic.

When Homer goes to the attic he sings Fish Head, Fish Heads. This was a 1978 song written by the comedy team Barnes and Barnes. It became well known after the video played on MTV in the early years when they were trying to fill content.

Stuff in the attic, Homer's fishing hat (The Call Of The Simpsons), skis, unsold bottles of tonic (Grandpa vs. Sexual Inadequacy) painting of Ringo (Brush With Greatness), Mary Worth phone (Lady Bouvier's Lover), Bart's guitar (The Otto Show), Golf clubs (Scenes From A Class Struggle In Springfield), Be Sharps album (Homer's Barbershop Quartet), Lisa Lionheart dolls (Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy), Homer's massage chair (Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes?) , I Didn't Do It shirt (Bart Gets Famous), Homer's biography "Homer, I Hardly Knew Me" by Homer Simpson.

When Homer says they have to search out every place a sick twisted solitary misfit might run to Lisa says she'll start with Radio Shack. In the early 2000's Radio Shack started a restructuring, closing most of it's local stores. By 2015 it was in bankruptcy. It was eventually bought by HobbyTown which kept the trademark name and sold products through their stores.

In the episode The Boy Who Knew Too Much Dr. Hibbert talked about the Evil Gene. In this episode he says that the left side of conjoined twins are always evil. He also treated conjoined twins in the episode Marge vs. The Monorail.

Hugo gets his name from Victor Hugo, author of the 1831 novel The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, which the character is based on. 

The Genesis Tub

Lisa loses a tooth so she begins an experiment on the effects of cola on teeth. When Bart shocks her with static electricity it sends a jolt into the tooth and the soda. The next day Lisa finds mold and a small civilization in the tooth. They evolve at a rapid rate from cave dwellers to a futuristic city overnight. Bart starts squishing part of the micro city. That night they build rockets and set off to attack him, he vows his revenge by flushing them. A micro Frink shrink Lisa and they worship her as a god. They ask her for protection but they can't unshrink her. Bart comes back but instead of flushing the Petri dish he enters it as his own project. Since she's stuck there she starts ordering the people around.

The plot is based on the Twilight Zone episode The Little People and The Genesis Wave from the 1982 movie Star Trek II, Wrath Of Khan.

Rick And Morty used a similar plot line in the episode The Ricks Must Be Crazy.

Citizen Kang

The title of this episode came from Citizen Kane. 

Homer is out fishing when the aliens abduct him. The aliens want to go to the Earth's leader but Homer says there is an election between Clinton and "mumbly Joe", aka Dole. The aliens abduct Clinton and Dole and put them in suspension tubes, and then change their forms to duplicate the two politicians. To discredit Homer they spray him with rum and throw him back in his boat. When Homer gets home nobody believes him. He tries to warn people at a debate but they throw him out. Later he finds the alien ship and tries to bring Clinton and Dole back, but accidentally jettisons them into space. He then crashes into the Capitol building. When Homer exposes the aliens they say "what are you going to do about it, it's a two party system".  Kang wins the election, enslaves Earth and they are put to work building a giant ray gun. Homer says "Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos". The episode ends with a spacey Simpsons theme. 

When the aliens copy Clinton and Dole Homer says "OMG, Lyndon Larouche was right!" He was the perineal candidate of the Libertarian party. 

When alien Clinton says all will bow before him Marge comments "that's Slick Willie for you, always with the smooth talk". "Slick Willie" was a nickname the Republicans tried to brand Clinton with. 

Alien Dole says Abortions for all" and the crowd boos, so he says "Abortions for none" and they boo again, he then says "Abortions for some, minature flags for others" and they all cheer. 23 years later and some things never change. 

George Stephanopoulos shows up to warn alien Clinton about holding hands with alien Dole. He was the White House chief of staff during Clinton's first term. He would later go on to host This Week on ABC.

When someone in the crowd says they'll vote for a third party candidate the alien says "go ahead, throw your vote away". They then pan to Ross Perot who punches his straw hat. Ross Perot ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Reform Party. It dissolved after the 2000 election when they were responsible for the Florida disaster and Bush was appointed President. 

Homer crashing into the Capitol was a take on the 1956 movie Earth vs. The Flying Saucers.

You Only Move Twice

This episode premiered on November 3rd 1996. The lead in show was a repeat of The Simpsons and it was followed by The X Files. It ran opposite The Wonderful World Of Disney (The Lion King), Touched By An Angel and Boston Common.

The chalkboard gag is "I did not learn everything I need to know in kindergarten" and the couch gag is the family parachutes into the living room but Homer's chute doesn't open and he crashes into the floor. 

The title of this episode is a spoof on the 1967 James Bond movie You Only Live Twice.

