22 For 30/References

General	References/Trivia	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

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"22 For 30"

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Cultural References

• The name and the plot of this episode are a reference to the ESPN documentary series 30 for 30.
• Anger Watkins is based off of Stephen A. Smith, currently one of the hosts of ESPN's “First Take.” Stephen A. Smith is known for being provocative and has a history of making controversial remarks on the air. In 2014, he was suspended by ESPN for his comments regarding domestic violence following the incident where ex-NFL football player Ray Rice punched Janay Palmer, Rice's then-fianceé, in a casino elevator.
• Louie mentioned that Fat Tony once cried to “That sad song” from “Toy Story 2”; The said song was, in fact, “When She Loved Me” by Sarah Mclachlan. The song was played during the montage of Jessie the cowgirl doll (Voiced by Joan Cusack) once being a favorite toy of a little girl named Emily, until Emily grew up and discarded her old toys on the side of a road.
• The scene where Homer is putting the towel in his mouth during the basketball game is a reference to former men's college basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, who chewed on moist towels during games to prevent his mouth from drying out.
• The last scene with Mr. Burns accidently confessing a crime is a parody of Robert Durst, who accidently confessed his crimes during an interview for the documentary “The Jinx,” having forgot he still had his mike turned on.
• Johnny Tightlips’ birth name is revealed to be Giovanni Silencio, according to the subtitle bar during his scene at the La Coffee Nostra café.

Trivia

• Excluding the numbers, this episode has the shortest title in the series, with only three letters. The second place is a tie between Season 12's "HOMЯ," Season 22's "500 Keys," (Keys) and Season 25's "Yolo," with four letters each. Excluding special characters, Season 25's "Luca$" would also be included.
• This episode is a bonus episode on The Complete Eighteenth Season DVD as a special feature, making this episode the first Season 28 episode to be on DVD. It is also the most recent episode of the series to be featured on a box set, being released the same year as the DVD, following Season 25's "The Man Who Grew Too Much" in The Complete Seventeenth Season (episode and set released 2014). It is also the most recent episode to be released on physical media.

Previous Episode References

• "Dead Putting Society," "Bart the Daredevil," "Homer at the Bat," "Homer vs. Patty and Selma," "Lisa on Ice," "Bart Star," "Faith Off," "Little Girl in the Big Ten," "Ice Cream of Margie (with the Light Blue Hair)," "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," and "Boy Meets Curl.": Clips used during the opening narration for this episode.
• Behind the Laughter and Springfield Up: Simpsons episodes based on real documentary series (Behind the Music [though it played out more like E! True Hollywood Story]/Michael Apted's Up series/30 for 30)
• Bart the Murderer: Bart gets involved with the Springfield Mafia.
• "22 Short Films About Springfield," "24 Minutes," "500 Keys," and "101 Mitigations.": Episodes with numerals in the title.

Goofs

• The crowd occasionally switches spots throughout the episode.
• Marge claims that she never would have expected Bart to be involved with the mafia prior to this episode's events, but she knew about Bart's after-school job working for Fat Tony and his men on "Bart the Murderer."