States national speed limit to , arguing that "Sure, it'll save a few lives, but millions will be late!" This is a reference to the National Maximum Speed Law provision of the 1974 Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act, which (at the time) prohibited speed limits higher than 55 everywhere. Barney asks a girl named Estelle if she wants to go to the prom with him, but she tells him she would not go to the prom with him even if he were American actor Elliott Gould. Artie says he can think of a dozen highly cogent arguments to why Marge should accept his prom offer, one of which is from a Time magazine titled "America's Love Affair with the Prom: Even wallflowers can look forward to one date a year," a reference to the American magazine Time. Songs played in the episode include "The Streak" by Ray Stevens, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John, "Colour My World" by Chicago, "Pick Up the Pieces" by Average White Band, and "The Hustle" by Van McCoy. Marge's car is an AMC Gremlin. Reception In its original broadcast, "The Way We Was" finished sixteenth in the ratings for the week of January 28 – February 3, 1991, with a Nielsen rating of 15.6, equivalent to 14.5 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on Fox that week. Since airing, the episode has received positive reviews from television critics. In 1998, TV Guide listed it in its list of top twelve Simpsons episodes, calling it "a superbly observant, hilarious, perfect time capsule that tells how Homer Simpson wooed and somehow won Marge Bouvier". The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote: "A superb episode. Some colorful background for Homer and Marge (and a glimpse of Homer and Barney's schooldays) plus our introduction to the world of the McBain films. Excellent." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson thought the episode was a "fine program", and added that Lovitz made Artie "amusingly annoying". Jacobson thought the episode captured the "tone of the mid-seventies with warmth and insight", and the courtship "seemed charming but not sappy, and the show worked well overall". Jacobson's favorite line of the episode was Grampa's advice to Homer about Marge, "Oh, son, don't overreach! Go for the dented car, the dead-end job, the less attractive girl!" Dawn