title is a reference to the famous Da Vinci painting, the Mona Lisa. This is the third Simpsons episode to be named after the painting, after "Moaning Lisa", "Moe'N'a Lisa" and before "Loan-a Lisa". Homer compares Mona's disappearances to the show Scrubs when he says "You keep disappearing and reappearing — and it's not funny." When Homer escapes on the Union Jack parachute, it parodies the film The Spy Who Loved Me. The ESPY Awards features Lance Armstrong and Fozzie Bear. The "Stuff-N-Hug" store at the Springfield Mall is a parody of the Build-a-Bear Workshop chain. A fraction of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" is heard after Marge sets her purse on fire. This episode also marks the third episode of a Fox animated series to deal with the death of a parent between shown 2007 to 2008, with the Family Guy episode, "Peter's Two Dads", and the King of the Hill episode, "Death Picks Cotton" dealing with similar themes, and the killing off of a main character's parent, Francis Griffin in the former, and Cotton Hill in the latter. Reception The episode was watched in 6.02 million homes and garnered a 2.9 Nielsen rating and a 9% share, placing it third in its timeslot. Both Robert Canning of IGN and Richard Keller of TV Squad called it a decent episode, but criticized Mona's brief appearance. Both, however, found favor with the scene where Homer realized Mona's death, and the tribute at the end. References External links Mona Leaves-a at Internet Movie Database Mona Leaves-a script at Springfield! Springfield! The Simpsons (season 19) episodes 2008 American television episodes