The Simpsons

Trivia: Ned Flanders inspired the term "Flanderization", used to describe TV characters who started off with a few personality traits, but are now dominated by just one. In earlier seasons, Ned was a polite, respectful man who attended church, but was not especially pushy about religion. He and his family became more strictly Christian, portraying a "Bible-beater" stereotype.

Worst Episode Ever - S12-E11

Trivia: The joke about Martin having an alternate version of 'Return of the Jedi' where Chewbacca is Luke's mother is based on one of Mark Hamill's anecdotes. During the filming of ROTJ he was informed Lucas had something important to tell him in private, which he'd previously done to drop the twist that Vader was Luke's father. This caused Hamill to quip "Oh no, is Chewbacca going to turn out to be my mother?" He was relieved when the actual revelation was that Leia was Luke's sister.

You Only Move Twice - S8-E2

Trivia: Homer becomes the owner of the Denver Broncos at the end of the episode, much to his chagrin as he preferred to own the Dallas Cowboys and the Broncos are bumbling. In real life, the Broncos won two consecutive Super Bowls not long after this episode aired, while the Cowboys have been mediocre at best since.

Phaneron

That '90s Show - S19-E11

Trivia: Homer's songs "Shave Me" and "Margarine" are parodies of Nirvana's "Rape Me" and Bush's "Glycerine" respectively. "Weird Al" Yankovic's parody of "Shave Me" is a reference to his real-life parody of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

Phaneron

The Simpsons trivia picture

Trivia: In the opening sequence post Feb 2009, Marge can be seen placing items on the checkout. These include the detergent Mr Sparkle from Season 8 Episode 22, In Marge We Trust, and some Tomacco juice from Season 11 Episode 5, E-I-E-I - (annoyed Grunt). (00:00:25)

Ssiscool

Dude, Where's My Ranch? - S14-E18

Trivia: At the beginning of this episode, Homer writes his own Christmas carol after being barred from performing traditional carols because of copyright issues. Around seven years after this episode aired, the musical artist Usher was ironically accused of plagiarizing one of the tunes Homer was working on with his song "OMG."

Phaneron

Homer Loves Flanders - S5-E16

Trivia: As Flanders drives to get away from Homer, Homer runs after him with putters in both hands. As he does, he mimics the actions of the T-1000 in Terminator 2, who was trying to get John Connor.

Movie Nut

Trash of the Titans - S9-E22

Trivia: The musical number "The Garbageman Can" was a nod to musical number "The Candyman Can" in the 1971 classic "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"

Movie Nut

Two Bad Neighbors - S7-E13

Trivia: When the episode was written, the show's writers were unaware there was a real George Bush, Jr (e.g. George W. Bush). The intended joke was that, in one of his usual moments of idiocy, Homer had invented a fake son.

Cubs Fan

The Last Temptation of Homer - S5-E9

Trivia: At one point in this episode Homer is watching "Eye on Springfield" and Kent Brockman makes reference to Bill Clinton having an extramarital affair - more than 4 years before Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky became public knowledge.

Phaneron

More mistakes in The Simpsons

The Cartridge Family - S9-E5

TV Announcer: The Continental Soccer Association is coming to Springfield. It's all here: fast kicking, low scoring. And ties? You bet.
Bart: Hey Dad, how come you've never taken us to see a soccer game?
Homer: I don't know.
TV Announcer: You'll see all your favorite soccer stars. Like Arriaga, Arriaga II, Barriaga, Aruglia, and Pizzozza.
Homer: Oh, I've never heard of those people.
TV Announcer: And they'll all be signing autographs.
Homer: Woohoo!
TV Announcer: This match will determine once and for all which nation is the greatest on Earth. Mexico or Portugal.

Phaneron

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Tree House of Horror V - S6-E6

Question: Homer travels back in time and causes changes by what he does in the past, like stepping on a bug. I once saw a movie with the same basic plot: some people travel back in time and are told to be careful not to disturb anything, but when they return to their time everything has changed. In the end they discover it was because they stepped on a butterfly. Does anyone know the name of this movie?

Answer: I'm not sure if this is the one you're thinking of, but an episode of "Ray Bradbury Theatre," called "A Sound of Thunder," dealt with a similar matter: a group of hunters travel back in time to hunt dinosaurs, only to find things have changed when they get back because someone stepped on a butterfly.

Xofer

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