Homer's Barbershop Quartet/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ Krusty Gets Kancelled

Homer's Barbershop Quartet

Cape Feare ►

Trivia

• Principal Skinner recognizes an old prison helmet of his from Vietnam with the number '24601'; this is the number tattooed on Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, and his only identification. The same number is also Sideshow Bob's prison number in Black Widower.
• While rummaging through a box labeled "All items 5¢", Homer comes across some very expensive if not priceless collector items including what appears to be an original signed Declaration of Independence, Action Comics #1, Inverted Jenny stamps, and a Stradivarius violin. 
• Three of Marge's paintings from the season 2 episode Brush with Greatness can be seen at the swap meet. (One of Ringo Starr, one of Homer asleep in his underwear, and one of Mr. Burns with a dog.)
• This was David Crosby's second appearance on the show, and the second appearance of a Beatle on the show.
• The famous Disneyland barbershop quartet, the Dapper Dans, provided the singing voices for the Be Sharps.
• Apu's new name (de Beaumarchais) is French for 'of the good market', an obscure reference to the Kwik-E-Mart.
• The Take One couch gag shows The Simpsons running into each other and shattering into pieces; this gag was reused in $pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling) and Lady Bouvier's Lover. The Take Two couch gag shows The Simpsons running into each other again and melding into a blob; this gag was reused in Bart Gets Famous. The Take Three couch gag shows The Simpsons once again colliding; this time they explode. The Take Three gag was reused in Homer the Vigilante and Secrets of a Successful Marriage. In syndication, only the Take One gag is used.
• A deleted scene of this episode showed Skinner going back to his mother. She asks him if he was with a woman, he says no, then she asks for a bath, followed by mad laughing and a close-up of their Psycho-parody house. This is the first time Skinner would be involved in a knock-off joke based on the movie Psycho.
• This same deleted scene marks the only time Dan Castellaneta performed the voice of Skinner's mother.
• This is the first episode of the series to be dedicated in memory of someone who worked on the show before that has passed on.
• This is the second episode to feature three-year-old Bart and baby Lisa in a flashback.
• Homer later won another award in Angry Dad: The Movie.
• In The Simpsons: Hit and Run, one of Apu's three costumes is his quartet outfit from this episode.
• The second album of the Be Sharps is called "Bigger Than Jesus", an obvious reference to a controversial quote by John Lennon.
• When the Be Sharps sing on the roof, other people were on another roof.
• People at Moe's Tavern can change banners very quickly.
• With the episode set eight years in the past, Lisa would be almost a newborn, but she is portrayed as almost the same age as Maggie in the present, around a year old.
• This is the first episode where Homer Simpson is voiced by two people instead of his main voice actor of the lead role, the second time was in Treehouse of Horror XXV.
• This is the only episode where Don Jordan voices as Homer Simpson, but the only time he voiced Homer was when Homer was singing.
• The scene where the Be Sharps sang Baby on Board during their comeback was later reenacted by the Rampants at the Green 19 café in Dublin, Ireland.

Citations

• The record that Comic Book Guy displayed at the swap meet, "Melvin and the Squirrels" is a spoof of Alvin and the Chipmunks.
• The song "Baby on Board" was first heard in Ishtar, the flop 1987 motion picture comedy starring Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty.
• After winning the Grammy, Homer tells Lisa after beating Dexy's Midnight Runners, "Well, you haven't heard the last of them." The English group did not have another US hit after "Come On, Eileen" and broke up in 1986.
• The chalkboard gag is a reference to the first year The Simpsons was not nominated.
• One of the albums on sale for $1 is by Spinal Tap, the fictional band from This is Spinal Tap, in which Harry Shearer played a member.
• When Homer was trying to write a new song, he sung "There was nothing in Al Capone's vault, But it wasn't Geraldo's fault". This is a reference to the failure on the live TV program "The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults", hosted by Geraldo Rivera. This program is famous for opening one of Capone's secret vaults, only for them to discover there was nothing inside it.
• When winning the Grammy, Barney mentions he is a fan of David Crosby, only to express confusion that he was a singer as well. This implies that Barney was a fan of David Crosby's history of alcohol and drug abuse.

