History Recap / TheSimpsonsS7E2122ShortFilmsAboutSpringfield

* WouldNotHurtAChild: After Ian (an extremely tall man) gives Nelson a speech about how the VW Beetle that he rides in is the tallest car he could afford and that it's something he needs and asks Nelson that if he thinks that makes it worthy of insulting Ian by laughing at him, Nelson nervously but still ([[BrutalHonesty bluntly]]) says "I guess so." Ian very visibly holds back the desire to cave Nelson's face in before settling on humiliating him by forcing him to parade down the street with his pants down.

[[AC:Skinner & the Superindentent]]

* WouldNotHurtAChild: After Ian (an extremely tall man) gives Nelson a speech about how the VW Beetle that he rides in is the tallest car he could afford and that it's something he needs and asks Nelson that if he thinks that makes it worthy of insulting Ian by laughing at him, Nelson (nervously but still ([[BrutalHonesty bluntly]]) says "I guess so." Ian very visibly holds back the desire to cave Nelson's face in before settling on humiliating him by forcing him to parade down the street with his pants down.

* CringeComedy: Principal Skinner's lunch with Superintendent Chalmers, bluffing his way through claiming that the Krusty Burgers he serves are homemade "steamed hams". And then saying that the fire in his kitchen is the aurora borealis.

* DinnerWithTheBoss: Principal Skinner has Superintendent Chalmers over for lunch. Except Skinner's roast catches fire and he comes up with one {{Blatant Lie|s}} after another -- from claiming the smoke is "steam from the steamed clams we're having" to passing off Krusty Burgers as "steamed hams" to saying that the fire in his kitchen is the aurora borealis[[note]]"At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, ''localized entirely within your kitchen?!''"[[/note]] -- to avoid disappointing Chalmers.

* OffModel: When Superintendent Chalmers says, "I see," [[https://frinkiac.com/gif/S07E21/580462/581463.gif the outline of his nose briefly comes up to his forehead]].

TheOneWith "[[MemeticMutation Steamed Hams]]".

* RefugeInAudacity: Dr. Nick calms down a combative Grandpa by prescribing his regular old man pains as a [[SomethingItis faked disease]] that will make Grandpa's skeleton ''rip itself out of his body'' unless he ''[[ElectricTorture electroshocks him constantly for several hours]]''.

* NonIndicativeName: [[NeverTrustATitle There are actually]] ''[[NeverTrustATitle 19]]'' [[NeverTrustATitle segments in the episode]].

* OffModel: When Superintendent Chalmers says, "I see," [[https://frinkiac.com/gif/S07E21/580462/581463.gif the outline of his nose briefly comes up to his forehead]].

* InstantlyProvenWrong: Apu notices that he only used three out of the five minutes he said he was going to be out of the Kwik-E-Mart for the party and says aloud that nobody was hurt. Cue hi opening the door and Jasper turned out to be left inside and he says "you took three minutes of my life and I want them back!". Downplayed when Jasper then admits he probably would have wasted them anyway and wanders off sad.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: "Steamed Hams" are a popular dish in Connecticut.

* AmbiguousSituation: When Chalmers yells, "SEYMOUR!" at the end of the "Skinner and the Superintendent" theme song, is it part of the theme song, or does it happen within the segment itself?

* AssPull: InUniverse, this is what Skinner resorts to when Chalmers starts to get skeptical, from claiming that "steamed hams" is Albany slang for "hamburger" to saying that Chalmers needs to leave after two minutes because he's tired.[[note]]It appears to be the intention in the script that there was a short time lapse at some point in the scene, hence why Chalmers doesn't see anything odd in being asked to leave (and indeed seems to agree), but that is not apparent onscreen[[/note]]

--->'''Chalmers:''' Aurora Borealis? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized ''entirely'' within your kitchen!?!\\

* BluntNo: Skinner pretends the fire in his kitchen is the aurora borealis. Chalmers asks to see it and Skinner replies with a laconic "No".

