Lisa's Substitute - Cultural References

Cultural References

Mrs. Krabappel trying to seduce Mr. Bergstrom is a reference to Hoffman's similar situation in the 1967 film The Graduate. Mr. Bergstrom reads a line from the 1952 novel Charlotte's Web to his class. It is implied that this line is the end of the book, but in reality another chapter follows. Vitti said the line was the maximum amount of the book they could feature in the episode without being sued. The staff contacted a relative to the author E. B. White, but she would not clear the use of the book. When Lisa arrives at Mr. Bergstrom's apartment building, a list of tenants can be seen. One of the names is J. Vitti, for the episode's writer Jon Vitti, and another is J. Kamerman, for then-animator Jen Kamerman. When Bart unexpectedly loses to Martin in the class president race, a picture of Martin holding up a copy of The Daily Fourth Gradian with the headline "Simpson Defeats Prince" is taken, which in turn ends up on the front page of The Daily Fourth Gradian under the headline "Prince Beats Simpson". This is a reference to the famous picture of former President Harry Truman holding up a copy of a prematurely printed edition of the Chicago Tribune that proclaimed "Dewey Defeats Truman", taken the day after his close victory over Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 United States presidential election.