The writers originally wanted to use a picture of Johnny Unitas instead of Gordie Howe. (edit) This episode caused controversy in San Francisco because the people at the "San Francisco Chronicle" thought the beginning showing the movie about the 1950's teen committing suicide by putting a gun to his head because he wished to be in a world without zinc was too un-PC. Groening contended by saying that the beginning was a send-up of the "...cornball educational films..." that he was forced to watch when he was a kid. The suicide part was put in as an afterthought. (edit) Blackboard Joke: None.
Couch Gag: A four-armed, one-eyed green octopus-alien enjoys a can of beer on the Simpsons couch. It makes its escape through a trap door in the floor before the family arrives. The Simpsons leap on the couch and they all fit. (edit) Marcia Wallace won an Emmy for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for this episode. (edit)

Maude: Todd, would you like some mixed vegetables?
Todd: Hell no.
(Everyone gasps)
Maude: What did you say?
Todd: I said I don't want any damn vegetables.
Ned: Alright, that is it young man. No bible stories for you tonight.
(Todd runs to his room crying)
Maude: Weren't you a little hard on him?
Ned: Well, you knew I had a temper when you married me. (edit) Jimmy: Hey, what gives?
Jimmy's Dad: You said you wanted to live in a world without zinc Jimmy. Well now your car has no battery.
Jimmy: But I promised Betty I'd pick her up by 6:00. I better give her a call.
Jimmy's Dad: Sorry Jimmy. Without zinc for the rotary mechanism, there are no telephones.
Jimmy: Dear God! What have I done?
(Jimmy pulls out a gun and points it to his head and fires)
Jimmy's Dad: Think again Jimmy. You see the firing pin in your gun was made out of…yep…zinc.
Jimmy: Come back zinc, Come Back!! (edit) Woodrow: Truly, yours is a butt that won't quit. (edit) Ned: I'm talking about your potty-mouth.
Homer: What the hell are you talking about? (edit) Homer: Damn crappy nails! Superglue my butt! (edit) Ned: Is this all he watches?
Maude: Well, he used to watch Davey and Goliath, but he thought the idea of a talking dog was blasphemous. (edit) Ned: Sorry to bother you, Reverend Lovejoy, but I'm kind of in a tizzy. My son Todd just told us he didn't want to eat his damn vegetables.
Lovejoy: Well, you know kids and vegetables. What was it, asparagus?
Ned: No, Reverend, the point is, he said a bad word!
Lovejoy: Oh, right, yeah. Well, kids usually pick these things stuff up from someplace. Find out who's doing it and…direct them to the Bible.
Ned: Where in the Bible?
Lovejoy: Uh…Page 900.
Ned: But Rev-- (Lovejoy hangs up)
Lovejoy: Damn Flanders. (edit) Willy: Don't you worry about your wee fish, lass. They're goin' to a better place.
(flushes them down the toilet) (edit) Lisa: And any time I hear the wind blow, it will whisper the name: Edna.
Marge: Oh, that's very good, Lisa!
Homer: P.S. I am gay. (edit) (Homer builds a new dog house all while trying not to swear.)
Homer: Oh, fudge. That's...broken. Fiddle dee dee. That will require a tetanus shot. I'm not going to swear, but I am going to...kick this dog house down!
Homer goes into a rage.) (edit) Homer: Hey Marge, you want to hear something funny? Flanders thinks I swear too much. Hee, hee, hee! Marge, you're not laughing.
Marge: Well, you know, maybe he's right.
Homer: What a surprise. Marge sticks up for Flanders. Can we have one conversation where you don't bring up your hero Ned Flanders?
Marge: Actually Homer, you brought up Ned Flanders. (edit) Ned: I just wish you wouldn't curse in front of my boys!
Homer: Oh, come on, now, Flanders! I don't complain about your…moustache!
Ned: What's wrong with my moustache?
Homer: It makes you look like you've got something to hide.
Ned: What?
Homer: People are talking. Lots of people.
Ned: Okay, mister. You've got yourself a deal. I'll shave off the soup strainer if you give the sailor talk the ol' heave-ho. Okay?
Homer: Aye aye! Admiral Butthead. (edit) Bart: Hey, Mom. Did you save Dad's love letters?
Marge: Of course I saved them. Well actually, there's only one. It's more of a love postcard from some brewery he visited.
Homer: Maybe it's the beer talking, Marge. But you've got a butt that won't quit. They've got these big chewy pretzels here (undecipherable slurring) five dollars?! Get outta here!
Bart: Wow, the side of Dad I've never seen. (edit) Homer: Don't worry; I just drew up a little blueprint. Now, let me walk you through it. This is the door, he goes through that. This is the roof, this happy character is the sun, he shines down on the house, see? (edit) Jasper: What's eatin' you, woman? Your personal ad said you wanted a man. Well, you got yourself a humdinger!
Edna: I don't know. I guess I expected something different from your photo.
Jasper: Don't let my age fool you. Just 'cause it's a little slow on the roof. I've forgotten how the rest of that goes. (edit) Edna: After two months at sea, the pilgrims were running out of food and water. Yes, Nelson?
Nelson: Did they have any yo-yo's?
Edna: No, they did not have yo-yo's. When they landed at Plymouth Rock, they were greeted by the friendly Indians.
Milhouse: Did the Indians have yo-yo's!?
Edna: No they did not have yo-yo's! That's it! I am sick and tired of talking about yo-yo's. From now on I won’t accept any book report, science project, dioramas, or anything else on yo-yo's, or yo-yo related topics. Am I making myself clear?
Bart: Yo! (edit) Skinner: (trying to get attention of school) People.... people. You know I can wait just as long as you. (fails) KNOCK IT OFF! (edit) Todd: Ow! My Eyeball! (edit) Mechanic: Bingo bango, sugar in the gas tank. The ex-husband strikes again. (edit) Edna: One scratch-n-win, Apu.
Apu: Mrs. Krabappel, I haven't seen you since we doubled our prices. Still teaching?
Edna: Let’s see. scratches lottery ticket One more day, at least. (edit) Bart: Gross, he's picking his nose! (edit) "Woodrow": Dearest Edna, I must leave you. Why, I cannot say. Where, you cannot know. How I will get there, I haven't decided yet. But one thing I can tell you, any time I hear the wind blow it will whisper the name Edna. And so let us part with a love that will echo through the ages. ---Woodrow (edit) (Homer tries helping the family write a letter to Mrs. Krabappel from Woodrow, informing her that he is leaving town.)
Homer: Three simple words: I, Am, Gay.
Marge: Homer, for the last time, I'm not putting that in! (edit)

