# The Simpsons - what's the reference? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2008, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-whats-the-reference/447060 "2008-04-27T07:21:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-whats-the-reference/447060/1 "2008-04-27T07:21:12Z")
There’s something I’ve seen in an episode of The Simpsons, which I’m sure must be a reference to some other TV show. It’s from the episode The Monkey Suit. A few times in that episode there was a scene change where the picture changed into a jigsaw puzzle and vanished from the screen piece by piece. I’m guessing this is copied from some sort of detective show, but not one I know. Can anyone identify it? Also a couple of times some character was revealed to be Nelson in a rubber mask. Same show? ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-whats-the-reference/447060/2 "2008-04-27T08:41:36Z")
_Mission: Impossible_ (at least for the rubber mask bit). Maybe _Get Smart_ for the jigsaw puzzle (although that may have been _MI_ as well - I’m really not sure). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Them](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@The\_Them](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Them)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-whats-the-reference/447060/3 "2008-04-27T10:19:17Z")
_The Prisoner_; never seen it, but heard of it. There was a whole _Simpsons_ episode based on that. Possibly,_Murder by Death_. It has a peeling-off-rubber-mask scene, though I suspect it’s derivative. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-whats-the-reference/447060/4 "2008-04-27T14:45:09Z")
ISTR that a lot of those [Quinn Martin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinn_Martin) shows from the 60s/70s would have that style of cutting, or something similar at any rate. “Act 3: Valley of Danger!” ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-whats-the-reference/447060/5 "2008-04-27T14:51:32Z")
The [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkey_Suit) on the episode says that the unmaskings and the puzzle piece fadeouts are from [The Saint](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saint_%28TV_series%29) TV series but offers no cite for it. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-whats-the-reference/447060/6 "2008-04-27T15:34:40Z")
I haven’t seen the Simpsons episode of the OP, but I just finished watching the entire _Prisoner_ series on DVD (oh, and I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express, too). There is a Very Important Scene in the Prisoner that involves a monkey and a rubber mask–i.e., one that, depending on the context of the Simpsons episode, could be a direct reference to the Prisoner. I don’t want to be more explicit, since it could be a huge spoiler. I’ve seen the Prisoner end up on the Simpsons a few other places as well.