* DramaticStutter: "So you call them 'steamed hams' despite the fact they are obviously grilled." At which point Seymour is reduced to stuttering because he can't think of a new lie on the spot.
* EpicFail: Skinner is so concerned about salvaging his lunch with Chalmers that ''he neglects to so much as turn the oven off'' as his roast is ''literally on fire''. Cue the oven setting the house on fire. In fact, the fact that Skinner is so inattentive that his roast ''catches on fire in the first place'' (not an easy feat unless a lot of grease is involved) would normally be enough for this trope.
* ExerciseExcuse: Skinner is about to go out his window to buy Krusty Burgers and pretend he cooked them (because he burnt his roast), when Chalmers enters. Skinner claims he was stretching his leg on the windowsill.

* LethalChef: Exaggerated. Skinner is apparently so terrible at oven-cooking a roast that it ''catches fire'', and worse yet, he focuses on what to do to please Chalmers because of this mishap so much that he doesn't does anything about the fire until it has spread to ''the whole house''.

* NonIndicativeName: Skinner's "Steamed Hams" are obviously grilled. When Chalmers points it out, Skinner [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere tries to book it]] because he can't think of any more BlatantLies to try to cover his ass.

* ProfessionalButtKisser: Seymour Skinner would rather allow his house to be set on fire (endangering his mother as well) or look like a complete idiot in front of his boss with an endless barrage of BlatantLies than run any risk of pissing off Chalmers by letting him know ''the house is on fire'', or that yeah, they are eating Krusty Burgers but there's an explanation for that.

* StaggeredZoom: Happens to Chalmers when he angrily questions Skinner about the possibility of the Aurora Borealis being in his kitchen.

-->'''Chalmers:''' Yes, I should be--''(sees Seymour's kitchen on fire through the door)'' '''[[OhCrap GOOD LORD!]]''' WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THERE?!

* ExpositoryThemeTune: The sequences involving Cletus ("Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel") and Skinner and Chalmers ("The Principal and the Superintendent") have them. Cletus' even has the lyrics appearing on-screen in a FollowTheBouncingBall fashion. Frink made one for his segment, and sings a few lines to try to convince people to let it air, but he calls it quits when it's clear the episode is over.

* AccidentalHero: Milhouse was just playing around with a mace when he saved his dad, Snake and Chief Wiggum from Herman.
* AllThereInTheManual: The Very Tall Guy's name isn't stated onscreen (even the episode guide just calls him "Very Tall Guy"), but the Very Tall Guy's name is Ian, as he's modeled after producer Ian Maxtone-Graham, who is very tall himself, standing at 6'8" (2.03 m).
* AllThereInTheScript:
** A small bit that was in the original script but dropped from the final product was Skinner, after burning the roast but before looking out the window, looking into the refrigerator and exclaiming, "And I've got no other roasts! Damn!"
** The script also suggests that the skit takes place over a slightly longer period of time than what we see on screen, with the irrelevant parts cut out, meaning Skinner didn't simply ditch the luncheon after two minutes like the final scene would otherwise imply.
* TheAllegedCar: Implied with Ian's VW Bug -- it works perfectly fine (that we can see), but Ian barely fits in and he points out to Nelson that it's the tallest car he could afford.
* AmbiguousSituation: When Chalmers yells, "SEYMOUR!" at the end of the "Skinner and the Superintendent" theme song, is it part of the theme song, or does it happen within the segment itself?
* ArmorPiercingResponse: "And you call them 'steamed hams' despite the fact they are obviously grilled." At which point Seymour is reduced to stuttering because he can't think of a new lie on the spot.
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign:
** Many of the Spanish words used in Bumblebee Man's segment are easily understood cognates of English and not accurate Spanish; this was done deliberately so that non-Spanish speakers could understand the dialogue without subtitles.
** In the Italian dub, the use of phony cognates wouldn't have worked because Italian and Spanish are so linguistically similar. To maintain the joke, the translators had Bumblebee Man speak Italian, but occasionally lapse into goofy ElSpanishO.
* AssPull: InUniverse, this is what Skinner resorts to when Chalmers starts to get skeptical, from claiming that "steamed hams" is Albany slang for "hamburger" to saying that Chalmers needs to leave after two minutes because he's tired.[[note]]It appears to be the intention in the script that there was a short time lapse at some point in the scene, hence why Chalmers doesn't see anything odd in being asked to leave (and indeed seems to agree), but that is not apparent onscreen[[/note]]
-->'''Chalmers:''' ''(seeing smoke and flames coming from the kitchen)'' Good lord, what is happening in there?\\
'''Skinner:''' Aurora Borealis.
* AuthorAvatar: The very tall man was a caricature of writer Ian Maxtone-Graham and is even canonically named after him.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Turns out that Moe's Bar has a panic room with a small bulletproof window, that Moe uses when it's held up by Snake. The "impractical" part lies in both the fact that there is nothing in the panic room that can help prevent a thief that is inside the bar from simply opening the cashier and taking off with all the money and (to make things worse) the panic room has no ventilation.
* AwkwardStoplightMoment: During a section parodying ''Film/PulpFiction'', Snake Jailbird sees Chief Wiggum walking down the street while he's waiting for a red light, and mows the Chief down with his car.

