Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk (Burns to Sell the Power Plant)/References

==Trivia==
*Germany fought the Soviet Union during World War 2, though the Germans in this episode who managed the plant before being forced under pressure to return it back to Mr. Burns did not appear to be extremely pro-Nazi. Ironically, this would be the last Simpsons episode to air during the Soviet Union's time in existence ended. On December 8, 1991, three days after the episode aired, the Soviet Union's government made the decision to dissolve the nation into 15 independent republics. This decision was carried out on December 25, 1991 in the American time zones, and the day before the next Simpsons episode "I Married Marge" aired.
*The episode has Mr. Burns give Smithers a photo of a delirious, overweight Elvis Presley; this is presumably from the mid-1970s, when Elvis gained a great deal of weight and became addicted to pain-killers and the sedative pill known as Quaaludes. Ironically, classic 1950s themed film Grease (1978) was made by Paramount Pictures when Mr. Burns physical inspiration, as well then-head of Simpson producing 20th Century Fox, Barry Diller was head of Paramount. https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/the-business/cinema-streaming-hollywood-barry-diller/barry-diller-theaters-future-part-1 It has been rumored that while the film was in its pre-production phase, Elvis was offered to play the role of the film's Teen Angel, which would instead be played by Frankie Avalon (Elvis in fact died in August 1977 while the film was still in production).https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/grease-could-have-starred-the-fonz-carrie-173623494.html Diller, who also headed Paramount when the studio made 1950s themed television shows Laverne & Shirley and-for most its run- Happy Days, may have in fact met with Presley by this point in time.
*Despite The Simpsons previously embracing the message of the Bye Bye Birdie song "Put On A Happy Face" in "When Flanders Failed", the decision to have Lenny smile while very unhappily saying "this is the worst day of my life" after the two Germans acquired the power plant appears to dissociate from the episode and embrace the message of Jack Nicholson's Joker in the 1989 film Batman that smiles are deceiving. The Simpsons would embrace the "smiles are deceiving" message again in "Treehouse of Horror V".
*The shot of Mr. Burns looking at Homer listening to the people about after when he returned is stock footage from "Homer's Odyssey".
*Horst says that Homer was a safety inspector for two years. This episode first aired in 1991, two years after the debut of the full length series. If Homer was a safety inspector for two years, the episode in which he became SI would have to take place in 1989.
*The "Land of Chocolate" fantasy was originally supposed to have a street sign that read, "Hershey Highway," but the censors objected, being that the name refers to anal sex.
*Originally, the businessmen who wanted to buy the nuclear plant were supposed to be Japanese, but the writers thought it would be too predictable (as a lot of Japanese businessmen really were buying major American companies back in the early 1990s). Therefore they switched to German businessmen.
*Mr. Burns' "hot dog" line is recycled from "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish".
*This episode carries the full version of the opening with Alf Clausen's arrangement for the first time in the USA. (It was actually first used in "Saturdays of Thunder" for foreign markets and the DVD release of the third season.
*Lenny's post plastic surgery moment marks the first time he's seen without his trademark five o'clock shadow.
*Jake the barber, who was seen in "Simpson and Delilah", appears in Homer's fantasy about spending his $25 windfall.
*Bart's ideas of what to do with $5,200 are: Driving a monster truck, drink a cement truck full of frosty chocolate milkshakes and use a jetpack to write "Eat my shorts" in the sky.
*The truck could be a reference to when The Simpsons were on the Tracey Ullman Show.
*After Homer tells them the minimum price Burns will sell the plant at, Hans and Fritz say they'll still have enough to buy the Cleveland Browns. This is most likely a reference to a real life dispute between then-Browns owner Art Modell and the city of Cleveland over a new stadium, which would culminate in Modell's controversial attempt to move the team to Baltimore four years after this episode aired.
*The photo Burns gives Smithers of him and Elvis resembles the famous photo taken at the meeting between Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon. Burns mentions his inability to understand Elvis's words are a reference to his slurred speech later in his life, a result of the pill addiction that would eventually claim his life.
*Since Phil Hartman understood the German language a little bit, he helped the writers with the conversations.
*The famous Land of Chocolate sequence was absent in the original script, though the dialogue leading up to it was present.
*Smithers is seen around bees in this episode without any ill effects, in contrast to the Season 7 episode "22 Short Films About Springfield" which reveals that Smithers is deathly allergic to bee stings. This is not a goof as insect allergies can develop at any age, even after a number of uneventful stings.
*The cars that the employees bought include a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Coupe, a BMW E28, a Dusenberg J, a 1974 Porsche 911 Targa and a 1984 Chevrolet Corvette C4.
==Cultural References==
*Lenny has an imprinted smile like the Joker in the 1989 , though unlike the Joker, it was the result of plastic surgery rather than a wound from a deflected gun bullet. Lenny's "this is the worst of my life" while still having the smile is also similar to the Joker's inability to stop smiling during numerous moments of frustration throughout his appearance in the film. 
*Bart sings The Teddy Bears' Picnic for Moe. According to DVD commentary, the song Bart was supposed to sing "On The Good Ship Lollipop", but they couldn't get the rights for it in time. The song would be later used in the "Treehouse of Horror" story, "King Homer" when King Kong Homer eats Shirley Temple singing that song.
==Goofs==
*The episode title "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk" is not grammatically correct: it should be "Burns verkauft das Kraftwerk". "Verkaufen" is the infinitive form of the verb "to sell", and the gender of the word "Kraftwerk" is neuter, so it would take "das", not the masculine article "der" (which is also the nominative case, the accusative being "den"). However, "der" is also the genitive form of the plural article, so the title could be interpreted as a noun phrase: "Burns' sales of the power plants", but that still wouldn't be quite right as then it should be "Burns Verkäufe der Kraftwerke". 
**Another misgendering occurs in the title of the later episode "Das Bus", this time the exact reverse mistake as a masculine noun is treated as if it were neuter; it should be "Der Bus", though this can slightly be excused, as the title is a pun on the movie, Das Boot.
*When Homer dumps the pieces, one lands on his hand.
*Lenny's "fixed smile" surgery disappears after the first act. The smile may have just been a side effect that eventually wore off.
*It is apparent that the other power plant workers made poor decisions with their money as did Homer. They got $5,200 for selling their stock, and later show up for work in luxury cars. As of the episode's airing in 1991 prices, no luxury car could have been acquired for that price; in fact, it was very hard to find a new subcompact for that price. Most likely, the workers used their $5,200 as down payments. As the workers were not seen driving the flashy vehicles in future episodes, it is most plausible that they could not afford payments and had to have their cars repossessed.
fr:Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk/Références
Category:Trivia
Category:Goofs