The Fool Monty/References

General	References/Trivia	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ Lisa Simpson, This Isn't Your Life

The Fool Monty

How Munched Is That Birdie in the Window? ►

Cultural references

• The episode title is a pun on the film The Full Monty and a reference to Mr. Burns' nickname of "Monty".
• The couch gag is a parody of the 2009 film Avatar:
  • The couch gag begins with the family entering four chambers that slide into the wall. The technician has to make an extra effort to close Homer's chamber door.
  • After a bright flash, we see the Simpsons as they would appear as Na'vi.
  • In a recreation of the scene where Jake Sully tries to capture his own Ikran, the Simpsons run to a cliffside where they see that the skies are filled with flying couches.
  • Homer jumps from the cliff and fails to catch one of the flying couches. Bart makes an attempt and succeeds.
  • After the rest of the family climbs aboard the couch, it settles in front of a television and the family puts on 3-D glasses (except for Bart).
  • Bart sticks Homer's ponytail into a wall outlet, shocking him, and then puts on his own 3-D glasses.
• After an executive disembarks from the Fox News helicopter, the copter wobbles and crashes while the pilot cries out, "We're unbalanced! It's not fair!", punning the channel's slogan "Fair and Balanced".
• When Kent Brockman breaks the news of the House Cat Flu on Channel 6 News, the graphics cards accompanying the story read "Apocalypse Meow" and "The Purrfect Storm", punning the movies Apocalypse Now and The Perfect Storm.
• In the vaccination line, Jeffery Albertson is dressed as Wolverine, wearing an X-Men uniform.
• The band that Burns hires to play at his "I'm dying" announcement is called The Grave Matthews Band, a pun on the Dave Matthews Band.
• The little girl in Burns' video of his Burns-shaped fruit bears a striking resemblance to a younger Vicki Valentine.
• The scene where Mr. Burns hides in Bart's closet is a reference to the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Also, E.T. is seen in the closet amongst the other stuffed animals.
• After Marge leaves the room, Mr. Burns is shown chewing on a doll of Binky from Life in Hell.
• At the bar, Smithers says that his new boss Dick Cheney likes to stack naked men, a reference to the Abu Ghraib incident during the Iraq War.
• When Smithers leaves Cheney's employ to return to working for Mr. Burns, Cheney zaps him with a "neuralyzer", a memory-erasing device from the Men in Black movies.
• Mr. Burns says he got the idea to enclose Springfield in a dome from the Stephen King novel Under the Dome. Lenny makes a comment saying "It's already been done" referring to The Simpsons Movie. Mr. Burns even asks Smithers if he knew about it which he gives him a slow nod and a displeased look, since both he and him were in the movie at the time.
• Nelson and Lisa appear in a Springfield Elementary School production of the Edward Albee play Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf?.
  • Nelson and Lisa's portrayal of the married couple is a reference to their past relationship. In fact, this episode is four episodes after "Loan-a Lisa", in which they apparently get back together. Another reference is made in a later episode, "The Great Simpsina", where Nelson threatens God that, "Ants will burn tonight!" if he doesn't bring Lisa back safe.
• The music playing over the end credits is "Powerhouse", composed by Raymond Scott. The song is commonly heard in "assembly line" scenes in animated cartoons, particularly those made by Warner Brothers.
  • It was also played four seasons earlier in "Little Big Girl".

Goofs

• It had been mentioned before that Mr. Burns had multiple illnesses ("The Mansion Family") and that he was indestructible because the diseases canceled each other out. But another disease could have been developed that removed the balance. The man never said he was indestructible; just that the diseases he had canceled each other out.
• When Lisa takes Mr. Burns to his mansion she says that she will show him that not everyone in Springfield is mean, despite Bart revealing that he was looking after Mr. Burns after finding him in the forest when he lost his memory.
• When Akira is seen near the end of the line of patients outside the hospital, his hair is brown instead of the normal black.
  • However, Akira, just like anyone else, could have dyed his hair.
• Mayor Quimby said about Mr. Burns "Give him what he wants. He's the only tax payer in this town." but we know this isn't really true. In the episode "The Joy of Sect" Mr. Smithers said that with their creative accounting, Mr. Burns only paid $3 per year. Also in "Papa Don't Leech" we know Mr. Burns is in the debt list for not paying his taxes but he was skipped by Mayor Quimby.
  • It could be possible, speaking of the latter episode and this one, that Mayor Quimby knew Mr. Burns didn't pay taxes and wanted to keep a secret in front of everyone.
• Mayor Quimby said he thought Lisa was a midget but he has referred to her as a little girl numerous times before. This could possibly be a meta-reference to criticisms about the way Lisa is characterized, with many fans believing she is no longer characterized as a child.
• At the barbecue party, Jimbo Jones insisted that his turn with Mr. Burns was at 2:00, just after Nelson's 1:30. However, according Homer and Bart's schedule, Jimbo was supposed to have his turn at 9:30, just after the Simpsons, and Nelson wasn't supposed to get his turn until 5:30. It could be that this was another day and a different schedule, however a scene with Snake at the Kwik-E-Mart approves the fact that he was supposed to get a turn with Mr. Burns after Apu, which would've been at 3:30.
• When Homer and Bart checks the Revenge Chart, Luann’s Name is misspelled as Luanne, and Otto’s last name is missing a second “n”.
• Mr. Burns was shown to lose some blood after being nice to Ralph, but in past episodes, he had no health problems after being nice like in “Grift of the Magi.”