* BaitAndSwitch: When Lisa goes to the barber shop, she asks to get rid of the gum but to be careful, the barber says that he knows how important hair is for a real girl. One wipe later, we see he just cut the gum and left a bald spot which makes Lisa scream... to which he tells her she should just stay calm, and then we cut to her with a nice new haircut.
* BeyondTheImpossible: Somehow, Skinner manages to get away with passing off Krusty Burgers as "steamed hams" ''and'' prevents Chalmers from becoming aware that his house is on fire by claiming it's the Aurora Borealis.
* BlatantLies: Skinner tells some ''exceptionally'' bald-faced lies during the "Skinner and the Superintendent" short.
** That smoke coming from the oven? Seymour claims it's steam and that he's making steamed clams.
** The most blatant is his attempt to have his kitchen fire dismissed as the Aurora Borealis.
--->'''Chalmers:''' Aurora Borealis? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized ''entirely'' within your kitchen!?!\\
'''Skinner:''' [[RefugeInAudacity Yes.]]\\
'''Chalmers:''' ''(genuinely curious)'' May I see it?\\
''({{beat}})''\\
'''Skinner:''' No.
** Skinner casually throws his mother under the bus just to save his luncheon.
--->'''Agnes:''' Seymour! The house is on fire!\\
'''Skinner:''' No, Mother, it's just the Northern Lights.
* BluntNo: Skinner pretends the fire in his kitchen is the aurora borealis. Chalmers asks to see it and Skinner replies with a laconic "No".
* BluntYes: When Chalmers questions the possibility of an ''aurora borealis'' in Skinner's kitchen, Skinner's response is a matter-of-factly "yes".
* BookEnds: Bart and Milhouse sitting at the overpass and spraying condiments down onto passerby.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: The episode ends with Frink rushing in to do his vignette, only for the credits to start rolling.
* BuffySpeak:
-->'''Smithers:''' I-I'm allergic to bee stings. They cause me to, uh, die.
* ButtMonkey:
** Bumblebee Man just as much at home as on his show. He suffers assorted accidents, his wife leaves him, and his house collapses on him.
** Lisa has a bad time in this episode. She gets a wad of gum stuck in her hair, Marge's solutions to get it out only result in more things getting stuck in it, she gets attacked by bees and horseflies, and she's humiliated when half of Springfield barge into her house to offer their own solutions to cleaning her head. When she finally gets the mess cut off and gets a trendy new hairstyle, it seems that things are finally looking up for Lisa...only for Nelson to laugh at her and make her depressed.
* CallARabbitASmeerp: Discussed by Lou. In a conversation he has with his partner and chief, the cop talks about UsefulNotes/McDonalds and how it serves most of the same food as Krusty Burger, but all under different names the others find strange.
-->'''Wiggum:''' Do they have Krusty Partially Gelatinated Non-Dairy Gum-Based Beverages?\\
'''Lou:''' Mm-hmm. They call them "shakes."\\
