New Kids on the Blecch/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ Day of the Jackanapes

New Kids on the Blecch

Hungry, Hungry Homer ►

Trivia

• 'N Sync provided their own speaking voices but, despite rumors to the contrary, did not provide the singing voices for the Party Posse. Two members of another Lou Pearlman boy band, Natural, provided some of the voices -- Marc Terenzi for Nelson and Michael 'J' Horn for Milhouse, while the singing voices for Bart and Ralph are currently unknown.
• The song that introduces NSYNC every time they walk in is "No Strings Attached".
• Timberlake was reluctant to say "Word" since he swore it was something he would never say, so as a joke the editing team reused the one take where he said "Word" after nearly every line.
• The Backstreet Boys were first offered to guest star, but they immediately declined saying that "they would not embarrass themselves or their fans" by appearing on the show.
• This episode aired seven months before 9/11. During the scene in New York, the World Trade Center is briefly visible and there was a scene of a New York tower (the MAD Magazine main office) getting blown up.
• This episode hints that Springfield is located on the East Coast of United States, when L.T. Smash is able to sail the aircraft carrier to New York City within minutes.
• At one point in the episode, a flag is depicted on the side of a technical employed by military fighters in Middle Eastern dress. The flag in the episode resembles the flag adopted by the Syrian opposition in the Syrian Civil War, but is actually the Independence flag. The resemblance was cited by some supporters of the Syrian government and media in the Middle East as evidence that the Syrian rebellion was a foreign plot.
• The gun that L.T. Smash is holding appears to be a Luger.
• The town is very angry when they realize that Bart is an imposter who wasn't supposed to be in the race; Sideshow Mel demands that the entire race be redone as a result. However, the trophy could have simply been taken away from Bart and given to the second place runner, making him the true winner.

Previous Episode References

• "The Otto Show": Bart wanting to be a music star.
• "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson": The Simpsons go to New York.
  • The offices for MAD Magazine are shown.
  • Both episodes aired before the 9/11 attacks and have been edited or banned temporarily ("The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" was banned, then shown severely edited to remove all scenes of Homer waiting by his car at the World Trade Center, while "New Kids on the Blecch" just cut the scene of the missile firing at, hitting, and destroying the MAD Magazine tower)
• "Flaming Moe's", "Krusty Gets Kanceled", and "Homerpalooza": Famous music groups guest star on a Simpsons episode.
• "Lisa the Beauty Queen": Dan Castellaneta voices an effeminate gay dance instructor who trains children.
  • Bart's boy band being used to recruit people into the Navy is similar to Lisa's role as Little Miss Springfield being used to get kids to smoke cigarettes.
• "Kill the Alligator and Run": The pigtailed VJ who replaced the one who had the Logan's Run-esque jewel on her hand that beeped when she revealed that she was 23 years old is seen.
• "Bart Gets Famous": Bart becomes a star and his fame lasts an episode.
• "Radioactive Man": Milhouse becomes a star and his fame lasts an episode.
• "Homer's Barbershop Quartet": A Simpson male has a short-lived music career.
• "New Kid on the Block": Both episodes are puns on the 1990s boy band, New Kids on the Block (and this episode mentions a band with a similar name called New Kids in the Ditch).
• "The Old Man and the "C" Student": Visual gag where Homer and Grampa look alike (Bart vacuums Grampa's face to make him look like Homer/Marge thinks Grampa is running in the marathon, but Lisa points out that it's just a dehydrated Homer).
• "Kamp Krusty": A character voiced by Dan Castellaneta (Krusty/Homer) has a superfluous third nipple.
• "I Love Lisa": Principal Skinner serves orange drink during a school performance.
• "Bart vs. Australia": Brief gag scene showing that Adolf Hitler is still alive and living in a Spanish-speaking country (Argentina in the former episode, Mexico in the latter).
• "King of the Hill": Marge doubts Homer when he sets out to do something athletic (work out/run a marathon).
• "The Telltale Head", "Bart's Inner Child", and "Bart vs. Australia": A large, angry mob goes after Bart.
• "Insane Clown Poppy": Spoof of The Matrix's bullet-time effects (the couch gag where The Simpsons do a Matrix style leap onto the couch/*NSYNC's dance routine closes with "a Matrix")
• "D'oh-in' in the Wind": One of the hippies in L.T. Smash's hippie fantasy (the shirtless one with long, black hair who says, "Burn down the barber shops!") is a younger version of one of Mona Simpson's hippie friends.

Cultural references

• While reporting on the marathon, the "6" on Kent Brockman's microphone appears to be the logo of the 6 line of the New York City Subway.
• The scene of a video-clip in which boys are raising a tetherball pole is a parody of the famous war photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by Joe Rosenthal.
• The title is a pun on "New Kids on the Block" and "blecch", a word of disgust often used in MAD Magazine, which is featured in the episode.
• While going over his checklist for the Party Posse, Lt. Smash has three things listed. The third thing says "Boogaloo... Electric". This is a reference to the 1984 film Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, which featured the electric boogaloo dancing style, or the band of the same name that made it famous in 1977.
• The video for "Drop Da Bomb" is directed by Ang Lee.
• In Mad Magazine headquarters, one man says "Why don't we call it Everybody Hates Raymond?", a reference to the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. It should be noted that MAD Magazine actually did have an Everybody Loves Raymond parody in the 1990s called Everybody Loathes Raymud (and the animated sketch show MAD on Cartoon Network also had an Everybody Loves Raymond parody called Everybody Loves Rayman).

Goofs

• L.T. attacks the MAD building with the aircraft carrier's missiles. No current carrier carries missile launchers (except on their planes).
• Children jump off of the aircraft carrier and land in shallow water before walking to the shore. In actuality, to avoid scraping the bottom, the carrier would need water that was 25-40 feet deep (depending on what type/class of carrier).

The North Tower's antenna is missing

• The switch that L.T flips has two modes, the mode its set to is indicated by signs above and below it. When he flips the switch, the signs say "Commission" & "DECOMMISSION" above and below respectively. However, when he moves away from the ship pointing his gun, the signs now say "SHIP" & "MUSEUM" respectively.
• When the World Trade Center appears, the antenna on the North Tower is missing.