The user submitted nature of the Dysfunctional Family Circus lead to all around references from the obvious to the very obscure.
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Multiple strips
- There are many
Nadsat captions. - Goofus and Gallant are also referenced often.
- The brief "Extreme X! SURGE!" Running Gag took inspiration from the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "Agent for H.A.R.M." (which features similar EXTREMEness as a recurring theme in the opening host segments).
- Another was the ever popular I Have No x And I Must y.
Comic 1- 100
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- Bil leaves with Little Annie Fanny and Cherry Poptart, and Billy relays the information to his mother.
- In what would soon become a Discredited Meme, Billy remarks that his Soylent Green tastes like people.
- The Keane kids are apparently so starved that Billy doesn't understand why Charlie Chaplin eating his shoe is supposed to be funny.
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- Dolly decides to leave the strip and marry Zippy.
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- Thelma asks Dolly (sitting nude on a rocking horse) is she had fun at the Fellini festival.
- She also tells her that the NC-17 rating went out with Showgirls and tells her to try for a Disney film instead.
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- Bil has a mid-life crisis and packs his bags, which Jeffy blames on Thelma giving him Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for Christmas.
- Another interpretation has him going to a Dilbert look-alike contest.
- Jeffy remarks that his mom's hair looks like the helmets from The Jetsons.
- "Tale as old as time..." "Song as old as rhyme..." "Beauty and the Dork."
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- Thelma demands to have a copy of It's a Wonderful Life sent over to her immediately (presumably to distract her rambunctious kids).
- Another caption has her registering a complaint about "Flintstones Chewable Crystal Meth".
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- Since the cartoon shows Bil holding a camcorder, several movie references are made:
- Dolly questions the addition of masturbation scenes to his version of Citizen Kane.
- Another caption has her telling her dad that if he dresses the kids in Howards End garb and replacing every instance of "Fuck me hard" to "Rosebud", then they could sell it as an art film.
- A third caption shows Bil filming a sequel to Kids.
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- One caption has Jeffy singing "I Feel Pretty".
- Another has him declaring "Marx, schmarx. Poppies are the opium of the masses!"
- A third has him saying "Hey, look! Children of the Dandelions!"
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- One caption has Jeffy asking his dad if he ever gets that "no[t] so fresh" feeling.
- Another has him threaten to tear his nads off if Bil starts to sing "Leaving on a Jet Plane" again.
- A third has him berating Bil for letting Gilligan signal the plane (changing the context to them being marooned in the process).
- Jeffy also claims to have seen Grandpa on the wing, tearing off its panels.
- "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. That aftershave has got to go, though."
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- Dolly attempts to dress skimpily in order to get Dondi to jump her bones.
- Two other captions have her attempting to emulate Madonna.
- A third has her remark that (alongside drugs) all she needs to be entertained is a Pink Floyd double album.
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- One caption has Billy responding to Thelma (who's holding a knife) that no, he hasn't seen Marathon Man (heavily implying Thelma's going to slit his throat).
- Another has him claiming to actually be Dennis Mitchell, visiting from "the other side of the paper".
- Yet another quotes a famous anti-drug PSA: "You, all right? I learned it by watching YOU!!!"
- Thelma is also apparently Mrs. Bates.
- Billy complains about the twin hairs on the back of his head, comparing himself to Alfalfa.
- He also wishes to move in with Mother Goose and Grimm.
19
- Billy and Dolly prepare what is highly implied to be sexual roleplay - the former is Bill Clinton, and the latter is either Hillary, Paula, or Gennifer.Explanation
- "Look! he's doing it again! That dumb dog is sleeping on top of his doghouse!"
- Billy also warns Dolly that The Family Circus is much unlike "Warm-Fuzzy" strips like Rose is Rose.
20
- Dolly heavily implies that Thel is withholding food from her until she copies War and Peace seven times in longhand (like Tolstoy's wife did).
- She also requests that Thel read her American Psycho again (specifically the part with the nail gun).
- In another caption, she thanks Thel for lending her a Jackie Collins novel, then notes that her teacher wants both her parents to attend a conference tomorrow afternoon.Explanation
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- Bill tells the kids "He who controls the Spice controls the Universe"
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Comic 101- 200
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- "I just checked, Mom. Somebody already beat me to the Heathers reference."
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- Dolly tells the Thel that she must, she must, increase her bust.
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- "Mom, where did you put my copy of The Denton Affair?"
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- Dolly starts complaining about Big Bad Beetleborgs, especially the ghost of Liberace.
