he had been hired by NBC not long before the recording session for this episode began, and he was forced to walk out on his contract. The concept of the episode was that Homer attends college, but bases his entire understanding of what college is on "bad Animal House rip-off movies". O'Brien mentioned in the DVD commentary that the antics of the characters Benjamin, Doug, and Gary were based on three "incredible nerds" who lived in the same college dormitory as O'Brien. The Fox Network executives had wanted the season premiere to be "Homer Goes to College" because it was an Animal House parody. However, the writers felt that "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" would be a better episode because of George Harrison's involvement. During the episode, Homer lights his framed high school diploma on fire, unintentionally setting fire to his living room, while distractedly singing "I am so smart! S-M-R-T... I mean S-M-A-R-T!" This blunder was unscripted; during the recording session, Dan Castellaneta was singing the song and accidentally misspelled "smart." The writers decided it was much funnier that way, because it seemed like something Homer would do, so they left the apparent blooper in. The song has since become a fan favorite. Jim Reardon directed the episode and has noted he remembers the episode for several scenes in which the action is viewed through windows, such as when Homer prank calls the dean. The animators were short on time, so for the design of Gary they took an earlier drawing of director Rich Moore and made him African-American. Cultural references The episode contains several references to the film Animal House, including the song "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen, which plays throughout the film. The couch gag with the huge pink foot squashing the Simpsons is a reference to The Foot of Cupid from the television series Monty Python's Flying Circus. The film Monty Python and the Holy Grail is also referenced when Benjamin, Doug, and Gary imitate the Knights who say Ni. They play Dungeons & Dragons, hold arguments over Star Trek, and their room number is 222, a reference to the television series Room 222. Homer has posters of Albert Einstein and W. C. Fields hanging on his wall. The books that Homer cites as his favorites are TV Guide, Son of Sniglet and Katharine Hepburn's Me. Bart scratching the chalkboard to get everyone's attention is a reference to