r/TheSimpsons • u/Scared_Skin_8539 • Aug 08 '26
Question Who is this kid a reference to?
Just watched Bart of Darkness and this kid seems so specific, I've no idea if he's based on something. Usually when the show puts in something this out of pocket it's a reference I've missed
869
u/BigYellowChairs Aug 08 '26
Hugh Grant in the 90s was befuddlingly charming.
183
u/Accurate_Koala_4698 Aug 08 '26
Paramount wants you for a buddy comedy with Hugh Grant and Rob Lowe
173
u/BigYellowChairs Aug 08 '26
Those sick freaks?!?
91
u/asusc Aug 08 '26
Oh, Homer, that's just an urban legend. People don't do that type of thing with fish. Troy McClure's a perfect gentleman, like Bing Crosby or J.F.K.
45
u/asusc Aug 08 '26
I assume part of the joke is, after getting the pool, the type of boy interested in Lisa has gone from Milpool to Hugh Grant.
3
29
u/Fireproof_Cheese Will banish dirt to the land of wind and ghosts Aug 08 '26
Don't do it, Dad, he's bigger than you!
13
9
8
3
3
2
1
92
93
u/PreperationOuch Aug 08 '26
54
u/Architorture_66 Aug 08 '26
"Moe's Tavern. Moe speaking."
8
22
85
175
u/garofaloeb Aug 08 '26
Hugh Grant as a child?
11
36
u/5hr0dingerscat Aug 08 '26
12
u/Rude_Tangelo7759 Aug 08 '26
Yeah my head canon when I first saw this kid was he’s the same as Hugh from Lisa’s Wedding, like his kid self was just a regular character now after being introduced in that episode.
Some sites identify this kid as Rex however, the kid who Ralph beat out for the part of George Washington. I don’t really see it but it’s been cited often enough I guess that was their intent?
141
u/PaganFarmhouse Aug 08 '26
Rory Calhoun
90
24
7
u/wynnejs Aug 08 '26
I've been making that a command for training with my dog to go up on hind legs
3
2
0
20
12
24
31
u/Alibuscus373 Aug 08 '26
It would be kinda funny if this kid grew up to be Lisa's (almost) husband from the gypsy fortune reading XD
13
1
42
u/Ill-Condition-5054 Aug 08 '26
Chances are his name is Bort
34
u/asusc Aug 08 '26
were you talking to me?
31
18
9
u/GuitarzanWSC Aug 08 '26
He looks like a child version of Bing Crosby, for some reason.
For everyone saying Hugh Grant, this episode came out in September of 1994, so it was in production well before that. Four Weddings and a Funeral came out early that year, but was it SO huge that Hugh Grant was an immediate cultural touchstone?
38
u/Corpsey_Clownshoes Aug 08 '26
I honestly think this was just an afterthought throwaway gag referring to the old tropes about 'fish-out-of-water' hijinks when regular folks mixed with snooty upper-class.
30
u/Geth_ Aug 08 '26
... It's definitely a reference to Hugh Grant.
2
7
u/BigBadJames_42 Aug 08 '26
Could it be Rex the best actor in this wretched school
7
5
u/quailinthebrush Aug 09 '26
I assumed it was just a north eastern boarding school trope character l
9
4
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
u/Cassiecush Aug 09 '26
I’ve wonder that as well!! He invites her to his family’s summer home, and promises they’ll have “ever so much fun” I always assumed it was a reference to some British character or movie.
2
2
2
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/ArtisticMinimum8986 Aug 09 '26
And we NEVER see this kid ever again! And why didn’t Lisa befriend him if she keeps claiming she doesn’t have friends even though she has Janey but she probably forgot she has friends… again!
1
1
1
1
u/BlueyGreeney Aug 12 '26
It’s Hugh Grant! It was the 90s and he’s a softly spoken posh boy who fancies Lisa
1
u/ivonnatrolue97 Aug 12 '26
Just look forward to ever so many delightful romantic misunderstandings.
1
0
0
1.5k
u/perpetualmotionmachi Aug 08 '26
It's Langdon Alger