Moe Letter Blues/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

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Moe Letter Blues

The Bob Next Door ►

Trivia

• According to this episode, Moe moved to Springfield because on a calculator the zip code spelled "boobs", meaning it is 80085. There is no real-life city with this zip code, though the reverse zip code of 58008 is assigned to Barney, North Dakota. When flipped over, 58008 will spell "boobs".
• The game "Dance Dance Evolution" that Manjula and Moe play at Moe's Tavern is very similar to a Japanese/American game called Dance Dance Revolution with the game playing the song "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga and Akon. The game is also a product of "Zii", a parody of Wii.
• When Apu asks how old Homer is, he guesses that Homer is 65. Homer replies that he is 39-years-old.
• In the opening scene where Homer is riding Barney around like a bull, Sam and Larry are seen in the first crowd. But then, when Homer rides Barney back the way he came, you can see two other Sam and Larrys in the second crowd.
• The flashbacks in chronological order go Lovejoy, Apu, Homer because the cricket game took place before the party. However, at the start of the flashback, Marge says she is still and over the birthday party which shouldn't happen until the evening.
• Jessica Lovejoy makes her fourth appearances, if you don't count the framed photo in The Boys of Bummer, in this episode since Bart's Girlfriend, but she doesn't speak to Bart and only appears towards the end.
• We learn Patty and Selma smoke from a young age, while their mother Jacqueline Bouvier was expecting Marge.
• We learn Moe is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
• When the letter Moe sent to the 3 husbands is first seen, we see and hear the phrase "Dear friends, I have some news that is doubly sad -- first off, I am leaving town forever. And my going away present? One of your wives is running off with me.", but, after the commercial break, the phrase turns into "Dear friends, I have some news that is doubly sad -- first off, I am leaving town forever. But I am taking along with me a little going-away present, one of your wives."
• Lady Gaga's song Just Dance was used in the episode but not credited.
• This shows signs that at the very least Jacqueline has at least accepted Homer, unlike Patty and Selma.

Cultural References

• The title is a reference to the 1990 Spike Lee film Mo' Better Blues. This is also spoofed in "Moe Baby Blues".
  • This title could also be a reference of the Sam and Max 202 Moai Better Blues.
• The plot of the episode is a parody of the film A Letter to Three Wives.
• When the head of Jebediah Springfield's statue lands on Ralph during the opening sequence, Ralph says "Hello, darkness," a possible reference to the Simon & Garfunkel song "The Sound of Silence" (the first line of the song is "Hello, darkness, my old friend").
• When Bart locks up the Nahasapeemapetilon children, he describes it as "sweet justice for how you greybacks treated our boys at Andersonville." He's wearing a blue hat, identifying himself as a Union soldier, and "graybacks" is a nickname for Confederate soldiers who mostly wore gray uniforms. "Andersonville" is a reference to Fort Sumter, Andersonville, Georgia, a notorious P.O.W. camp where over 12,000 Union prisoners died as a result of starvation, disease and mistreatment. He also calls them "you rebel scum", which could be a reference to Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
• Manjula says her eyes have "more bags than The Darjeeling Limited", a reference to the 2007 film in which baggage plays a prominent role.
• Rev. Lovejoy's spiritual adviser sings the title of Krakatoa, East of Java.
• Selma calls Homer "Chunky in the pants o' meatballs", a reference to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."
• Otto (who is possibly high) sees every vehicle on the road as a character from the Pixar film Cars.
• The Itchy and Scratchy episode is a reference to A Trip to the Moon.

Goofs

• At the end of the episode, Homer goes to visit his mom despite the fact that she died back in Mona Leaves-a. This may have been taken at a time before she died.