What more can be said about Jaws (1975)? For the 50th anniversary of the original summer blockbuster, we invited filmmaker and podcaster Devan Scott to help us unpack how it quietly became one of the most referenced movies in the classic years of The Simpsons.

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Also in this episode:

• The many parodies of Quint and his iconic introduction, including our Simpsons double feature, “The Joy of Sect” (S9E13)
• A deep dive on the dolly zoom, from Hitchcock to Spielberg to The Simpsons
• How Amity provides a template for the small-town politics of Springfield
• Why does The Simpsons leave the climax of this movie untouched by parodies?
• Plus, check out our show notes for a complete list of Simpsons references, double feature suggestions, and further reading

Next time, for our season finale, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of one of the most memorable Simpsons finales of all time, “Who Shot Mr. Burns” (S6E25) and its parody of Goldfinger (1964).

For more of Devan Scott’s film content, check out the complete podcast How Would Lubitsch Do It? and his video essays on YouTube, or follow him on Bluesky, Letterboxd, and Instagram. Plus, check out Arrow Video’s new definitive 4K UHD release of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), which Devan consulted on as part of a “weird Leone amateur brain trust.” (Nate has already pre-ordered.)

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