"Life In Hell"  References         On The Simpsons Updated April 2014 Maintained by Bruce Gomes Contributions by Adam "Jamie" Young Maggie & Binky in [LABF04] Gone Maggie Gone

• [MG05] Rabbit dolls on floor of Maggie's room and possibly on dresser.
• [MG05] Framed picture of Binky in TV room.
• [MG14] Lisa holds a Binky doll when Homer and Marge tell the kids about Uncle Hubert.
• [MG17] Lisa spanking her Binky doll throughout the short.
• [MG18] Lisa plays with her Binky doll on the floor as Homer and Marge sit on the couch.
• [MG25] Lisa's too busy playing with her Binky doll (which squeaks with each spank) to pay any attention to Homer.
  
• [MG26] Maggie and Lisa have two gray Bongo and Binky dolls on the kitchen table.
  
• [MG27] Lisa plays with a gray Bongo doll with no eyes.
• [MG30] Maggie squeaks a Binky doll.
• [MG32] A Binky doll is among the toys strewn all over the floor.
  
• [MG34] There's a Binky doll on the floor of the TV room when the family are celebrating.
  
• [MG36] Bart and Lisa read comic books with Life in Hell characters on the covers.
  
• [MG38] Bart uses a Binky puppet, which he refers to as "Ed", to serve as an emcee for the Bart Simpson Show.
  
• [MG40] For Christmas, Lisa gets a Binky and Bongo doll.
  
• [MG41] A Binky doll is among the toys strewn all over the floor.
  
• [MG42], [MG43] A faceless Bongo doll is in Maggie's crib.
  
• [MG45] Homer's shadow is cast on the floor as he looks down at Bart and the broken cookie jar, an allusion to the "Shadow Rabbit" gag in Life in Hell.
• [7G06] Referee in "Video Boxing" looks like Akbar/Jeff.
  
• [7G11] Lisa's research "about happens to kids whose parents no longer love and cherish each other" bares a striking resemblance to the Life in Hell strip "The 12 Stages of Divorce for Kids", along with stage two (denial), and stage three (fear). However, Lisa's version is only 8 stages and "self-pity" is stage five (it is stage eight in the strip).
  
• [7F04] A Binky doll is beside the box Bart unpacks in the segment "Bad Dream House".
  
• [7F04] Maggie is sleeping with a Bongo doll.
  
• [7F10] Lionel Hutz's office is next to Yogurt Hut, where two big-nosed hatted twins a la "Akbar and Jeff" sit.
  
• [7F10] We see Akbar & Jeff in the back of the courtroom right after Bart testifies.
  
• [7F15] A store in Springfield Mall is called "Discount Meat Hut", a possible allusion to Akbar & Jeff's many Hut-related businesses.
  
• [7F24] Maggie has a Binky doll in her playpen.
  
• [7F75] [Do the Bartman] Marge and Homer's silhouettes appear over troublemaking Bart, a la the "Shadow Rabbit" gag in Life in Hell.
  
• [8F01] The logging company's proposal features Life in Hell-style rabbits on the artist's rendition.
  
• [8F18] Pop-up book baby opens in Ayn Rand School for Tots shows Sheeba (replete with flower in hair).
  
• [8F22], [2F33] The sex ed video "Fuzzy Bunny's Guide to You Know What" features bipedal rabbits that seem oddly familar.
  
• [8F22] In the opening scene, Homer's bunny slippers bare faint resemblance to Binky.
  
• [9F09] The finger puppets Homer uses to explain his operation to the kids bare a strong resemblance to Akbar & Jeff.
  
• [1F07] As Homer tries to read his sweaty palm to Mindy, part of what he utters is "nom yo ho renge kyo", a mantra that Akbar and/or Jeff chanted once.
  
• [1F12] Lisa's friend Celeste has a strange resemblance to Bongo -- she has two front teeth and a ponytail hanging over her head (akin to Bongo's one ear).
  
• [2F02] Maggie has a green Binky doll in her crib.
  
• [3F04] In the opening credits, Groening is credited as Matt "Funk Lord of USA" Groening. In cartoonist friend Lynda Barry's books, there is usually a small dedication along the lines of "Matt Groening is Funk Lord of           "; in Groening's "Life In Hell" books, there is usually a small dedication to Barry along the lines of "Lynda Barry is Funk Queen of           ".
  
• [3F31] There is a "Life In Hell" poster in Matt Groening's office. It appears to be a re-creation of the cover to "Love Is Hell".
  
• [3F31] Says host Troy McClure: "Yes, the Simpsons have come a long way since an old drunk made humans out of his rabbit characters to pay off old gambling debts."
  
• [4F06] Bongo is in the audience of the Itchy and Scratchy short "Good Cats - Bad Choices".
• [4F10] Bart asks Lisa to come look at two identical snowflakes, which also occurred in the 1986 Life in Hell strip "Lies My Older Brother and Sister Told Me".
• [5F07] Wiggum steals a "Life In Hell"-style rabbit from the Simpsons' house.
• [4F24] As a last-minute science project, Lisa makes a pig out of an eraser and pushpins, a make-your-own-office-toy featured in a 1982 Life in Hell strip entitled "How To Kill 8 Hours A Day And Still Keep Your Job".
  
• [5F13] A Life In Hell-style rabbit is among Ralph's toys. Apparently Chief Wiggum never gave it back to the Simpsons after stealing it in 5F07.
  
• [AABF07] The full version of the naughty schoolyard song Homer sings in the car, "Hitler is a Jerk," was featured in a 1985 Life in Hell strip entitled "Kids Greatest Hits."
  
• [AABF12] Maggie plays with a Bongo doll in her crib.
  