Homer sends Marge a postcard from Duff Brewery in Capital City in 1978 that says, "See the Worlds Biggest Pull-Tab." (edit) Flanders's list of possible bad influences on his son Todd: bumper stickers, comic books, Grandma, television, and his brother. (edit) At the Kwik-E-Mart, Mrs. Krabapple buys a can of Chef Lonely Hearts' Soup for One Chicken Noodle, which has a picture of the chef with a tear running down his cheek. (edit) The article in Springfield Magazine, which Mrs. Krabappel reads, proclaims "We Talk With J.D. Salinger," which is practically impossible since the Catcher in the Rye author is a recluse. (edit) Goof: The very first time Bart looks at the picture of Edna Krabappel, Edna has her eyes open. Later in the episode when the whole family views the picture her eyes are shut. (edit) According to this episode, the Simpsons live at 94 Evergreen Terrace. (edit) Homer's drawing of the dog house has a chimney with smoke coming out. (edit) At the Yo-Yo assembly, Mrs. Krabappel and Miss Hoover smoke under a ''No Smoking'' sign. (edit)

Colorization theatre: There is a movie on TV where the colors are completely off -- the people are blue, for example, whereas most people's skin in the Simpson’s universe is yellow or brown. This refers to the trend over the last fifteen years or so in which color has been added by computer to many old black and white movies, many of them timeless classics. Many people have not liked this for many reasons, one of them being that most of the time the colors don't come out right -- they look odd, or unnatural; another reason of course is that altering a black and white classic movie (e.g., “Casablanca”) might be a sin to some fans. (edit) Maude Flanders: "Well, he used to watch Davey & Goliath, but he thought the idea of a talking dog was blasphemous..."
Davey & Goliath was a 1960s stop-motion animated television series produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The painfully wholesome (even preachy) show featured a sometime-rash boy (Davey) and his more cool-headed talking dog and sidekick (Goliath), living and learning about the love of God. (edit) Pretty Woman
The scene where Edna is trying on several dresses is a parody of a scene in the 1990 film Pretty Woman. (edit) Movie: Ernest Needs A Kidney
A funny reference to the "Ernest" films inspired by the television show Hey Vern, It's Ernest! (edit) Television: Golly Sgt. Carter. I can't fix your jeep, but maybe this will make it up to ya!
A quick and funny reference to the show Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (edit) The Prince Of Tides
When Bart writes in his last letter to Edna that he will always remember her name whenever he hears the wind, the line is taken from the 1991 film The Prince Of Tides. (edit) A Case of Spring Fever
The informational short about zinc that Bart watches is very similar to the 1940 film A Case of Spring Fever. (edit)