History Recap / TheSimpsonsS7E12TeamHomer

* AluminiumChristmasTrees: The "thin stew" that Principle Skinner reminisces about living on in Vietnam as a prisoner of war is a reference to a real Vietnamese dish called a Thai Tom Kha Goong.

* CallBack: One of the bowling teams Homer's team competes against is called "[[MeaningfulName The Home Wreckers]]" and consists of the three women and one man who tried to break up Homer and Marge's marriage to each other: Shauna Tifton (the belly-dancing stripper known as "Princess Kashmir" from [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E10HomersNightOut "Homer's Night Out"]]), Lurleen Lumpkin (the country singer from [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E20ColonelHomer "Colonel Homer"]]), Mindy Simmons (Homer's sexy DistaffCounterpart from [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E9TheLastTemptationOfHomer "The Last Temptation of Homer"]]), and Jacques (the French bowler Marge almost slept with in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E9LifeOnTheFastLane "Life on the Fast Lane"]]).

** Skinner spent three years of his life as a POW in Vietnam, forced to subsist on a thin stew of fish, vegetables, prawns, coconut milk, and four kinds of rice. He came close to madness...trying to find it in the States, but no one can get the spices right.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: No thanks to the school's new uniform policy, Bart instantly goes from hero to zero.

Episode - 3F10\\
First Aired - 1/7/1996

-->'''Skinner:''' I don't understand; I bought them at the same place I buy Mother's dresses — ''Oh dear God, Mother's in the park!''

* BaitAndSwitch: Skinner spent three years of his life as a POW in Vietnam, forced to subsist on a thin stew of fish, vegetables, prawns, coconut milk, and four kinds of rice. He came close to madness...trying to find it in the States, but no one can get the spices right.

* SubvertedCatchPhrase: As the uniforms start breaking the students' spirits, Nelson forgets his SignatureLaugh mid-sentence. "Haw ... ho?"

* ShoutOut: The uniformed kids briefly bounce their balls in creepy unison standing side by side, a la ''Literature/AWrinkleInTime''.

* ClothesMakeTheManiac: The drab and monochromatic school uniforms turn the kids at Springfield Elementary into IncrediblyLameFun-having zombies who even blink in unison and don't know what colors are. The uniforms turning multicolored in the rain (they weren't colorfast) [[{{Deprogram}} turns them back to normal]].

* NoodleIncident: So, ''so'' many in this episode:

** Homer stealing a Best Supporting Actor Oscar from Dr. Haing S. Ngor, who won it for ''Film/TheKillingFields'' (or Creator/DonAmeche, who won it for ''Film/{{Cocoon}}'', if you're watching the edited reruns on TV or DVD) for unknown reasons.
** Mr. Burns missing out on his monthly boweling once, and the result being "unpleasant for all concerned."

* PassThePopcorn: Upon Principal Skinner's realization that his mother is in the park wearing a dress that will turn tye-dye when rained on and likely change her behaviour...
-->'''Superintendent Chalmers:''' Now ''this'' I gotta see!

-->'''Martin:''' [''While playing tag, Martin trudges over to Lisa''] You're it.\\

In order to play on League Night at Barney's Bowl-A-Rama, Homer assembles a ragtag group of bowlers (Apu, Moe, and Otto the bus driver) to play, but when he can't pony up the $500 fee, he asks Mr. Burns for the money, who is so high on ether that he thinks Homer is The Pillsbury Doughboy (Poppin' Fresh). Meanwhile, Bart buys the latest issue of ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'' and finds an iron-on T-shirt decal, which he wears to school -- and the ensuing riot leads Springfield Elementary to implement a uniforms-only dress code.

In order to play on League Night at Barney's Bowl-A-Rama, Homer assembles a ragtag group of bowlers (Apu, Moe, and Otto the bus driver) to play, but when he can't pony up the $500 fee, he asks Mr. Burns for the money, who is so high that he thinks Homer is The Pillsbury Doughboy (Poppin' Fresh). Meanwhile, Bart buys the latest issue of ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'' and finds an iron-on T-shirt decal, which he wears to school -- and the ensuing riot leads Springfield Elementary to implement a uniforms-only dress code.

** Mr. Burns' first attempt at bowling; he can barely move the ball more than a few feet before he collapses in exhaustion, while Smithers runs down the lane to kick the pins down for him.

-->'''Principal Skinner''': I don't understand; I bought them at the same place I buy Mother's dresses — ''Oh dear God, Mother's in the park!''

* SeriesContinuityError: For some reason, Ralph Wiggum is depicted as being in Bart's class early in the episode. In the show's early seasons it tended to vary as to whether Ralph was meant to be in Bart's or Lisa's class, but he had been firmly established as being in Lisa's class well before this episode.

-->'''Martin:''' [''While playing tag, Martin trudges over to Lisa''] You're it.
-->'''Lisa:''' [''Trudges over to Milhouse''] Now you are the one who is it.
-->'''Milhouse:''' Understood.

** After Homer tells his family nothing will stop his team, Mr. Burns finds a check about bowling. [[SubvertedTrope Smithers explains it's about "boweling."]] [[DoubleSubversion Then he spots the true bowling check.]]
** When Principal Skinner forces the students to wear uniforms, he tells them to pick between extra small or extra large and claims they have both. Someone then whispers something on his ear and he informs the students they're out of extra large uniforms.
* TheyKilledKennyAgain: While high on ether, Mr. Burns mistakes Hans Moleman as the Lucky Charms leprechaun, and uses a drill to get his Lucky Charms.

* HonorBeforeReason: A funny version, with a dash of TheMainCharactersDoEverything. [[ItsUpToYou Homer takes it upon himself]] to get all $500 to start the bowling team, [[MundaneSolution instead of each member pitching in $125]].

** "The Home Wreckers": Jacques (professional bowler), Princess Kashmir (belly dancer/stripper), Mindy Simmons (nuclear power plant worker) and Lurleen Lumpkin (country singer).

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Comic Book Guy for the kids' subplot. He makes Bart buy the ''Mad'' issue containing the iron-on that inspires the riot that leads to the imposition of uniforms.

* TheLoad: Mr. Burns turns out to be this for Homer's team, as he's so weak he's unable to get anything outside of gutter balls.