When Curly calls Mr. Simmons Granola Boy when he’s in Principle Wartz’s office, it’s the second time that he’s been called that name the first time that he’s been called that is in “New Teacher” and Helga was the one who said it.
Coincidentally, both of these episodes involve Curly saying his first name, "Thaddeus".
Production Notes[]
The shot of the silhouetted skyline during the rain is a reused shot from "Eugene's Bike".
Cultural References[]
Curly sticks his head out of a window and says, "Here's Curly!" is a parody of the famous movie quote "Here's Johnny!" from The Shining. (Which was originally ad libbed by Jack Nicholson as a reference to Ed McMahon's opening line from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.)
When Curly first locks himself in Principle Wartz' office, he screams, "I'm mad as heck, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" This is a reference to the 1976 movie Network.
Story Analysis[]
Ironically, even though Curly gets his ball week, he ends up losing the privilege and gets detention as punishment for pelting the other students with dodgeballs and locking himself in Principal Wartz' office.
The plot of the episode, which consists of Curly snapping and assaulting his classmates and school faculty with kickballs, is often viewed as a family-friendly version of a school shooting.