'''Eddie:''' Hmph. Shakes -- you don't know what you're getting.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint:
** When Ian asks Nelson if he should be laughed at for owning a small car, Nelson, afraid of Ian but either not understanding the question, or simply unable to not insult him, defeatedly says "I guess so".
** When Dr. Nick finds Smithers lying in a heap outside the hospital, begging for help due to his bee sting allergy, he thinks Smithers is a homeless guy begging for booze money and throws some change at him.
* ContinuityNod: The Kwik-E-Mart is [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E1StarkRavingDad closed for the second time ever]] (third, if you count the short scene in "Homer the Vigilante" where Apu is on the roof of the Kwik-E-Mart and shoots at a customer who stops by the store), and Apu [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E5LisaTheVegetarian eats a tofu dog]] at Sanjay's party.
* CouchGag: The whole room is underwater with the couch being made of clam shells, and a treasure chest in place of the TV. Sea monkey versions of the family swim in and sit on the clam couch.
* CouldntFindAPen: When Homer accidentally locks Maggie inside a newspaper dispenser, he writes a note on a scrap of paper with spray cheese and tucks it to Santa's Little Helper's collar. Unfortunately, SLH eats it.
* CreatorCameo: The crowd on the street who laugh at Nelson includes caricatures of Creator/MattGroening, Bill Oakley, and Josh Weinstein. Oakley wrote in the script that the street was filled with [[SelfDeprecation Springfield's biggest idiots and so the animators drew him, Weinstein, and Groening into the scene]]. Ian in the same scene is a caricature of writer Ian Maxtone-Graham.
* CringeComedy: Principal Skinner's lunch with Superintendent Chalmers, bluffing his way through claiming that the Krusty Burgers he serves are homemade "steamed hams". And then saying that the fire in his kitchen is the aurora borealis.
* CuttingTheKnot: After reaching his wits end trying to find a way to get Maggie out of the newspaper dispenser, Homer finally ends up just ripping the whole thing out of the sidewalk and taking it home.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Almost everyone for the residents of Springfield such as Smithers, Dr. Nick, and others (except for Professor Frink, whose chance at his own story gets cut off by the closing credits).
* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: Right before hitting Chief Wiggum with his car, Snake is listening to a Film/PulpFiction-esque surf rock remix of the show's theme.
* DinnerWithTheBoss: Principal Skinner has Superintendent Chalmers over for lunch. Except Skinner's roast catches fire and he comes up with one {{Blatant Lie|s}} after another -- from claiming the smoke is "steam from the steamed clams we're having" to passing off Krusty Burgers as "steamed hams" to saying that the fire in his kitchen is the aurora borealis[[note]]"At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, ''localized entirely within your kitchen?!''"[[/note]] -- to avoid disappointing Chalmers.

