Black Widower/References

== Cultural References ==
*The episode title is a twist on the term "Black Widow", which in a criminological context refers to female killers who murder their husbands or boyfriends.
*Psycho: When Sideshow Bob goes to see Selma's dead corpse in the chair, he turns it around to see that Bart is there instead. He whacks the light, and as it swings back and forth, he sees Selma in the doorway. This sequence parodies the film's famous ending scene.
*Encyclopedia Brown: Bob's scheme (and its revealing) are similar to the pattern of how Encyclopedia Brown stories unfold.
*When Patty tells the family that there is something disturbing about Selma's new boyfriend, Lisa imagines Selma walking arm in arm with a tall man in a big coat and hat with a bag over his head with one eye hole and a walking stick. This appears to be a reference to Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man.
*When Bob is saying goodbye to his fellow inmates he says goodbye to the first two and then turns to Snake to say that he thinks he is going to miss him most of all. This mirrors the goodbye scene from The Wizard of Oz.
*Les Misérables. Bob's prisoner number is 24601. The same as Jean Valjean. Principal Skinner reveals he had the same number in "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" when browsing the swap meet at the beginning.
*Cool Hand Luke is referenced when a flashback showing Bob's time in prison is played. The music is a direct reference to the soundtrack, as are the outfits and guard with the aviator sunglasses.
*When the family leaves the house to save Selma, Homer shouts "to the Simpson mobile!" This is a reference to the Batman TV show.
*The show that the family is watching in the beginning is a parody of , a former ABC show. It is commonly believed many Simpsons writers saw the other series as a knock-off of their own (hence Bart's words "It's like they saw our lives and put it right on screen."). One common Dinosaurs gag featured the show's baby hitting the father with a frying pan, ala Maggie hitting Homer in the head with a mallet in "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge". Jim Henson Organization Vice President Alex Rockwell would acknowledge in April 1991, the same month Dinosaurs premiered, that the success of The Simpsons helped the show get launched.
==Trivia==
*Like his Simpsons character Sideshow Bob, Kelsey Grammar is a Republican as well. However, he and his character nevertheless somehow anticipated a Democrat returning to the White House in the near future, during which Sideshow Bob claimed he would "be back on the streets." Sideshow Bob would in fact return to the Simpsons in Cape Feare, which aired during Bill Clinton's first year in office. Black Widower also aired when Clinton was gaining a clear advantage in the 1992 Democratic Presidential primary.
*We learn that Selma lost her sense of smell and taste when she was young after a bottle rocket accident, yet in previous and future episodes, she has been able to taste and smell.
*This episode marks the first time Selma and Patty watch their favorite TV show MacGyver.
* Snake Jailbird’s name is revealed in this episode.
* The prison number of Sideshow Bob, "24601" is the number used by Jean Valjean in Les misérables by Victor Hugo.
*This is the first episode to reveal Sideshow Bob's conservative republican views, which would become a more significant plot point in "Sideshow Bob Roberts."
*Selma claims to have forgotten which one she was in the picture of herself and Patty that she initially gives Bob. This calls attention to the twins' very similar appearance as well as the frequent joke among fans that they are difficult to tell apart.
fr:La Veuve noire/Références
Category:Trivia
Category:Goofs