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- "Is it me or is this truck jingling Black Sabbath?"
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Comic 201- 300
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- Billy gets worried about Grandma Keane, after she keeps acting like Karl Childers.
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- Thelma snaps off Jeffy's fingers "For Pris" and "For Zora"
- Jeffy's distress is shown as part of his Bene Gesserit training.
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- The panel is from the Chick Tract Melonheaded Devils.
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- "Dolly re-enacts the final scene of All Quiet on the Western Front."
- Dolly on the field was the original version of the Daisy campaign ad, but was pulled because no one care about her.
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277"Today's guest artist: Sergio Aragonés!"
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- Dolly playing with the doll is a preview of Honey, I Shrunk Courtney Love.
- Among the things Dolly says about her Barbie, Ken left her for Mihoshi from Tenchi Muyo!.
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- With a rousing "O Yeah!", Billy transforms into Macho Man Randy Savage.
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Comic 301- 400
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- One caption mentions Tweety Bird declaring "I tawt I taw a pedophile!" whenever Bil comes over.
- Another recontextualizes Grandma opening the door for Jeffy as her losing on Let's Make a Deal.
- A third caption is simply "Land shark."
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- Billy and Dolly didn't just find a rock, but a Rock Lobster!
- In another caption, all the two found was Jeffy's severed ear.
- One caption complains that the dark forest setting is all Chris Carter's fault.
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- Dolly exclaims that she caught Shelley Winters with her line.
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- A frustrated Dolly tries yet again to explain the plot of Kilroy Was Here to Bil.
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- "February 18, 2031: Bil Keane works in a "gettin' jiggy wit' it" caption to demonstrate that he's tuned in to pop culture.".
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Comic 401- 500
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- Jeffy, angry over Beast Wars' cancellation, exclaims "Well that's just prime!".
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- Dolly sings about "The Melonheads" on piano.
- This scene is shown as footage from Bil Keane's remakes of Reefer Madness and The Sound of Music.
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- The panel copied the ending to The Empire Strikes Back so much that George Lucas got royalty checks off it.
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- Jeffy complains to Bil about the overly peppy end to Return of the Jedi.
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- "Thank Heaven For Little Girls always sounded creepy when Bil hummed it."
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- The panel is shown as a rejected cover design for Smells Like Children.
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- The landscape and the two kids in the comic are part of an excerpt from Tiger Brady's Dog In The High Castle.
- Dolly's outfit is described as part of her Bubblegum Crisis obsession.
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- As Jeffy and Dolly watch Snow White, references to the Disney version pop out.
- "High, 'Ho, Pipe shows, Bitch, Awful jerk, Wee blow!"
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- The panel is the opening scene to Grave of the Melonheads.
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- "You want something Billy? Here is my answer. I'm CRUSHING your head! Crush! Crush! Crush!"
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- Billy named his drawing The Jesus and Mary Plane, to which Thel Lampshades The Obscure Reference.
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- Lots of musical references:
- Three captions are full-on Filk Songs set to "My Way", "It's the End of the World as We Know It", and "Two Suns in the Sunset".
- Other captions include sections of "The End" (both The Doors' and The Beatles' songs), "The Day Begins", and "The Weather is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful"
- One caption is an unaltered Bob Hope quote: "Where there is laughter, there is always hope."
- Much of the captions are co-opted from famous endings:
- "P.J. wept."
- "Forgive them, Spinn," he thought, "they know not what they do."
- "This is how it ends.."
- "Alas, poor Galcik.."
- "So it goes."
- It was all in PJ's head.
- One of the proposed endings was Bil, Dolly and Roy sitting down watching The Crawling Eye.
- A gathering of DFC submitters singing It's a Long Way to Tipperary
- "He loved Big Brother."
- "If you want to imagine the future, imagine a kid, telling a clown to ram it...forever."
- "All these cartoons are yours to colonize, all except The Family Circus."
- "P-E-E... E you real soon! ...J-A-Y ..."
- "You finally did it! You blew it up! God damn you!"
- "Can't sleep, clown will eat me..."
- "I was cured!"
- "Goodbye Spinn, I'll miss you most of all!"
- "And now it's time to say goodbye to Spinn and all his kin..."
- "Keane wins! Banality!"
- The clown PJ watches starts to recite Ezekiel 25:17.
- "I've seen things you people won't believe..."
- The multitude of Shout Outs gets lampshaded with a select-a-caption, with choices like "That's all folks!", "Tomorrow is another day!", "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille." and "The horror..."
- "P.J. wept."
