Little Big Mom/References

Cultural References

• The episode title is a pun on the film Little Big Man. Another pun on the same film would later be made with the episode title Little Big Girl.
• The Virtual Doctor website says that it's from the creators of Dragon Quest and SimSandwich. Dragon Quest is a series of RPGs released by Square Enix (originally released as Dragon Warrior in the US). SimSandwich is a reference to the Sim series of games, the most famous of which is The Sims. The Dragon Quest name is most likely coincidental and NOT meant as a reference to the real life game series of the same name.
• The "You Got Leprosy" line said by the Virtual Doctor is modeled after AOL's "You Got Mail" greeting. Elwood Edwards recorded numerous greetings himself in 1989, including "You Got Mail," which were then incorporated into AOL in October 1989
• In the hospital, Homer and Bart squirt interferon at each other.
  • This medication is used to treat various cancers (e.g., leukemia, melanoma, AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma). It is also used to treat virus infections (e.g., chronic hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis C). This medication is the same as a protein that your body naturally produces (interferon)
• Homer and Bart watch an episode of "I Love Lucy."
• At the very end of the episode, Homer sings "Aloha 'Oe" between screams while he receives a needle treatment.
• Although Mr. Burns doesn’t appear in the episode, Lisa says his catchphrase Excellent! after tricking Homer and Bart into having leprosy.

Trivia

• During the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon, the pictures Itchy looks at in his photo album are from previous I&S cartoons (see "The Tears of a Clone").
• This was also the first episode since "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" to show Poochie.
• This is the first episode to air in 2000, meaning the first episode in the early 2000s.
• There are four hospitals in Springfield at least.

Goofs

• Although the clock falls on Marge's left leg, it only breaks her right leg.