Goofs

• After the "replacement Homer" malfunctions, the next scene shows Santa's Little Helper burying him in the yard. Santa's Little Helper did not become the Simpsons's pet until the Christmas special (and first episode), "Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire."
• The sign outside the Church in 1985 credits the group as "The Be Sharps" before they had decided on the name.
• M.C. Hammer appeared at the 1985 Grammys but he didn't get famous until the 1990s.
• When the group (with Barney) performs at the Statue of Liberty, Chief Wiggum's voice can clearly be heard.
• Homer refers to Joe Piscopo leaving Saturday Night Live in 1985 when setting the scene for the story, but Piscopo left the show at the end of its ninth season in 1984.
• When Homer sends the kids to bed, from one angle, his phone has no numbers.
• While Homer says he had five and a half weeks at the top at the end of the episode, only one scene said it was 1985—and the John F. Kennedy airport scene said it was 1986.
• Wiggum is supposed to be the Be Sharps tenor singer (as he is replaced by Barney, who is an Irish tenor), but when they're singing, you can hear the Dapper Dans tenor and Wiggum in the same song.
• The swap meet is in Springfield, yet when the family sedan gets a flat tire, the family is in a desert, despite their house also being in Springfield.
• Baby Lisa says that Homer and the Be Sharps, at the Grammys, "beat Dexy's Midnight Runners." The episode is set in 1985. DMR's only U.S. hit was "Come On Eileen," which topped the charts in 1983, so the latest they most likely would have been considered for any sort of music award would be 1984. 
• When Homer returns to the Power Plant, he returns to a role as Safety Inspector, which he was not promoted to until 1989 in Homer's Odyssey.
• In the final scene, The Human Fly's glove changes color a few times between red and white.
•  Even though Homer has a full of head of hair in 1985, the Be Sharps album covers and Marge's "replacement Homer" depict him as being bald.
•  Right before Apu sings "goodbye", Chief Wiggum's mouth and Homer's mouth close for a split second.
•  Many of the continuity errors in the flashback story may be the result of Homer's storytelling.

Beatles references

• The Be Sharps's various performances is reference to the Beatles performances in Hamburg and Liverpool.
• One of the back cover of their album is reference to the back cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
• The performances on Moe's Tavern is reference to The Beatles performances in the Cavern.
• Moe's Cavern is similar to the Cavern.
• The final scene where the Be Sharps sing on top of Moe's Tavern is a parody of an impromptu concert that the Beatles had on top of Apple Corps.
• Right when the episode blacks out and the credits appear, Homer says, "I'd like to thank you on behalf of the group and I hope we passed the audition." This was an actual quote by John Lennon spoken right after they played "Get Back" on the rooftop.
• The cover of "Bigger Than Jesus", The Be-Sharps second album, features the group walking on water. It is a direct parody of the art on The Beatles album Abbey Road. The album's title is also a reference to a controversial statement made by John Lennon. Unlike the Beatles however, no visible fallout is shown from the "bigger than Jesus" comment, which put the Beatles in rough waters.
• The Meet The Be Sharps album name and cover is similar to those of the Beatles' first official (second actual) U.S album Meet The Beatles. The cover is also similar to that of the Beatles' second British album With The Beatles.
• Barney's girlfriend is similar to John Lennon's girlfriend Yoko Ono, whom many Beatles fan hold responsible for the band breaking up.
• Barney's looks before they break up is similar to how John Lennon looked before the Beatles broke up.
• Right after the Be Sharps record "Baby On Board", their manager says, "You've just recorded your first number one." This was spoken by Beatles producer George Martin right after the group had recorded "Please Please Me".
• Wiggum's replacement is a reference to George Martin replacing Pete Best with Ringo Starr.
• After Wiggum was replaced by Barney, an angry mob was shouting "Wiggum forever, Barney never." The same thing happen to the Beatles when they replaced Pete Best with Ringo Starr, the fans said "Pete forever, Ringo never."
• Nigel telling Homer to keep his marriage a secret is similar to Brian Epstein advising John Lennon to do the same with his marriage to Cynthia Powell.
• Principal Skinner's reputation as the "funny one" is an ironic reference to George Harrison's reputation as the "Quiet Beatle."
• When Barney plays his song when he says of taking the quartet to a new direction, it starts of with his girlfriend saying "number eight" followed by Barney's burp repetitively. This is similar to the start of "Revolution 9", where you hear an unknown announcer say "number nine" repetitively.
• The band's manager; Nigel is based on Brian Epstein who was the Beatles' manager from the 24th January 1962 to his death on the 27th August 1967.
• Scene where the Be Sharps are greeted at New York JFK Airport by the fans and press is a reference to the reception for the Beatles when they arrived at JFK Airport on the 7th February 1964 for their appearance on the The Ed Sullivan Show on the 9th February 1964 and their first visit to the US.

Notes and references

◄ Season 4	Season 5 References/Trivia	Season 6 ►
Homer's Barbershop Quartet • Cape Feare • Homer Goes to College • Rosebud • Treehouse of Horror IV • Marge on the Lam • Bart's Inner Child • Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood • The Last Temptation of Homer • $pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling) • Homer the Vigilante • Bart Gets Famous • Homer and Apu • Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy • Deep Space Homer • Homer Loves Flanders • Bart Gets an Elephant • Burns' Heir • Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song • The Boy Who Knew Too Much • Lady Bouvier's Lover • Secrets of a Successful Marriage