Long story short, Kate “Ma” Barker was a famous outlaw in the '30s. Much of her infamous reputation may be exaggerated - I’m not a crime buff, but that’s the impression I get - but anyway, that’s the joke.
Bryan Ekers: But is there any significance to Martin singing “The Summer Winds / Came blowing in / From across the sea…” as he stands naked amid the wreckage of his swimming pool?
That is the opening line to a famous Sinatra song “The Summer Wind.” I interept the song as a lover remembering a summer fling. Martin is remembering his brief fling with popularity. That and its’ really funny.
Hmm. I don’t have time right now, but I think I’ll do it tonight. There really are some funny ones. Hopefully the thread won’t sink.
I haven’t seen the episode in question, so I can’t say for certain, but “Friend”, said in a weird and stilted way, was one of the few words that the Frankenstein monster learned and used in the movie Bride of Frankenstein. I don’t recall E.T. saying just “Friend” in his movie.
OK, I know this one is from Maltese Falcon (thanks snpp), but I can’t find it on DVD locally, so would someone care to explain if not too complicated:
Burns: “Oh, and one more thing. You must find the Jade Monkey before the next full moon.”
Smithers: “Sir, we found the Jade Monkey, it was in the glove compartment.”
Burns: “With the ice scrapers and road maps?”
Smithers: “Yes, sir, they were in there too.”
Burns: “Excellent. Everything is falling into place.”
Personally, I always thought the joke with Martin and “Summer Wind” had to do with him feeling the summer wind after Kearny had deprived him of his swim trunks…
The Jade Monkey thing isn’t a specific Maltese Falcon reference, it’s just a generic joke about scenes where the baddie is trying to find some long-lost MacGuffin artifact (Jade Monkey/Maltese Falcon/Lost Ark/ancient scroll, whatever.)
“Monster put in wallet.”
Re “Daisy had puppies” - this may be a reference to the dog in the Blondie and Dagwood comic strip and movies. I’m unsure about this, but I seem to recall reading somewhere that the birth of her puppies was a notable event for the followers of the strip which was pretty popular at the time. I can’t verify this online, however.
I saw the rerun of “101 Greyhounds” last night, the one where Santa’s Little Helper fathers a bunch of puppies. One of the puppies stands on its hind legs and Mr. Burns says that it’s just like a little ____. Some guy’s name. I didn’t get the reference and can’t remember the name to google it, but he eventually refers to all of the puppies as little ___s. Don’t! Get! It!
Rrory Calhoun, star of such classic movies as Motel Hell. I always thought it was just a random chosen name.
It wasn’t just the randomness of the name, it was the fact that Smithers knew, from such a weird reference; who Mr. Burns was talking about.
How about from the General Sherman episode:
But if you win… It will be a victory for all mankind. They will tell of your tale for generations, when ever a person asks “did anyone ever defeat this fish?” They will reply “Well, one fella came close. Went by the name of Homer. Seven feet tall he was, with arms like tree trunks. His eyes were like steel, cold, hard. Had a shock of hair, red like the fires of Hell…”
caffeine_overdose, you sure you have that quote correct? On snpp.com it doesn’t have the Henry V-ish text before it:
Shoot. Here’s the link I got that from:
What’s with the chase scene in the episode where Bart plays hookie? It feels like a send-up of Predator or something like that.
I swear on my almost never failing ability to remember pointless stuff, that I heard Homer say he was the first cartoon. I’ve only seen that episode a good 5 times. The first time was when it premiered on Sunday, and Homer said cartoon. He only started saying Brazillian after the premier episode.
Have The Simpsons driven me crazy, or am I right?
Lisa: * laughs [/i[
Marge: What’s so funny
Lisa: Just a joke I heard on Herman’s Head
What? What’s so funny about Herman’s head? I always thought it was the one-arm thing that was Herman’s gag…
Herman’s Head was a Fox show. I thought it was pretty funny.
The joke is that Yeardley Smith (the voice of Lisa) had a role on that show.
OH! I was thinking of Herman (the munition’s store owner) Now I really feel stupid! Granted, we never got that show in the UK, but…
I had forgotten about that Marley23. She was the short blonde secetary, right? Something with an A. Audrey? I had a huge crush on her.