* TheDogBitesBack: After Nelson mocks Lisa's new haircut, she tells Ian where Nelson's hiding.

* DudeNotFunny: Ian's reaction to Nelson mocking him because the VW Bug (that he barely fits in) is the tallest car that he could afford to buy is to BrakeAngrily, get out and chase after him with apparent intent to beat the crap out of him, but settling only on pantsing him and forcing him to march down the street while everybody else mocks him.

* ExactWords: Cletus is atop a telephone pole.
-->'''Cletus:''' Hey, you know what? I could call my ma while I'm up here. ''(yells)'' Hey, maw! Get off the dang roof!

* ExpositoryThemeTune: The sequences involving Cletus ("Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel") and Skinner and Chalmers ("The Principal and the Superintendent") have them. Cletus' even has the lyrics appearing on-screen in a FollowTheBouncingBall fashion. Frink made one for his segment, and sings a few lines to try to convince people to let it air, but he calls it quits when it's clear the episode is over.
* ExpyCoexistence: This episode makes it clear that Krusty Burger and its inspiration, [=McDonald's=], exist in this universe, though the latter apparently is so rare in Springfield that few of its residents even know about it.
-->'''Lou:''' Y'know, I went to the [=McDonald's=] in Shelbyville on Friday night.\\
'''Wiggum:''' The Mc-what?\\
'''Lou:''' Uh, [=McDonald's=] restaurant, I, uh, I've never heard of it either, but uh, they have over 2000 locations in this state alone.\\
'''Eddie:''' Must've sprung up overnight.
* FatBastard: The Comic Book Guy, as usual. He not only refuses to lend Milhouse his bathroom (saying that it's for customers only) while seeing that Milhouse is about to wet himself, but when Milhouse buys a used comic (worth about ten cents, all he can afford, and CBG insults Milhouse when he points at a Creator/SeanConnery picture (signed by Creator/RogerMoore) desperately looking for something to purchase) so he'll do and Kirk barges into the shop at that moment and thinks that Milhouse was just buying comics, CBG never explains what is going on, just saying that "the transaction is over" and letting Kirk drag his son out.

* TheFreelanceShameSquad: Nelson, laughing at everything, including Lisa's new hairdo and Mrs. Glick after she trips over a trash can. He then sees a Volkswagen Beetle, the driver of whom is cramped inside and seated awkwardly in such a way that his knees rise above his head, and laughs. Suddenly, the car stops and the driver comes out ... and after revealing himself to be quite tall, Nelson realizes the man is coming after him and, after doing an "OhCrap," tries to run. But the man is too fast, and after catching him, explains that he cannot afford to drive a nicer car. He then pulls down Nelson's shorts and makes him walk down Main Street, the car following close behind. Everyone laughs at Nelson, just as he did to them so many times in the past during their misfortune, while Bart and Milhouse splatter ketchup and mustard on him from atop an overpass, where they are watching the events unfold.

* GumInHair: Lisa's dilemma in her story. She and Marge resort to more and more drastic measures to remove it.
* HumiliationConga: With pants down and forced to march down the city streets with a car steadily tailing him, Nelson is paraded forward with all of the town in joy and jest as "the kid who laughs at everyone" is given a taste of his own medicine. Only beginning his march of shame, Bart and Milhouse soon target him with condiments, and it's implied that there's even more to be had on Nelson as he continues his march.
* HydrantGeyser: Parodied when Chief Wiggum, on foot, recognizes Snake at the wheel of his car at a light and in the ensuing attempt to flee Snake crashes into a mailbox which results in a geyser of letters spewing forth from the ground.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Nelson finally gets paid back in [[HumiliationConga grand style]] for his role as Springfield's one-man [[TheFreelanceShameSquad Freelance Shame Squad]].
* KickTheDog:
** After a whole episode of feeling miserable because of the plight with the gum in her hair, Lisa finally gets it removed and gets a nice new hairstyle to boot, making her feel good about herself. Nelson mocks her the second she steps out of the barber shop, making her depressed again.
** Milhouse goes into the comic shop desperate to use the bathroom, which the Comic Book Guy refuses to allow unless he'll buy something. As he's paying for a comic book, Kirk comes in and thinks he's just wasting time when he was only allowed inside to use the bathroom, to which the Comic Book Guy tells him their transaction is over and lets Kirk drag him back outside.
* LaserGuidedKarma:
** Nelson points and laughs at Lisa's new hairstyle after she ''finally'' got the gum removed. He then does so at Ian. Ian chases him down, and when it looks like he might be able to hide, Lisa gives him away. Ian then pantses him, and parades him through the town, getting everyone to laugh at him.
** Moe cleaning out Barney of every cent he has and then leaving him behind in the bar when Snake shows up with a gun, ends up with nothing because Snake loots the register.
** Though not the first time he had been arrested, Snake this time around is manhandled by a criminal worse than him, and unlike Wiggum, he never leaves the premises (probably thanks to Milhouse and his dad), implying Moe gets his money back and he is incarcerated, again.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Jake the Barber cuts the gum out of Lisa's hair and hides the resultant bald patch with a new hairstyle that clearly distinguishes her hairline from the rest of her face, to which she says, "[[NonStandardCharacterDesign I finally look like a real person!]]"

