Future-Drama/References

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◄ The Seven-Beer Snitch

Future-Drama

Don't Fear the Roofer ►

Trivia

• This is the 350th episode to air (not to be made), despite that Don't Fear the Roofer aired before this episode, though the real 350th episode (in production code order) is "The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star," which was delayed following Pope John Paul II's death.
• At one point Bart gets bored and wants to see what else the future holds, the astrology machine acts and sounds like TiVo, one future event listed has Cletus as Vice President of the United States. Other options include Kang and Kodos invading Earth, Flanders' violent revenge on Homer, Moe finally gets e-mail, Maggie getting arrested for DUI, and Lenny having a super pet.
• This is the first future episode where the future is viewed without spiritual means as well as the first future episode where the future is set up by a recurring character rather than a one-time character.

Cultural References

• The title, and Bender's appearance, are references to Matt Groening's other show Futurama.
• The music playing while Homer and Bart are cruising in Homer's hovercar is "I.G.Y" by Donald Fagen of Steely Dan.
• Songs heard in this episode include "Take On Me" by A-ha, "True" by Spandau Ballet, "Bizarre Love Triangle" by New Order and "Sea of Love" by Phil Phillips.
• In the couch gag the Simpsons are Transformers from the G1 cartoon, Homer is Optimus prime, Marge is Skyfire, Lisa is Hound, Maggie is Bumblebee and Bart is Jazz.
• say goodbye to those going off to fight in gulf war 5 but in real life The Iraq war or Gulf War 2 is still going 8 years in the future of this episode and even 15 years after this episode it is still going as well as the war in Afghanistan(18 years and counting).
• Lenny's Super pet is a reference to Krypto, Superman's pet dog.

Goofs

• When Marge calls to Bart and Lisa for their photo she is holding a very small camera but after they come down the stairs the camera is much larger and is now the size of a Polaroid one, which from the back appears white, but is in fact black when viewed from the front. Also, Marge is seen to put the camera down somewhere to her left, but when the view changes, we can see there is no surface to put it on, and the camera is nowhere to be seen. That must have to do with the "magic" that scientists have invented!

Part of Snake's ear is gray

• When Snake is talking about robbing a man who went to Princeton, part of his ear briefly turns gray.
• Uter is at the prom despite disapearing on a field trip in the fourth grade.

Willie drawn with red hair, contrary to his appearance elsewhere in the episode

• Several of the characters—e.g. Apu, Willie--look a bit too old for only eight years to have passed, but it can be attributed to job stress, especially for Apu, who has eight children and works at the Kwik-E-Mart nearly 24 hours a day. In addition, in the long shot of the school at the beginning of the prom, Willie's whiskers are red, but gray in closeup. The coloring error is repeated in a second long shot at the graduation ceremony.
• In the FOXCAST of this episode, the title is confused for the episode "Home Away from Homer," which aired two weeks after this episode.
• Several current second-graders, e.g. Ralph, Janey and Allison, are seen at the prom. With the exception of Allison, it is highly unlikely any of them (especially Ralph, who has been implied to be a special ed student) were accelerated another grade level to make them juniors eight years in the future. It could also be fine if they were going to the prom with seniors, as some schools do allow underclassmen to go to prom with seniors.
• When Frink shows Lisa a picture of her shocked face after discovering that Milhouse caused the house fire, Lisa is shown with regular braces. However, in Season 4's "Last Exit to Springfield", Lisa has already been given braces, which are shown to be invisible.
• Maggie is shown to be on vacation on the North Pole. This being eight years into the future, Maggie would merely be nine years old, yet seems to be on vacation on her own. However, she might be visiting the North Pole with a relative who probably took the photo. The relative could be Abe, Selma, Herb or Abbie. It is also possible the she is attending something like boarding school.
• It is useless to decompress when leaving the underwater house, as air pressure inside and outside the house would be almost the same. Only a tunnel would be enough.
• If Lisa was the valedictorian she would be able to get into almost any college on a scholarship. Given not as good as Yale but possibly the state college (university of Kentucky).
• Bart is told that he'll find the woman right for him at age 83, this could be construed by some fans as thinking that either Bart is unlucky in love or he can't find the right woman, implying he could enter into a homosexual relationship possibly with Milhouse.
  • Also in other future episodes, Bart DOES hook up with Jenda and other women in his adult years making the 83 year old projection moot. Bart and Jenda have 2 kids together in another future episode though they are divorced and Bart lives in Springfield Elementary.