Simpson Tide/References

Trivia

 * When Barney gets shaved his appearance mimics Leon Kompowsky.
 * One of the Admirals that was presiding over Homer's trial was indicted for the "Tailhook scandal".
 * This is the second episode to reference the Tailhook scandal. The first was in Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two), where Smithers, when asked how he felt about shooting Mr. Burns, stated that he felt "as low as Madonna missing out on the Tailhook scandal."
 * Moe has more illegal shenanigans occuring in his backroom, a gag which started with "Cape Feare". This time, it's a Russian roulette game a la The Deer Hunter.

Cultural References

 * The opening couch gag is a recreation of the Rocky and Bullwinkle animated bumper seen at the end of each Bullwinkle short. The music accompanying it is also adapted from the original music in the bumper.
 * Many parts of the episode, including the title, refer to the 1995 film Crimson Tide.
 * The character Captain Tenille is based on Captain Frank Ramsey, a character in the film who was portrayed by Gene Hackman.
 * Tenille's name is a reference to the musical duo Captain and Tennille.
 * Homer mentions that he and his friends joining the navy is similar to The Deer Hunter, and the Russian roulette scene from the film is later parodied.
 * Right before the submarine submerges, the song "In the Navy" is played and the Village People (along with Smithers) can be seen dancing.
 * Homer dreams of being on "the planet of the doughnuts", which is reminiscent of the film Planet of the Apes,
 * When aboard the submarine, Homer refers to one of the crew members as Mr. Sulu, a reference to the character in Star Trek.
 * Bart sings a portion of the song "Do the Bartman" and Ralph Wiggum comments that it "is so 1991", a reference to the year the song became a hit in the U.S.
 * Grampa Simpson claims that he attacked John F. Kennedy on the PT 109 when Kennedy stated "Ich bin ein Berliner", leading to Grampa mistaking him for a Nazi.
 * This episode shows the Russian ambassador in the U.N. stating that the Soviet Union's breakup was "what we wanted you to think." This is followed by the showing of several floats in a Moscow Parade being destroyed to reveal several tanks underneath to take their place, the Berlin Wall coming out of the earth and Lenin being unfrozen.
 * In the scene where Homer is trying to sign up for the Naval Reserve, he questions an officer about a question that was scratched out. This was a reference to a failed and controversial proposal that Bill Clinton made during his election into the Presidency where he would allow gays into the military openly.