Viva Ned Flanders
The family goes to the car wash to get rid of the dust, and when Homer is there, he sees Ned Flanders get a senior discount.
Homer takes a nervous Ned on a gambling trip to Las Vegas (having briefly forgotten that Mr. Burns' Casino had just been demolished).
"Viva Ned Flanders" was written by writer David M. Stern and directed by director Neil Affleck.
In the DVD commentary for the episode, show runner Mike Scully stated that there was "a lot of talk" and news reports about implosions at the time.
This is based on an observation by the writers, who noted that, when an implosion takes place, "everybody wants to be right next to them", not realizing that dust and asbestos will "fly in the air".
[3] In the DVD audio commentary for the episode, director Affleck stated that the scene was very complicated to animate, and took about "four or five takes" to get right.
[6] During production, Affleck had drawn an alternate version of the scene, which would be based on his "extensive experience in the field of alcohol abuse" in his younger years.
[2] The song used during the chase scene in the casino, and also during the closing credits, is "Viva Las Vegas", performed by Elvis Presley.
Although he admitted that he has "nothing against Elvis", Scully originally wanted to use a "hard to find" version of the song performed by Bruce Springsteen.
[4] He also noted that Ned's journey to Las Vegas can be compared to a Christian's travel to the temple of Mammon, a figure that in the Bible is characterized as the personification of wealth and greed.
As Homer and Ned escape from Vegas, a snippet of the theme from the 1996 comic science fiction film Mars Attacks!
[1] The Comic Book Guy's license plate is NCC-1701, which is also the registration of the USS Enterprise from the Star Trek media franchise.
The song Homer and Ned listen to on the way to Las Vegas is "Highway Star" by English rock band Deep Purple.
[4] In its original American broadcast on January 10, 1999, "Viva Ned Flanders" received an 11.6 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, translating to approximately 11.5 million viewers.
[12] Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide wrote that even though he found Ned being 60 years old "absurd", the episode "musters plenty of fine laughs".
[1] They added that it is "enormous fun with more bizarre moments than you can shake a stick at", particularly praising a scene involving "a hysterical Joan Rivers".
In the DVD commentary for said episode, current show runner Al Jean praised "Viva Ned Flanders", but stated that he thought the ending was "loose".
[15] In the season 18 episode "Jazzy and the Pussycats", the Simpson family attend Amber's funeral, after it is revealed that she has died of a drug overdose while waiting in line to ride a rollercoaster.