Cuts

• In a rerun of this episode on November 28, 2010 on Sky1 in the UK, the scene where Otto uses Mr. Burns as a bong was cut.

Trivia

• References to Smithers' homosexuality:
  • Mr. Burns says that love is something that one man can't pay another for. Smithers starts to contradict him, but is cut off when Burns continues talking.
  • Smithers says that Burns was more than a friend to him, but his new employer Dick Cheney likes to stack naked men, and adds, "That's a start."
• The day this episode aired, Futurama also had an appearance of Dick Cheney's head.
• Character in line for the "Cat Flu" vaccination (from back to front):
  • Jeffery Albertson, The Simpson Family, Dewey Largo, Ruth Powers, Akira, Mrs. Glick, Sea Captain, Blue-haired Lawyer, Charlie (SNPP), Rainier Wolfcastle, Cookie Kwan, Lindsey Naegle, Herman, Selma Bouvier, Patty Bouvier, Wendell's Mother(?), Wendell Borton, Otto Mann, Dr. Nick Riviera, Bumblebee Man, Groundskeeper Willie, Dave Shutton, Old Jewish Man, Mrs. Muntz, Nelson Muntz, Kearney Zzyzwicz, Jimbo Jones, Dolph Starbeam, Richard's Mother, Richard, Sanjay Nahasapeemapetilon, Lenny Leonard, Carl Carlson, Squeaky-Voiced Teen, Disco Stu, Snake Jailbird, Lewis, Lewis' Mother, Lewis' Father, Edna Krabappel, Elizabeth Hoover, Gil Gunderson, Madison McKenna, Brody McKenna, Nikki McKenna, Allison Taylor, Mr. Taylor, Eleanor Abernathy (and her cats), Jasper Beardly, Mr. Powell (Janey's Father), Janey Powell, Becky's Mother, Becky, Raphael, Barney Gumble, Hans Moleman, Sarah Wiggum, Ralph Wiggum, Dubya Spuckler, Brandine Spuckler, Crystal Meth Spuckler, Cletus Spuckler, Superintendent Chalmers, Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon, The Nahasapeemapetilon Octuplets, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Krusty the Clown, Sherri and Terri, Sherri and Terri's father, Martha Prince, Martin Prince Sr., Martin Prince, Helen Lovejoy, Reverend Timothy Lovejoy, Jessica Lovejoy, Kirk Van Houten, Milhouse Van Houten, Ned Flanders, Rod Flanders and Todd Flanders.
• Mr. Burns threatens to lower a dome on Springfield again. Lenny says it has been done before in The Simpsons Movie.
  • Also, Lou states that they could just dig a way out if he did lower the dome. Ever since the movie was released, a very common question among Simpsons fans has been why no one in town thought of digging a way out from under the EPA's dome. It could have been that due to the army surrounding the dome, no one could dig themselves out without being caught.
• Maggie points a gun at Mr. Burns again, wanting to kill him. ("Who Shot Mr. Burns?")
• Mr. Burns manages to get the whole town to resent him, also similar to "Who Shot Mr. Burns?".
• When the Springfielders have their half-hour turns at taking revenge on Mr. Burns, a rota of name and times is seen. One of the names on it is Artie Ziff, revealing him to be still alive and apparently out of prison.
• This is the third episode where Mr. Burns does something which gives someone the advantage over him. The first two were "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk" and "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love".