The Springfield Files

] The scene with "Homer is a dope" t-shirts originally had an extra line: "I told you, we're sold out!", thus filling in the plot error in the actual episode in which Homer asks for some t-shirts, despite just being told that they were sold out. It took a long time to come up with an ending, and an explanation for the alien. Originally it was just going to be left as a mystery.

Cultural references

Marvin the Martian, Chewbacca, ALF, Gort from "The Day the Earth Stood Still", and one of the Kang and Kodos siblings are what make-up the FBI line-up. The music played by the Springfield Philharmonic comes from the film "Psycho". Mulder's FBI badge has a picture of himself only wearing a speedo on it; this is a reference to a scene in "The X-Files" in which David Duchovny wore just a speedo. In the scene where Scully gives Homer a lie detector test, the Cigarette Smoking Man is in the background. The narration sequences are based on "Plan 9 from Outer Space". In the arcade scene, Milhouse plays a video game version of Kevin Costner's "Waterworld"; he puts 40 quarters in to the machine and is then able to work the character on a step. This is a reference to how "Waterworld" was a flop, despite its big budget. In one chapter title, the phrase "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" being printed out "ad infinitum" is a reference to "The Shining". Mr. Largo, conducts five of his students in playing the famous five-note tones from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" with marching band instruments. The Budweiser Frogs appear in the swamp, chanting their names, "Bud... Weis... Er." They are then eaten by an alligator who growls "Coors!"

Reception

The authors of the book "I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide", Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said that it was "a very clever episode, with the line-up one of the best visual gags in ages." IGN.com ranked Leonard Nimoy's performance in this episode, and "Marge vs. the Monorail", as the eleventh best guest appearance in the show's history. [citeweb|url=http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/730/730566p3.html|title=Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances|accessdate=2007-03-26|author=Goldman, Eric; Iverson, Dan; Zoromski, Brian|publisher=IGN] Skeptical Inquirer reviewed the episode positively, stating that "It's rare that a popular, prime-time network television show turns out to be a "slam dunk" for skeptics." [cite web|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_n5_v21/ai_20121066|title=Skeptical 'Simpsons' episode spoofs aliens, pseudoscience - animated television series - News and Comment|accessdate=2007-03-27|author=Brown, Mike|publisher=Skeptical Inquirer] Critic Chris Knight speculated that if "The X-Files" is one day forgotten, those who see this episode will probably still appreciate the scene with ALF, Chewbacca, and Marvin the Martian. [Chris Knight, "Keeping the spring in Springfield: The Simpsons still going strong in Season Eight," "National Post", August 19, 2006, pg. TO.26.]

References

External links

* [http://www.thesimpsons.com/episode_guide/0810.htm "The Springfield Files"] at The Simpsons.com
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* [http://www.tv.com/the-simpsons/the-springfield-files/episode/1448/summary.html "The Springfield Files"] at TV.com
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701263/ "The Springfield Files"] at the Internet Movie Database