The New ‘Star Wars’ Show Used Deep-Cut ‘Simpsons’ References to Prevent Leaks

As part of their continuing efforts to (blue) milk the Star Wars franchise for all it’s worth, Disney just released a brand new, critically-acclaimed streaming series set in that galaxy far, far away: Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. This one’s about a group of kids who stumble upon a spaceship that ends up taking them far away to freaky planets full of toyetic alien creatures, and also Jude Law.

With any Star Wars project there’s obviously a risk that plot details will leak to the public, which is why they’re usually made under a veil of secrecy, often involving code names. Return of the Jedi, for example, was known as “Blue Harvest” during production. And the more recent Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker went by the code name “Trixie.” In retrospect, had the movie been about some random new character named Trixie, that may have actually been preferable to what we ended up getting. 

The making of Skeleton Crew was no different, except for the fact that its code name was more cromulent than past Star Wars productions.

The cast of the show recently discussed with Comic Book Resources how their code name was “Grammar Rodeo.” Simpsons fans will recall that the grammar rodeo was a nonexistent academic event that Bart made up in order to spend his spring break driving to Knoxville, Tennessee, using a counterfeit license (much to Lisa’s annoyance) in Season Seven’s “Bart on the Road.”

“The code name was ‘Grammar Rodeo,’ because of that one Simpsons episode where they run away, and then they were like, ‘We were at a Grammar Rodeo!’” actor Ravi Cabot-Conyers noted. “We actually did have other code names for when we were on set, and they were The Simpsons characters. There was Bart, there was Milhouse, there was Lisa and there was Maggie.” 

The “Grammar Rodeo” code name makes sense because it references an act of subterfuge. And it’s not unprecedented for movie code names to shout out obscure references from TV comedies. Thor: Love and Thunder’s code name was reportedly “The Big Salad,” in a nod to the Seinfeld episode of the same name.

But as the show’s creators pointed out to the Geekcentric podcast, the nod has deeper implications. Both Skeleton Crew and “Bart on the Road” share essentially the same basic plot — a group of kids steal a vehicle, get in over their heads and try to make their way back home. 

The podcast host even questioned whether or not Knoxville’s Sunsphere (aka the Wigsphere) can be glimpsed in the background of a planetary cityscape.

While that apparent parallel was likely just an accident, only the first two episodes have dropped so far, so there’s still plenty of time for Industrial Light and Magic to whip up a CGI recreation of late crooner Andy Williams.