• [AABF15] Homer sees a framed picture of Akbar & Jeff in a museum and remarks "Matt Groening? What's he doing in a museum? He can barely draw!"
  
• [BABF06] First Church of Springfield Marquee: Today's Topic: Life in Hell
  
• [CABF04] Homer's financial panther is named Sheba.
  
• [CABF08] The Comic Book Guy demonstrates the repelling power of "Radioactive Man #1000" by pouring a can of soda on it. The soda bounces off and lands on an issue of "Bongo Comics" featuring Bongo on the cover instead.
  
• [CABF19] In the segment "Hex in the City," Bongo is the last rabbit to jump into Homer's Trix-baited leprechaun trap.
  
• [DABF05] A rabbit in the backround of the "Itchy and Scratchy" short bares a striking resemblance to Binky.
  
• [DABF06] Maggie plays with a Bongo doll in her crib as Lisa takes her ball to make a demonstration.
  
• [EABF09] A Binky doll is in attendance at a doll wedding scene on Lisa's desk.
  
• [EABF17] A bust of Binky is among the topiaries at the botanical gardens.
  
• [GABF03] A pink Binky rabbit makes up part of Kirk's stuffed animal coat.
  
• [GABF16] Binky is among the audience for "Cats" in the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon.
  
• [HABF01] A Bongo doll is in Maggie's Christmas stocking.
  
• [HABF04] Two Binkys are on the signpost of Matt Groening's birthplace.
  
• [LABF04] Maggie is holding a Binky rabbit.
  
• [NABF01] When Bart hides Burns in closet, he subsequent finds him eating a Bongo doll (parodying ET).
  
• [PABF01] Lisa has a Bongo doll with her in bed.
  
• [PABF17] We see the book "Life in Hell" in the Simpsons attic with other books about hell and the devil.
• [RABF05] We see a Bongo doll in a children's book store.
  
• [RABF10] At the Android's Dungeon we see a Bongo magazine with Bongo on the cover.
  
• [RABF11] Lisa places a Binky rabbit doll on the new (and bedbug infested) couch.
  
• [RABF16] [THOH XXIV] We see a two eared rabbit / human in the Burnsum and Bailey Circus freak show.
  
• [SABF01] At the Android's Dungeon we see CBG hit Martin with Bongo Comics #1 with Bongo on the cover.
  

Bongo Comics

• [Simpsons Comics #9] Binky appears to an inebriated Barney on the last page of
  "Asleep at the Well".
  
• [Simpsons Comics #13] Bart is inspired by two similar covers of "Mäd" magazine within the story "Give Me Merchandising Or Give Me Death!". In one, an Alfred E. Neuman look-alike is wearing a "Bongo" shirt.
  
• [Simpsons Comics #17] Marge is wearing Binky slippers.
  
• [Simpsons Comics #31] Otto is dressed up in a Bongo costume.
  
• [Treehouse of Horrors #5] A child is dressed up in a Bongo costume within the story "Xt'tapalatakettle's Day".
  

Bart Simpson's Guide To Life

• Title similar to "Akbar and Jeff's Guide To Life" (or vice-versa).
  
• Cover (of Bart with flower) similar to "Love is Hell."
  
• "If you see yourself in a dream worshipping rabbits, you will found a media empire." (page 65)
  
• Marge and Homer's silhouettes tower over Bart, an allusion to the "Shadow Rabbit" gag in Life in Hell. (pages 66-67)
  
• Binky (or a Binky-lookalike) appears as "Rabbit" in the Tree of Life. (page 93)
  
• Akbar and Jeff appear under caption "1982 - Fezzes are haute couture."(page 102, timeline)
• Akbar and Jeff appear as zombies. (page 156)
  

The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album

• In the Simpsons Family Tree, Amos Graycomb and his kids Howie and Zita closely resemble Akbar/Jeff.
• In a letter written to Mr. and Mrs. Simpson, Principal Skinner mentions J.D.H. "and I don't mean the Junior Disneyland Hotel". The J.D.H./Junior Disneyland Hotel was mentioned in the Life in Hell miniseries "My 5th Grade Diary".
• In the Springfield Shopper Lost And Found Section:

  LOST: Maroon fez, size 3 7/8. Very rare, late 18th century Moroccan headgear. Owner heartsick. Personal identity at stake. REWARD. Contact Jeff at 555-3721.

  FOUND: Flower pot-shaped object made of stiff, dark red felt. Seamless, with 8" black tassel attached to bottom. Object was left on bench near bulletin board at Springfield Natural Food Collective. No reward expected, please. I'd just like to know what this thing is, what it's used for. Call 555-0463.

The Simpsons Arcade Game

• Binky appears during level transitions.
  
• Bongo and numerous Bongo impersonators play a large role in Level 2.
  
• Throughout the game, you can get fruit out of trees by hitting them. If there isn't any fruit left in a tree but you keep hitting it, Bongo comes out of the tree with a sign that reads "ALL GONE BEAT IT".
  

• Binky's trademark ears appear in the top-right corner of the cover.

"Yes, the Simpsons have come a long way since an old drunk made humans out of his rabbit characters to pay off old gambling debts."

Aside from the overbite and big, bulgy eyeballs, here are some astounding visual similarities between the "Life In Hell" characters and "The Simpsons" characters.

• Rabbits, in general, are drawn in the "Life in Hell" style.
• Lisa's strapless dress and spiky hair bare a striking resemblance to Bongo's cat friend Snarla.
  
• Lisa and Marge wear necklaces similar to that of Sheba's.
  
• Principal Skinner looks a lot like Matt's unpleasant teacher "Mr. Shute" from the mini-series "My 5th Grade Diary".