Mr. Smithers comes out of his house but he's followed by a strange limo, a woman from Globex offers him a job. He turns them down so they offer it to Homer which he takes. The family has to move to Cypress Creek, they aren't happy about it but Homer talks them into going. He says it's an opportunity to fulfill his lifelong dream of owning the Dallas Cowboys, the family laughs at him. Since the Simpsons won't get enough from selling the house to pay off the mortgage they just pack up and put an abandon sign across the front door. Three seconds after arriving at their new house Homer's boss, Hank Scorpio, shows up to welcome them. The new house is self cleaning so Marge has nothing to do. Scorpio has Homer do a trust exercise but turns to answer the phone and Homer falls on the floor. At school Bart shows off his armpit sounds and a Milhouse kid wants to be his new best friend. Bart can't read cursive, doesn't know the multiplication table or long division so they put him in the remedial class. Lisa discovers that she has allergies. Homer's team says they are tired so he plans to buy them hammocks. Homer goes to meet with Scorpio, who is holding a video conference with the UN demanding gold and blows up the 59th Street Bridge as a show of force. Homer is looking for sugar and walks in on Hank testing out his death ray. While trying to get a snack Homer prevents Bont (not a typo, they were avoiding a copyright fight) from escaping. The family hates Cypress Creek so they moves back to Springfield. When they get home they find that Otto has been squatting in their house. After seizing the East Coast Scorpio sends Homer the Denver Broncos to thank him for the help. Homer is depressed by the gift and tells Marge that she doesn't understand football. The show ends with a Bond style song about Scorpio. 

The chalkboard gag is a take on the 1988 book All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum. This is the first chalkboard gag since January 7th. 

Globex offers Smithers health benefits for himself and his "life partner", I guess they did their research. 

The video Homer uses to convince the family to move is titled Cypress Creek, A Tale Of One City. The title is a spoof on A Tale Of Two Cities. The video features a town with multiple coffee bars. Looks like The Simpsons predicted Starbucks on every corner. 

Among the stuff the Simpsons pack to take to Cypress Creek is a claw footed bathtub. It's one of the things Homer borrowed from Ned. 

Series regulars that wave goodbye to the Simpsons, Ned "By-diddily-eye", The opposing lawyer in all their trials, Reverend Lovejoy "God bless you", Professor Frink, Apu, Moe, Barney, Sam, Lenny (the regulars at the bar), Bumblebee Man "Adios", Kent Brockman, Krusty the Clown, Sideshow Mel, The Sea Captain, The Comic Book Guy, Mayor Quimby, Smithers, Burns, Dr. Nick, Dr. Hibbert, Snake, Wiggum, all the grade school including Willie, Agnes, Milhouse, Otto, Smithers, Chalmers and finally Nelson who points and "ha-ha's" at them. 

Lisa reads a brochure from Cypress Creek, one giant redwood tree, at the city, can provide enough sawdust to cover an entire day's worth of vomit at Disneyland. 

Cypress Creek Elementary School http://www.studynet.edu 

The new Simpsons address 15201 Maple Systems Road. 

When the teacher asks Bart if he knows cursive he says "I know damn and hell and bit--", (not knowing cursive is another Simpsons prediction about kids in the future). In the episode Bart's Comet the chalkboard gag was "Cursive doesn't mean what I think it does"

The sports memorabilia shop is called The Spend Zone. They have a baseball made out of Secretariat and Tom Landry's hat (Homer buys it). 

When Homer wants to buy hammocks Hank suggests The Hammock Hut, Hammocks-R-Us, Put Your Butt There, Swing Low Sweet Chariot and Mary Ann's Hammocks (Mary Ann will crawl up in the hammock with you), all in the Hammock District. 

Homer says his nuclear team is way ahead of the weather machine and germ warfare division. 

Springfield Shopper headline: Supervillain Seizes East Coast. 

Hank's plan was called Project Arcturus. Arcturus is the brightest star in the Bootis constellation and translates as Guardian Of The Bear.

When Scorpio gives Homer the Denver Broncos instead of the Dallas Cowboys he's disappointed and Marge doesn't understand. At the time Denver was 0-4 in Super Bowl appearances. However the next year they would win and now are 3-5.

Bond references: Bont strapped to a table while a laser burns towards him is a scene from Goldfinger. The attack scene is from You Only Live Twice, A bikini clad woman kills Norman Schwartzkopf with her legs like the assassins in Thunderball and Goldeneye and also Kissy Suzuki in You Only Live Twice (who shows up at the attack in a bikini). 

We've reached episode 155, getting closer to the end.... This is probably one of my top 5 favorite episodes. I loved how it started off with a normal work thing but then introduced the Bond elements and finally ended with Scorpio taking over the east coast. Lets hope the show keeps up this level of quality for years and years to come.