How the Test Was Won/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

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How the Test Was Won

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Trivia

• This is the second time that a character discovers having a blemish and upon telling it "Not on my day, you don't!" it instantly recedes/recovers (in this case, Homer being hit with a falling flower pot and receiving a bruised bump on his head). The first is when Marge discovered that she had a zit on her lip while preparing for her "third" remarriage (actually second, as Reverend Lovejoy's remarrying Marge and Homer didn't count as his ministering license had expired during that time) in the episode "Wedding for Disaster".
• This is the second episode where a Simpson rides on a garbage barge. The first being Homer the Heretic.
• This is the second episode that produced in the 16:9 HD format.

Cultural references

• When Bart, Nelson, Jimbo, Kearney, Dolph, and Ralph go to the "helicopter", Gonna Fly Now, the theme from Rocky, plays.
• At the gas station toilet, the song Ralph sings is Wannabe by the Spice Girls (before getting interrupted by Principal Skinner).
• In the Sitcom Parodies couch gag, the Simpsons find themselves as the main characters on famous shows. The shows they go from door to door were in order: The Honeymooners, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Brady Bunch and Cheers.
  • Kelsey Grammer, the voice of Sideshow Bob, makes a cameo on Cheers as his character Dr. Frasier Crane (both on that show and the spin-off Frasier.
• There is also a Kid vs. Kat episode called How the Test Was Won. However, this is probably a coincidence, since the title card shows that it is probably based on the movie How the West was Won or on the album of the same name by Led Zeppelin.
• Skinner running in circles on the container to make it turn is an example of the Conservation of angular momentum.
• Footloose plays when the principals and the kids begin to dance at the end of the episode.
• At the beginning of the school year, the Welcome Back banner announces that MISS CALDECOTT IS NOW MR. NEWBERY. These are names of longstanding awards given out for children's books.
• Oddly, Homer had a flashback from Treehouse of Horror XIII. However, he could have been exaggerating about lots of Homers falling off the cliff.
• Homer's premonition of the massive accident in his house (aside from Marge Simpson and Lindsay Naegle making out) is similar to the premonitions seen in the Final Destination franchise.

During this episode (at the beginning) Homer remembers most of the times he got injured.

The episodes he remembers are as follows:

• "Homer at the Bat" - Getting hit by a baseball
• "Bart's Friend Falls in Love" - Falling down the stairs in his underwear while Bart is running from him
• "Homer's Triple Bypass" - Having a heart attack
• "Marge in Chains" - Attacked by lobsters in the kitchen
• "Deep Space Homer" - Smashing his head into an ant farm
• "Bart Gets an Elephant" - Attacked by cleaning product mascots
• "Homer Badman" - Dodging an explosion
• "King-Size Homer" - Ejected by a reactor
• "Two Bad Neighbors" - Fighting with George H.W. Bush
• "Homerpalooza" - Getting hit in the chest by a ballon shot from a cannonball
• "A Milhouse Divided" - Getting hit by a chair from Bart while bathing in the tub
• "The Homer They Fall" - Getting punched by Drederick Tatum
• "Homer to the Max" - Getting his scarf caught by Moe's ceiling fan and walking into a cactus
• "Faith Off" - Getting a drill in his eye by Bart when his face is stuck in a bucket
• "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes" - Getting attacked by his clone
• "Tennis the Menace" - Getting hit in the crotch by a tennis ball
• "Bye Bye Nerdie" - Getting his ears nailed to a wall by Maggie
• "Simpson Safari" - Bitten by a fish on his arm
• "Weekend at Burnsie's" - Attacked by crows
• "I Am Furious (Yellow)" - Getting hit by a newspaper, a bottle of milk and a piano while walking outside
• "Helter Shelter" - Getting electrocuted by Squiggy
• "Pray Anything" - Getting electrocuted in the mouth by lightning strike
• "Dude, Where's My Ranch?" - Getting attacked by beavers
• "Brake My Wife, Please" - Run over by Marge
• "Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens and Gays" - Hitting himself on the head with a hammer
• "Blame It on Lisa" - Getting electrocuted by electric cables
• "Lost Our Lisa" - Getting his head run over by a car while stuck in a bridge
• "Lard of the Dance" - Getting his face sucked in a grease tube; his left eyeball pops out as a result
• "Trilogy of Error" - Getting his thumb cut off accidentally by Marge
• "Million Dollar Abie" - Getting his crotch caught in a Viking hat attached to Bart's bike made to resemble a bull
• "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs" - Getting stapled in the forehead
• "Dumbbell Indemnity" - Jumping out of Moe's car, rolling down the hill and back into the sedan
• Lightning striking the TV antenna and getting shocked when he grabs it (not a real clip)
• "Treehouse of Horror XIII" - Homer, and many clones of him, falling off a cliff

Goofs

• Despite taking place in September, the calendar in Ms. Krabappel's reads April. However, due to Edna's lack of interest in her job this is common for her to neglect her calendar. This goof also occurs in "Lard of the Dance."
• When Skinner and the kids watch that a thief steals the bus parts, Otto is on the disassembled bus. But in the next shot, he is among the kids.
• When Maggie's toy cannon launches the knife, Mr. Burns doesn't have a scratch when the knife lands on him.
• In Homer's unreality, Helen has two left feet. It's Homer's unreality. Considering how stupid he is, it's totally in-character for him to think that Helen has two left feet.

  

  Helen with 2 left feet