* LethalDiagnosis: PlayedForLaughs. Thanks to Grandpa's (combative) insistence that he needs to hear a quack doctor, what may have been regular hypochondria and old-man pains ends up with him ''being electrocuted with live wires for hours''.
* LighterAndSofter: The sequence inside of the gun shop to the similar one in ''Film/PulpFiction'', thanks to Milhouse's and Kirk's accidental BigDamnHeroes intervention. Making a long story short, Tarantino's version includes some bloody RapeAndRevenge.

* MadeOfIron: Wiggum just shrugs off Snake ''running him down with a car'' and rushes after him, saying [[ComicallyMissingThePoint they need to exchange insurance info.]]
* MuggingTheMonster: Nelson is horrified by how tall Ian actually was.
* NonIndicativeName:
** [[NeverTrustATitle There are actually]] ''[[NeverTrustATitle 19]]'' [[NeverTrustATitle segments in the episode]].
** Skinner's "Steamed Hams" are obviously grilled. When Chalmers points it out, Skinner [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere tries to book it]] because he can't think of any more BlatantLies to try to cover his ass.
* NoodleIncident:
** Sideshow Mel says that whatever the Simpsons end up doing, what they should ''not'' do is try to remove the gum by using a bone, while he fidgets with the bone in his own hair.
** Whatever the directions Skinner gave to get Chalmers to his house were, they were apparently confusing enough that when Chalmers greets Skinner, he notes that he made it "''despite'' your directions."
* NosyNeighbor: What seems to be the whole town enters the Simpson home and offers ideas on how to deal with the gum stuck on Lisa's hair.
* NotHyperbole: Barney comments that the people at Moe's had a good laugh when Moe said he'd need to send Barney's tab to NASA to calculate. Moe reveals that he did and the results have just arrived.
* OfCorpseHesAlive: Dr. Nick is accused of mishandling cadavers. "I get here faster in the carpool lane," he says in his defense.

** Barney, when Moe points out he owes him ''70 billion dollars'' in bar tab debts. He calms down after Moe realises that was the cost of the Voyager spacecraft and promptly gives him his actual total: a mere '''14''' billion dollars.
** From Nelson, when he realizes that Ian has stopped his car and is coming after him for laughing about his appearance. Then a second time, after Lisa tells Ian that Nelson is hiding down the manhole.
--->''(Nelson sees Lisa's new hairstyle after she got gum out of it)''\\
'''Nelson:''' [[{{Catchphrase}} Haw-haw!]]\\
''(Lisa sighs and walks away while covering up her hair. Then, Nelson sees Mrs. Glick trip over and fall in a garbage can)''\\
'''Nelson:''' Haw-haw!\\
''(Finally he sees a '''very''' tall man in a '''very''' small car)''\\
'''Nelson:''' [[RuleOfThree Haw-haw!]]\\
''(The man... doesn't like this one bit and pulls over, then gets out. Nelson sees how tall he is and he is coming right for him)''\\
'''Nelson:''' [[OhCrap Crud...]]\\
''(He runs off with the man following close behind, until Nelson vanishes around a corner where an open manhole is... and Lisa as well...)''\\
'''Lisa:''' ''(points at manhole)'' He's down there.\\
'''Nelson:''' '''[[LaserGuidedKarma CRUD!!]]'''

* ParrotExpowhat:
-->'''Lou:''' You know, I went to the UsefulNotes/McDonalds in Shelbyville on Friday night--\\
'''Wiggum:''' The [=McWhat=]?
* PetTheDog: Herman ''does'' let Milhouse use his bathroom.
* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: The episode was a backdoor pilot for a {{spinoff}} called ''Tales from Springfield'', which would showcase the lives of every character on the show who wasn't a member of The Simpson family. The crew decided it would be too much work, and the idea was abandoned.
* PottyEmergency: Milhouse needs to use the toilet and enters Comic Book Guy's store. However Comic Book Guy won't let the kid use the restroom unless he buys something. Milhouse eventually buys a cheap Hamburglar comic, but then Milhouse's father enters the store and says: "Hey, Milhouse. I thought you needed to go to the toilet and now I find you here, buying comics." Comic Book Guy cruelly tells Milhouse's father that their business is finished, whereupon Kirk drags Milhouse away.

