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Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two) |
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Trivia[]
- The title and the previous episode's title are a reference to the Dallas plot line, "Who Shot J.R.?"
- The alternate ending to "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" (featured in the "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular") was created to prevent any staff (be it writers, or even the overseas animators) on The Simpsons from spoiling the mystery. There were also many people who could have shot Mr. Burns as shown in the same episode. This included Apu (who would have fired multiple rounds instead of just one), Moe, Tito, Barney, and even Santa's Little Helper (who held the gun in his mouth and somehow pulled the trigger).
- Not counting the shorts "Maggie in Peril: Chapter One" and "Maggie in Peril: The Thrilling Conclusion", this is the first two-part episode.
- In Wiggum's dream, the font of the captions for Lisa speaking backwards can most likely be Franklin Gothic Demi Extra Compressed with slightly alternate kerning.
- One of the men in Tito Puente's band plays a bongo drum that has Mr. Burns' face on it, paralleling a scene in "And Maggie Makes Three" where Homer actually plays Burns' head like a bongo drum.
- While scanning for the DNA, names like (Richard M.) Nixon, Gutentag (German for "good day"), (Mike) Tyson and (Colin) Powell can be read on the screen.
- The "tada" sound in the DNA test after finding the Simpson's family bloodline is extremely similar to, if not directly from, the Windows "tada" sound effect used in Windows 3.1 and Windows 95[1].
- This episode is referenced in the American Dad! 100th episode, "100 A.D." where Roger comes in and says at the start "Tonight we shall find out who killed Mr. Burns", before being told that that happened fifteen years previous and that it was Maggie.
- Mr. Burns' hospital room number is 2F20, which is the production code for this episode.
- According to the DVD commentary, the contest that coincided with this episode actually had a false winner. No one had guessed that Maggie did it, and pressured by FOX to give the reward to someone, they chose an actual contestant who guessed that Smithers shot Mr. Burns.
- There is another reference of Maggie as a "killer". In the episode "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge", Homer is threatened to be killed by the mafia after stopping their business. Just as the mafia is about to kill Homer, Maggie shoots all the gangsters, wounding them. Marge and Homer later recall the events of this episode.
- In "The Cartridge Family", Marge also brings up the time Maggie shot Burns. However, Homer says that he thought it was Smithers, leading to Lisa's reply of making the case more likely.
- In "The Old Man and the Lisa", Mr. Burns comes to the Simpsons house for Lisa, asking her to help him rebuild his fortune after he loses all his money. While in her house, Homer shows him Maggie, and she makes a gun shape with her hand. Mr. Burns then fearfully says "Oh yes, the baby who shot me."
- In the episode "Revenge is a Dish Best Served Three Times", Homer states that he shot Mr. Burns and framed Maggie.
- The "Outhouse Gag": Grampa abruptly ends a discussion to "use the outhouse." Lisa says that the family doesn't own an outhouse, which causes Homer to panic and run outside to try to stop Grandpa from befouling a building (Homer's toolshed) that only resembles an outhouse. The gag is later repeated in "Bonfire of the Manatees".
- The "humiliating reduction gag": Moe Szyslak while being cleared via lie detector test of any responsibility in shooting Mr. Burns gets humiliated by the lie detection device regarding his plans afterwards regarding a hot date, a mere date, dinner with friends, dining alone, watching TV alone, oogling models in Victoria's Secret Catalogue, before eventually glumly admitting he's actually just going to read the SEARS catalogue. A similar gag sequence would occur with Comic Book Guy in "The Squirt and the Whale" regarding his cosplaying as Captain James Tiberius Kirk where he lists his prime appearance before being forced to reduce it further due to his girth giving way before eventually settling glumly on Denny Crane from Boston Legal (itself a reference to William Shatner's growing weight problems over time).
- "Day of the Jackanapes" had Smithers say "Maggie shot Mr. Burns again".
- Tito Puente and his Latin Jazz Ensemble perform the Theme Song in the closing credits of Part Two.
- Barney Gumble is the only one of the suspects who wasn't actually interviewed/cleared before Chief Wiggum scanned Maggie's eyelash. According to the DVD commentary, this is because Barney was originally meant to be the shooter, and this special was created to land him in jail permanently to write him out of the show, as the writers were running out of material for him.
- Maggie's shooting of Mr. Burns, or more specifically, how she lured Burns over to be shot, was given a subtle reference in The Simpsons Bowling with Mr. Burns' victory screen, where Mr. Burns when attempting to take his trophy had Maggie pop out and then offer Mr. Burns a lollipop, only for Mr. Burns to proceed to beg for mercy before being knocked out by Maggie throwing the lollipop at him.
- It is never established where Homer, Bart, Lisa and Grampa were at the time of the shooting (though Bart can be seen at the sundial along with the other townspeople).
Cultural References[]
Homer escaping from the overturned paddywagon is a homage to The Fugitive.
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 was playing at Moe's.
- The scene where Chief Wiggum has a dream in which Lisa speaks backwards is an obvious homage to Twin Peaks and Special Agent Dale Cooper's interaction with The Man from Another Place and his hair upon waking up also references Cooper's hair after waking up from a similar dream. Also, after Homer escapes from the paddy wagon, the Squeaky-Voiced Teen speaks to his manageress Diane, which is the same name as the unseen secretary that Agent Cooper dictates messages to.
- Sideshow Mel demonstrates deductive reasoning and logic similar to that demonstrated by noted fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. This connection is further noted by Mel's smoking of a pipe during his reflections, as Holmes was frequently known to do.
- The DNA database includes the names of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
- The opening sequence of Part Two, wherein Smithers dreams that he merely dreamed shooting Mr. Burns, before going on to dream that they are in fact undercover detectives on the 1960s Speedway racing circuit, is similar to an incidence on the 1980s soap opera Dallas, in which the events of an entire season (including an attempted murder) were explained away as being merely a character's dream which many fans hated.
- Willie's interrogation scene where he is wearing a kilt and uncrosses his legs is a reference to Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Moe's lie detector test also alludes to the film.
- The book that Chief Wiggum was reading is a parody of Agatha Christie's novel Ten Little Indians.
- "Speedway Squad In Color!" may have been a reference to the crime TV show "Police Squad In Color!"
- Smithers mentions that he's not a catholic, but that he did attempt to march in the St. Patrick's Day parade, a reference to the previous policy of not allowing gay groups to march in St. Patrick's Day parades and the protests that often took place around them.
- The name of the restaurant Tito Puente was present at, "Chez Guevara", is a reference to Che Guevara.
A smudge on Terri or Sherri
Goofs[]
- The bullet claimed to be the one which shot Mr. Burns clearly cannot be such, as it is an UNFIRED bullet, with the shell still attached to the slug. It's not the first time the crew has made this error.
- When the crowd is running, there is briefly a black smudge on either Sherri or Terri's face.
- In an on demand for Time Warner Cable, the second act was accidentally used twice, thus not showing the third act, where it reveals the killer.
- During "Señor Burns", one of the trumpets in Tito's band switches from gold to silver and back to gold.