The Haw-Hawed Couple/References

== Cultural references ==
*This episode's title is a pun on The Odd Couple.
*The song played on the tape recorder is "A Horse With No Name" by America. When Lisa hears the song, she refers to it as "county fair music".
*The scene where Martin illustrates in front of the other children that individually they are weak (by breaking a single twig), but as a bundle they are unbreakable (like a bundle of twigs) is from the legend of the dying Bulgar ruler khan Kubrat talking to his sons.
*Actors dressed as Spider-Man and Dr. Octopus make an appearance at Nelson's party.
*Lisa's fantasy book is mostly a reference to Harry Potter, specifically the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, with Greystash being a parody of Dumbledore. It also contains elements of The Chronicles of Narnia and Deltora Quest while Angelica's trap, a giant hourglass, is similar to Disney's Aladdin. Malicious Crump, the wizard that kills Greystash is a parody of Lucius Malfoy (Lucius(-cious-) Malfoy(-Mali-)). The final duel between Greystash and Malicious Crump look like the duel between Harry and Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
*The scene which follows Bart and Nelson as they enter the cafeteria through the back of the school and through the kitchens while Bart acts as a narrator is a direct parody of the celebrated three-minute tracking shot from Goodfellas which shows Henry and Karen Hill as they enter a nightclub through the back accompanied by Henry's narration. The song played is "He's a Rebel" by The Crystals; another Crystals song, "Then He Kissed Me", was used in the actual scene from Goodfellas. And the latter song even appeared in the last episode of the previous season.
*When Bart comes to Nelson's home after he had played with Milhouse, Nelson gets outraged, breaks his camera and says "Look what you made me do!" This is parody of Stephen King's movie Misery.
*The scene with Nelson's vest and picture in the closet is a reference to the end of Brokeback Mountain with the guitar music of Gustavo Santaolalla.
*The scene in which Bart and Milhouse play with kites may be a reference to The Kite Runner.
*Bart was wearing rubber boots when he was on that trip to the tide pools.
*During the credits, after Homer Simpson says "No, man." and started to cry, and it cuts to the regular black background for the credits, the long credits theme from season 3 is heard and edited a little.
**This is also the last episode so far to reuse the season 3 long credits theme.
==Trivia==
*Lisa steals Nelson's "Ha-ha!" catchphrase like she stole Mr. Burns' "Excellent" catchphrase in "Little Big Mom". Other episodes where a character besides Nelson says "Ha-ha!" include "22 Short Films About Springfield", "Homerpalooza" and "Stealing First Base".
*Bart was the only classmate to attend Nelson's party. Nelson previously mentioned no one coming to his birthday party in "Radioactive Man".
*Marge makes Bart attend Nelson's party, while in "Bart the Mother", she forbade Bart to go near him. This matter could have to do with Marge and Nelson getting along with each other in "Sleeping with the Enemy".
*This is the second time a character rescues Bart from deep water. The first was "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"".
*At the end of the book, T.R. Francis appears as an elderly woman. Later in "The Book Job", T.R. Francis is depicted as a younger woman. Considering that the Angelica Buttons books would later be revealed to be planned by a faceless corporation and ghostwritten by underpaid authors while an actress who's never written a book in her life is attached to the work, that's probably foreshadowing.
*In this episode Nelson dislikes milk because it comes from 'cow wangs'. However, in "Sleeping with the Enemy" he was happy to drink some 'cow' milk.
*Homer says Lisa will never learn about death until it strikes someone close to her, yet she already lost Bleeding Gums Murphy in "'Round Springfield".
*Nelson saved Bart by stealing the oxygen tank from a diver nearby.
== Goofs ==
*Why didn’t Bart actually tell Nelson that he thought the party would be boring and he told the others not to come when he realized the party wasn’t boring?
Category:Trivia
Category:Cultural references