* RealityHasNoSubtitles: The entire Bumblebee Man segment is shown in unsubtitled Spanish.
* RefugeInAudacity:
** Even though Skinner's lies keep getting more and more blatant, Chalmers ends up buying them all. Particularly the Aurora Borealis bit, where Chalmers is taken completely off-guard by Skinner's BluntYes and his initial incredulity turns into ''genuine curiosity''.
** Dr. Nick calms down a combative Grandpa by prescribing his regular old man pains as a [[SomethingItis faked disease]] that will make Grandpa's skeleton ''rip itself out of his body'' unless he ''[[ElectricTorture electroshocks him constantly for several hours]]''.
* RunningGagged: The "Hi, Dr. Nick!" part of the usual "Hi, everybody! Hi, Dr. Nick!" exchange is less enthusiastic than usual. Justified because it's a medical review board that is sick of his lack of professional behavior and is going to fire him.
* SavedByTheAwesome: The medical review board is so astonished by the ease Dr. Nick was able to calm down Grandpa with his quackery that they allow him to keep his license.

* ScaryStingingSwarm: The gum on Lisa's hair attracts a swarm of bees. One then flies off and ends up stinging Smithers, who has a bee sting allergy.

* SeinfeldianConversation: In the segment he shares with Wiggum and Eddie, Lou talks in great detail on his recent experience eating at a [=McDonalds=], and how it differs from Krusty Burger.
* SeriesContinuityError:
** In this episode, Smithers tells Mr. Burns he's deathly allergic to bee stings. In "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk", Burns starts a bee farm and invites Smithers to see it, and he's perfectly fine with bees.
** When Ned Flanders is [[ItMakesSenseInContext taking a hammer to Lisa's hair]], he wields the hammer with his right hand, despite Ned being well-known as a southpaw.
* ShockinglyExpensiveBill: Moe sent Barney's bar tab to NASA to calculate, and the total came back as $14 billion (for comparison, the ''Challenger'' space shuttle was a lot less expensive). He'd have to drink five beers a day at $2 each for roughly 3.8 million years.
* ShoutOut:
** The salon where Lisa goes to remove the gum (and everything else added during the failed attempts to remove the gum) is named [[Literature/PippiLongstocking Snippy Longstockings]].
** Snake and Chief Wiggum's segments parody the Marsellus-Butch storyline from ''Film/PulpFiction''. Wiggum and Lou also do a version of the film's "Royale with Cheese" scene.
** The name of the episode is a SnowcloneTitle to ''32 Short Films About Glenn Gould''.
** The short that follows Dr. Nick briefly changes into a homage to ''Series/{{ER}}'' with Grandpa's attack, even using a similar jingle as background music.
* ShownTheirWork: In the Mr. Burns story, every single word he yells at Smithers is real and used correctly. To maintain accuracy, the writers used a 19th-century slang thesaurus to look up words.

* StealthPun:
** When Apu leaves the changing house after presumably having sex with the woman, he says: "Don't worry, I'll tell everybody you were [[TypeCaste untouchable!]]".
** Milhouse subdues Herman with [[EpicFlail a flail]] and knight's helmet. So, as the saying went in ''Film/PulpFiction'', [[LiteralMetaphor he literally "went medieval" on him]].

