Unexpected Literary References Archives » Page 2 of 6

The Simpsons re-writes The Little Prince

June 17, 2012

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) This one from the episode titled "A Totally Fun Thing That Bart Will Never Do Again" which is the nineteenth episode of season 23. It aired on April 29, 2012. Thank you to Alex C (in the comments below) for informing me that "the title is a spoof on David Foster Wallace’s article, “A Supposedly Fun Thing I Will Never Do Again”, in which he was sent on a 7-day cruise ship and hated every minute of it." After Bart fakes a world-wide pandemic, he and a group of fellow cruise boat travelers make due with what's available to them in order to start a brand new society. One micro-group of super intelligent children--lead by Lisa, of course--set out to recreate all of the world's great books in order to ensure their presence in the reborn society. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's novella, "The Little Prince" is one such book.

The Simpsons and the closing of Borders Bookstores (again)

June 16, 2012

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) At this point, I should probably change the name of this series to Expected Literary References. Seems when I keep my eyes peeled for book references in cartoons, I see them quite often. "The Spy Who Learned Me" is the twentieth episode of season 23, and contains yet another reference to the closing of all Borders Bookstores. It originally aired on May 6, 2012. Here, we have a quick zoom-out from a bird to a wide shot of a dilapidated Borders Bookstore building.

Mr. Burns reads Tina Fey and robots fall in love with literature

April 10, 2012

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) The Simpsons are back, this time with two references in a single episode, one of classic literature and one of contemporary comedy. Or so I assume the latter is of contemporary comedy; I haven't actually read Tina Fey's Bossypants. But Mr. Burns has, as evidenced by this screenshot from "Them, Robot," the seventeenth episode of season 23: Robots display human emotions by appreciating literature, notably the novella (though the girth in the above screenshot would imply novel-length) Death in Venice by Thomas Mann.

More Stephen King Family Guy references. Surprised? You shouldn’t be.

March 19, 2012

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) An old episode, and honestly one of my least favorites. Not sure why, but this one just never did it for me. These two references come from the season two episode titled "A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Bucks" in which Chris becomes a hot-shot New York artist. First, an evil stuffed clown at a carnival: Stewie: “Ooooo how deliciously evil looking! It's like something out of Stephen King” The evil clown doll may be a reference to King's character “Pennywise the Clown” from his novel“IT!” (catch credit goes to TVRage.com) The above aside then leads directly into the second Stephen King gag, a more direct reference in which King (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) sells his publisher (or agent) on a terrible idea for a book. The publisher, of course, buys it. Stephen King: Okay, for my 307th book .. this couple is attacked by a... uh... A lamp monster! ..…

Family Guy does Stephen King, X3

February 16, 2012

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) Yet another Family Guy take on something Stephen King, this time with parodies of three movie adaptations of King works: Stand by Me (based on the novella The Body), Misery (based on the novel of the same name), and The Shawshank Redemption (based on the novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption). Peter: Hi, it's me, Peter. Your TV cartoon pal. You know, Lois has been bitching lately that I watch too much TV and don't read enough books. So I went to the library and picked up three books by the greatest author in the last thousand years: Stephen King, and tonight, I'd like to share them with you. Click over the the episode's IMDB page to see a clip.

That great writer, Harry Potter, so says Stan

February 15, 2012

Here's a quick one for the Unexpected Literary References list. From American Dad, Season 2 : Ep. 14: An Apocalypse to Remember Hayley: There's no such thing as mutants because the world didn't end. Steve: You lied to us, Dad? Stan: Oh, I tell a great story and I'm a liar, but Harry Potter does it, and he's your favorite writer.

Family Guy’s Brian runs over Dean Koontz

January 23, 2012

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) Though the episode is quite old, I caught this reference to Stephen King and Dean Koontz in the episode called "Brian in Love" from season 2 of Family Guy. On the surface, the gag speaks simply to the poor man's Stephen King perception of Dean Koontz. But, when you consider the real life car accident that Stephen King suffered in 1999 the gag gets way gaggier.