Beyond Blunderdome/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo

Beyond Blunderdome

Brother's Little Helper ►

Trivia

• The Elec-Taurus car seen at the start of the episode is a driveable vehicle in The Simpsons Road Rage and The Simpsons: Hit and Run; it resembles the real-life General Motors EV-1.
• Mel Gibson says to Marge, "I speed all the time, but cops never give me a ticket." This episode aired seven years before Gibson was arrested for speeding and DUI.
  • Also, the idea that Mel Gibson was a well-liked celebrity until he released a controversial movie would actually come true when he created The Passion of the Christ and came under fire for making anti-Semitic remarks during his DUI arrest years after this episode aired.
• Butterfinger held a contest prior to this episode. If the phrase in the wrapper matched Bart's chalkboard gag in this episode, the winner would get animated on an episode.

Previous Episode References

• "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?":
  • The poster for the movie McBain VI: You Have the Right to Remain Dead appears at Aztec Theater.
  • Homer is hired to create something, only to ruin the life of the person who hired him (his long-lost brother, Herb/Mel Gibson)
• "Bart After Dark": A couch gag featuring the Tracy Ullman Show Simpsons with the more refined Simpsons.
• "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily": Homer test drives a car just to get a free gift.
• "Rosebud": A couch gag where The Simpsons meet another version of The Simpsons.
• "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson": a joke is made about Robert Downey Jr.'s drug problems and run-ins with the law (the Betty Ford Rehab musical has the main star look like a mix between Robert Downey, Jr. and Charlie Sheen/the tour bus goes past Robert Downey Jr. in a shoot-out with the cops and Bart notices that it's not being filmed for a movie).
• "Itchy & Scratchy Land": John Travolta is working a blue-collar job (a bartender/a pilot)
• "Girly Edition": Homer returns an abused/destroyed item (Mojo the monkey/the electric car) and bails before anyone can stop him.
• "Radioactive Man":
  • Hollywood gets satirized on a Simpsons episode
  • An action movie has a troubled production
• "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington": Reference to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
• "The War of the Simpsons", "Bart on the Road", "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie", and "Sideshow Bob Roberts": One of the kids (Bart/Maggie/Lisa) drives a car.

Cultural References

• This episode's title is a reference to the movie "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome", in which Mel Gibson starred.
• The Flintstone mobile appears with Fred, Wilma and Dino Flintstones in it. Also The Munster's Car, the Monkees Mobile, The Batmobile, Herbie the Love Bug, and The General Lee from The Dukes Of Hazzard.
• The vehicle that the Simpsons and Mel Gibson used to escape from the film executives was the custom-made Ford F-Series-based Humungus' Truck from the 1981 post-apocalyptic movie Mad Max 2 (known to the US audience as The Road Warrior), the second film in the Mad Max Franchise.
• When Homer is watching a test screening for Mel Gibson's remake of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", he badmouths it, saying, "At least the Jimmy Stewart version had the giant rabbit who ran the savings and loan!" These are references to "Harvey" and "It's a Wonderful Life".
• Frink asks if there will be any Flubber in the movie this is a reference to the 1961 Disney movie The Absent Minded Professor Also there was a 1997 remake called Flubber with Robin Williams .
• Rainier Wolfcastle is seen filming "Saving Irene Ryan", a reference to both "Saving Private Ryan" and the TV sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies".
• After the studio cart crashes, Mel says to Homer, "I'm getting too old for this crap," paraphrasing what Danny Glover's character police sergeant Roger Murtaugh often says to Mel Gibson's character police officer Martin Riggs in the Lethal Weapon film series, "I'm getting too old for this shit."
• Mel Gibson tossing away his U.S. Senator badge at the end of the "Mr. Smith" remake is similar to the endings of "Dirty Harry" and "High Noon".
• Mel Gibson's pilot is John Travolta, who plays a pilot in a number of films including 'Look Who's Talking', but is also himself a certified pilot who owns five aircraft.
• The police shoot-out scene with Robert Downey Jr. is a reference to Downey's problems with the law in the 1990s, during which the actor battled drug addiction and was arrested on several occasions.
• The movie billboard in Hollywood that Homer and Mel Gibson crashed through featured a woman (implied to be overgoing labor) and the title "She's Having a Baby... Again!", spoofing the movie "She's Having a Baby".
• During the chase, they drive past Mann's Chinese Theatre, which is on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was originally named and still commonly known as Grauman's Chinese Theatre. It was renamed Mann's Chinese Theatre in 1973; the name lasted until 2001, after which it reverted to its original name. Many movies have premiered there including Star Wars. Three Academy Awards ceremonies have been there as well. Among the theatre's most distinctive features are the concrete blocks set in the forecourt, which bear the signatures, footprints, and handprints of popular motion picture personalities from the 1920s to the present day.
• Mel Gibson's character does Curly Howard's famous "Whoop, whoop, whoop". Mel is a huge fan of The Three Stooges and even directed a biopic of them.
• Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche appear shouting "We're lesbians," a reference to the former coming out to the public two years earlier.
• Comic Book Guy being thrown out of the movie theater alongside his desktop computer components was a reference to how, due to the advent of the internet, moviemakers had to make sure no one in the audience was going to leak the test reel of a then-upcoming film onto the internet in case any resulting bad reviews end up killing the film.
• During the Hollywood tour, Marge expresses disgust when the tour guide briefly mentions an infamous spot involving Hugh Grant, indirectly alluding to when he got caught performing fellatios to Divine Brown on Sunset Boulevard.
  • The same tour also alluded to the Brown Derby restaurant and where it was located, or rather, where it used to be located.

The tan interior of Homer's mouth

Goofs

Homer's hand is on Bart's shoulder but also attached to his arm

• When Homer complains about Mr. Smith Goes to Washington at the theater, the inside of his mouth is colored tan like his beard.
• When Homer talks to Bart outside of the cutting room, he places his hand on Bart's right shoulder. However, when Homer removes his hand, his fingers are still on Bart's shoulder.

"McBain" misspelled as "McBane"

• One of the posters at Aztec Theater misspells "McBain" as "McBane".
• In the film when the head of senate inadvertently causes an explosion due to striking the gavel simultaneously when Mr. Smith throws a fire extinguisher, the resulting explosion blows off the Capitol Building rotunda. In actuality, the Senate room is to the right of the Capitol rotunda, not at the center of the Capitol and directly beneath the Senate Rotunda. Even though this cut was made by Homer Simpson, the mistake was likely deliberate to showcase Homer's stupidity.
• Mel kicked Homer out from the right side of the limousine even though Homer entered through right side first.
• The Hollywood tour guide mentions the filming location of “Nine Months“ starring Hugh Grant. The film was actually shot on location in the San Francisco Bay Area.