* SpeedSex: Apu and the woman he hooks up with at Sanjay's party, which takes about 3 seconds, since he's trying to get as much partying done as possible in 5 minutes.
* SuperGullible: Chalmers believes every single one of Skinner's BlatantLies, right down to Aurora Borealis being located within his kitchen.
* TandemParasite: Mr. Burns won't pedal while in his and Smithers's tandem bicycle, even when Smithers is stung by a bee; Burns just ''orders'' Smithers to pedal himself to the hospital.
* ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine: Ian leads the people of Springfield in laughing at Nelson, complete with "Haw-haw!".
* ThrowTheDogABone: After many episodes of being [[ButtMonkey tormented]] by [[TheBully Nelson]], Milhouse finally manages to get one over him when he (alongside Bart) splashes him with condiments from a bridge while he's being forced to walk around with his pants around his ankles [[LaserGuidedKarma by a tall man that he laughed at]]. Martin, another frequent victim of his, is also seen laughing at him in the crowd.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Bart kickstarts Lisa's whole series of misfortunes when he casually chucks a wad of gum into a recycling bin and gets it into her hair instead.
* VengefulVendingMachine: Homer tries to get a newspaper while walking the dog and carrying Maggie and groceries simultaneously. While he does manage to get the paper, he ends up accidentally locking Maggie in the vendor, and since he has no money left, he attempts to free her through various methods before ultimately taking the vending machine itself home with him.
* VignetteEpisode: Invoked when Bart and Milhouse discuss whether or not the people in town have their own adventures.
* WhosLaughingNow: Ian the tall man gets angered at Nelson laughing at how he looked driving in his small car and decides to publicly humiliate him in retaliation.
-->'''Ian:''' Would you like it if I laughed at ''YOUR'' misfortune? Huh!? Maybe we should find out! ''(pulls Nelson's pants down around his ankles)'' Now march! ''(Nelson with his pants down is forced to march ahead of Ian's car who honks to get all the bystanders' attention)'' Hey everybody! Look at this! It's that boy who laughs at everyone! Let's laugh at him!\\
'''Springfieldians:''' Ha ha!

* WouldNotHurtAChild: After Ian (an extremely tall man) gives Nelson a speech about how the VW Beetle that he rides in is the tallest car he could afford and that it's something he needs and asks Nelson that if he thinks that makes it worthy of insulting Ian by laughing at him, Nelson (nervously but still ([[BrutalHonesty bluntly]]) says "I guess so." Ian very visibly holds back the desire to cave Nelson's face in before settling on humiliating him by forcing him to parade down the street with his pants down.

* AllThereInTheScript: A small bit that was in the original script but dropped from the final product was Skinner, after burning the roast but before looking out the window, looking into the refrigerator and exclaiming, "And I've got no other roasts! Damn!"

* BaitAndSwitch: When Lisa goes to the barber shop, she asks to get rid of the gum but to be careful, the barber says that he knows how important hair is for a real girl. One wipe later, we see he just cut the gum and left a bald spot which makes Lisa scream... To which he tells her she should just stay calm, and then we cut to she actually having a nice haircut.
* BeyondTheImpossible: Somehow, Skinner manages to get away with passing off Krusty Burgers as "steamed hams" ''and'' prevents Chalmers from becoming aware that his house is on fire by claiming it's Aurora Borealis.

** The most blatant is his attempt to have his kitchen fire dismissed as an Aurora Borealis.

* ArmorPiercingResponse: "So you call them 'steamed hams' despite the fact they are obviously grilled." At which point Seymour is reduced to stuttering because he can't think of a new lie on the spot.

** "Oh, ye gods! My roast is ruined!"

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Steaming a hamburger? [[https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/03/how-to-make-steamed-hamburgers/ It's possible]]. Which is why one of Chalmers' questions is why call them "steamed" when they were obviously grilled.

* ForWantOfANail: Should Nelson not have opened up his big mouth as he always did, he would have avoided pissing off the wrong guy that day, and would have avoided Lisa's apathy to his plight as she helped point out the sewer where Nelson was lurking.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Nelson finally gets paid back in [[HumiliationConga grand style]] for his role as Springfield's one-man FreelanceShameSquad.

* SuperGullible: Chalmers.

* LicensedGame: ''[[https://gamejolt.com/games/SteamedHams/673130 Steamed Hams: the Graphic Adventure]]'', a fanmade game adaptation of the episode's best remembered segment.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Jake the Barber cuts the gum out of Lisa's hair and hides the resultant bald patch with a new hairstyle that clearly distinguishes her hairline from the rest of her face, to which she says, "[[NonStandardCharacterDesign I finally look like a real person]]."