The writers have come up with an episode — titled “The Town” after the Ben Affleck movie — that has the family traveling to our fair city on a “hate-cation.” Homer devises the trip to undo Bart’s Boston obsession after he says, “All those awesome Southies in ‘The Departed,’ those are my people.”
Here are a few of my favorite local mentions in the nonstop barrage of Deflate-gate taunts, Steven Tyler sightings, and bad Southie accents.
1. Dennis Lehane
Homer and his pals are watching a football game at Moe’s, where they encounter some Boston sports fans at the other end of the bar. Why are these Boston dudes in Springfield? They’re following the Dennis Lehane book tour, like a little group of touring jam-banders.
Advertisement
2. Michael Dukakis
In the Faneuil Hall scene, right before the cart of Bostonian bobble-heads (Steven Wright, Bell Biv Devoe) tips over, we catch a glimpse of a different cart filled with racks of bushy nightcrawler-looking objects. Yup, you can pick up a pair of “Dukakis Eyebrows” of your very own.
3. Noam Chomsky
The signage in the Faneuil Hall is a series of jokes that pass by quickly, including “Filene’s Basement’s Attic” and “Lawful Seafood.” My favorite? “Noam Chomp-sky’s Grinders and Frappes.” I’m always up for a good bad pun.
4. The Afflecks
After finding out – at “Bulger’s Bowl-O-Rama” – that he can throw three balls in candlepin, Homer starts to like Boston. Bart is thrilled: “You and me are real father and son Southies now, just like Ben and Casey Affleck.” That’s a double joke, because the brothers look more than three years apart in age and they lived in Cambridge.
5. WBCN
Nice. A billboard behind “Cumbies” is a sweet nod to one of our great, late analog radio stations: “104 BCN The Rock of Boston.”
Advertisement
6. Fribbles
Bart is watching a movie called “Mass. Ave,” and three tough Southie guys are about to commit a crime. But first, they take sips off drinks whose paper cups read “Fribbel.” Yeah, those drinks are intentionally misspelled spoofs of Friendly’s milkshakes, which every criminal needs to use as a warm up.
7. Doris Kearns Goodwin
The historian appears as herself, teaching grade school at the “Combat Zone Charter School.” Also lending her voice to the episode, as a doctor: Lexington’s Rachel Dratch.
See more photos from the episode:
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewGilbert.