Brother From Another Series - S8-E16
Question: In this episode, Sideshow Bob seems to no longer want to kill Bart (shown by his happiness at seeing him near the dam, and later on, saving his life, as well as Lisa's). But in episodes after this e.g. "Funeral for a Fiend" and "The Great Louse Detective", Bob suddenly wants to kill Bart again. What caused him to change his mind after this episode? It can't be because he thinks Bart is responsible for sending him back to jail because in this episode when Bob and Cecil get arrested, Lisa defends Bob and says he had nothing to do with it, and Lou even backs her up by saying that Cecil confessed to the whole thing.
Simpsons Spin-off Showcase - S8-E24
Question: Lisa refuses to appear in the variety comedy show. However, she does relatively "flashy" things in a few other episodes - i.e. participating in a beauty pageant. So I think it's odd that she disagrees with a comedy show. Is there a joke that I am missing?
Answer: Back in 1976, when "The Brady Bunch" cast reunited for "The Brady Bunch Variety Hour" spinoff, Jan (Eve Plumb) declined to join the cast. She stated as her reason that she didn't want to be perpetually known as Jan Brady. She was replaced with actress Geri Reischl. The third segment of this Simpson's episode, titled, "The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour," was a parody of that show - with its questionably bad jokes and cheesy musical numbers. It also parodied the replacement of one of the children with an alternate cast member.
The Springfield Files - S8-E10
Question: When Homer and Bart are looking out for the 'alien' there are 3 frogs croaking something. What are they saying, and why?
Answer: The frogs are saying Budweiser. One frog says "bud," the next one says "weis," and the final one says "er". This is a satire of a popular Budweiser television promotion that was going through America at the time.
Answer: Then the 3 frogs were eaten by a big crocodile that says "Coors", Budweiser's biggest competitor.
The Springfield Files - S8-E10
Question: Who is Urkle?
Answer: Jaleel White played very nerdy, squeeky voiced Steve Urkle on a TV show Family Matters. He was a constant pain to neighbor Carl Winslow, a cop, and had a crush on Carl's daughter Laura. Because Steve Urkle was so clumsy, he always asked, "Did I do thaaat?"
Question: What does Reverend Lovejoy mean when he says that he stopped caring, but nobody noticed because "it was the '80s"?
Answer: The 80s was known as the, "Me Generation," meaning people were so greedy, ambitious, and self-involved with only themselves, money, and material possession, that they were oblivious to or unconcerned about anyone else. A popular mantra of the time was "greed is good." Lovejoy is saying that no-one noticed how he felt because they were indifferent and uncaring.
Question: After Smithers rejects the job offer from Globex, the associates speak to the "next most senior" employee at the plant - Homer. If I remember correctly, isn't Carl a supervisor over Homer?
Answer: "Next most senior" means Homer has worked at the plant longer than Carl, despite Carl's position as supervisor. Carl was simply promoted over employees that had been there longer (which isn't uncommon in the workplace).
It often happens because a more senior employee is not ideal, but they do just enough acceptable work that management will keep them around. Management doesn't want the hassle of the hiring process, and they might want to avoid unemployment pay or a possible lawsuit.
Simpsons Spin-off Showcase - S8-E24
Question: Is there a behind-the-scenes reason for Lisa being replaced by the blonde woman in the variety hour part of this episode?
Answer: It is a reference to the Brady bunch.
Answer: Lisa (the character, not the voice-actress) refused to take part in the show, since it is terrible. So the family re-cast her part.
Question: When Frank Grimes is shown on the news, where is he receiving his degree? He appears to be outside of a house, but he says later that he lives between two bowling alleys.
Answer: The news crew might have wanted to film him outside, on a nearby street, instead of going to his apartment. It looks more cheerful.
Answer: There's no telling. Possibly his parents' house. Possibly a house he sold when he moved to Springfield and he had to downgrade when his promised high-paying job went to a dog.
His parents abandoned him.
Good point. Then his own house, wherever he lived before Springfield.
Question: I, like Marge, don't know much about football. Why is Homer disappointed to own the Denver Broncos team? I know his first choice was owning the Dallas Cowboys, but he seems to especially dislike the Broncos.
Answer: I don't think the writers had anything particular in mind when choosing the Denver Broncos to be the butt of the joke. But I wonder if it's meant to be a clue where Springfield is. But, while this episode did air late 1996 when the Broncos had a winning season, given the amount of time needed to produce the episode, it was written when the Broncos were a mediocre team at best. From '92-'95 they had a 32-32 record and never finished higher than 3rd in their division. And the Cowboys and Broncos are in separate conferences, so they're not particularly rivals. But as Phaneron points out, the Broncos ended up winning back-to-back Super Bowls in the following 2 season after this episode aired, so Homer is a very lucky guy.
Probably also worth mentioning that by the time this episode had aired, the Broncos had an 0-4 record in the Super Bowl, and to this day I believe they hold the record for most Super Bowl losses.
The Buffalo Bills also had an 0-4 record at the time of airing having lost 4 straight years.
The Vikings are also 0-4 in the Super Bowl. The Patriots have 5 losses (although only had 1 at the time this episode aired).
True, and they would have been a funnier pick for Homer to end up owning, given that two consecutive of those four Super Bowl losses were to the Cowboys. Although Homer fantasizing about being John Elway in the episode Cape Feare makes his disdain for the Broncos rather funny.
Chosen answer: While Sideshow Bob does rescue Bart, he never is truly over his hatred of him. At the end of "Brother From Another Series", Cecil is actually able to trick Bob into swearing revenge on Bart, which is why Bob is sent to prison despite being innocent of trying to blow up the dam, and Bart is once again his nemesis. Although time rarely passes in the show (i.e. Bart stays 10 for the most part), it's not until season 12 when Sideshow Bob appears next, and it's clear he's been in prison the whole time, with plenty of time to rebuild his anger and hatred over Bart (and Krusty).
Bishop73