History Recap / TheSimpsonsS3E11BurnsVerkaufenDerKraftwerk

** Mr. Burns' German during the dinner with the German businessmen is correct, even if it has a few grammatical errors.

* AllGermansAreNazis: Partly subverted. For most of the episode the German businessmen are depicted as honest, friendly, workaholic people who want nothing but the best for their employees and the power plant. Even Lenny puts aside his initial prejudices. Only near the end the Germans get frightened when the safety levels of the power plant become dangerous and let Mr. Burns buy it back from them. When Burns pays them a low price, they naturally feel angry and warn Burns that "We Germans aren't all smiles ''und'' sunshine". As they say this sinister music starts playing.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: It's weird now to see Burns hoot for and holler for joy at the price the Germans give him for his plant, given that his wealth has reached Scrooge [=McDuck=] levels of ridiculousness over the years.

* LoudGulp: Bart gets this when Marge orders him to get Homer from Moe's right after he plays his prank phone call on Moe.

* HiddenDepths: Mr. Burns is revealed to be fluent in German. Becomes FridgeHorror when, in a later episode, he reveals he made bomb shells for the Nazis.

* AllGermansAreNazis: Partly subverted. For most of the episode the German businessmen are depicted as honest, friendly, workaholic people who want nothing but the best for their employees and the power plant. Even Lenny puts aside his initial prejudices. Only near the end the Germans get frightened when the safety levels of the power plant become dangerous and let Mr. Burns buy it back from them. When Burns pays them a low price, they naturally feel angry and warn Burns that "we Germans won't always remain smiling". As they say this sinister music starts playing.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: One of the Germans asked Homer if they could talk, he said no. But the German thought maybe he didn't understand him, so he tries to make himself clearer until Homer screams [[BigNo "NOOO!!"]].

** Major Quimby welcomes the new German bosses with the phrase: "Ich bin ein Springfielder", which is a reference to JohnFKennedy's famous quote: "Ich bin ein Berliner".

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: One of the Germans asked Homer if they could talk, he said no. But the German thought maybe he didn't understood him, so he tries to make himself clearer until Homer screams [[BigNo "NOOO!!"]].

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: One of the Germans asked Homer if they could talk. He said no, but the German thought maybe he didn't understand him.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The German investors were supposed to be Japanese ones, but the writers thought that [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld reflected reality at the time a bit too much]] (plus, they would have been branded as cliched if they did do it).

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The German investors were supposed to be Japanese ones, but the writers thought that reflected reality at the time a bit too much (plus, they would have been branded as cliched if they did do it).

** The "Fudgetown" sign in the "Land of Chocolate" sequence was originally supposed to read, "Hershey Highway." The censors immediately knew it was a slang term for the asshole and large intestine, so they ordered the writers to have it changed.

!!This episode provides examples of:

Mr. Burns sells the nuclear factory to some German investors and decides to go with pension. Meanwhile the German industrials make a lot of safety changes and fire Homer for his continuous incompetence. Meanwhile, Mr. Burns fails to enjoy his spare time and he decides to have a drink in Moe's tavern. There Homer starts taunting him, because he's no longer his boss and he can do whatever he wants. Burns realizes Homer and his co-workers no longer fear him and this motivates him to buy the plant back. The German investors are also happy to get rid of the unsafe building, but sell it back to Burns for a smaller sum than they bought it for. Burns also rehires Homer, because he plots revenge when he least suspects it...

* BilingualBonus: The title is (horribly mangled) German for "Burns Sells the Plant."

* LoudGulp: Bart gets this when Marge orders him to get Homer from Moe's.
* OhCrap

** One of the Germans (drawn to resemble John Banner) relaxes the workers by telling them to think of him as [[HogansHeroes Sgt Shultz]].

* BilingualBonus: The title is German for "Burns Sells the Plant."

Mr. Burns sells the nuclear factory to some German investors and decides to go with pension. Meanwhile the German industrials make a lot of safety changes and fire Homer for his continuous incompetence. Meanwhile, Mr. Burns fails to enjoy his spare time and he decides to have a drink in Moe's tavern. There Homer starts taunting him, because he's no longer his boss and he can do whatever he want. Burns realizes Homer and his co-workers no longer fear him and this motivates him to buy the plant back. The German investors are also happy to get rid of the unsafe building, but sell it back to Burns for a larger sum than they bought it for. Burns also rehires Homer, because he plots revenge when he leasts suspects it...

* ShoutOut:
** Major Quimby welcomes the German industrials with the phrase: "Ich bin ein Springfieldian", which is a reference to JohnFitzgeraldKennedy 's famous quote: "Ich bin ein Berliner".

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The German investors were supposed to be Japanese ones, but the writers thought that reflected reality at the time a bit too much (plus, they would have been branded as cliche if they did do it).

* AcceptableTargets: The Germans who, at the end of the episode, threaten Burns that "we Germans won't be smiling forever."