The Fool Monty/References

Cultural references

 * The episode title is a pun on the film  and a reference to Mr. Burns' nickname of "Monty".
 * The couch gag is a parody of the film Avatar:
 * The couch gag begins with the family entering four chambers that slide into the wall. The technician has to make an extra effort to close Homer's chamber door.
 * After a bright flash, we see the Simpsons as they would appear as.
 * In a re-creation of the scene where Jake Sully tries to capture his own Ikran, the Simpsons run to a cliffside where they see that the skies are filled with flying couches.
 * Homer jumps from the cliff and fails to catch one of the flying couches. Bart makes an attempt and succeeds.
 * After the rest of the family climbs aboard the couch, it settles in front of a television and the family puts on 3-D glasses (except for Bart).
 * Bart sticks Homer's ponytail into a wall outlet, shocking him, and then puts on his own 3-D glasses.
 * After an executive disembarks from the FOX News helicopter, the copter wobbles and crashes while the pilot cries out, "We're unbalanced! It's not fair!", punning the channel's slogan "Fair & balanced".
 * When Kent Brockman breaks the news of the House Cat Flu on Channel 6 News, the graphics cards accompanying the story read "Apocalypse Meow" and "The Purrfect Storm", punning the movies ' and '.
 * In the vaccination line, Comic Book Guy is dressed as, wearing an uniform.
 * The band that Burns hires to play at his "I'm dying" announcement is called The Grave Matthews Band, a pun on the.
 * The scene where Mr. Burns hides in Bart's closet is a reference to the movie . Also, E.T. is seen in the closet amongst the other stuffed animals.
 * After Marge leaves the room, Mr. Burns is shown chewing on a doll of Binky from Life in Hell.
 * At the bar, Smithers says that his new boss Dick Cheney likes to stack naked men, a reference to the incident during the.
 * When Smithers leaves Cheney's employ to return to working for Mr. Burns, Cheney zaps him with a "neuralyzer", a memory-erasing device from the  movies.
 * Mr. Burns says he got the idea to enclose Springfield in a dome from the Stephen King novel Under the Dome.
 * Nelson and Lisa appear in a Springfield Elementary School production of the play .
 * The music playing over the end credits is "", composed by . The song is commonly heard in "assembly line" scenes in animated cartoons, particularly those made by.

Trivia

 * References to Smithers' sexuality:
 * Mr. Burns says that love is something that one man can't pay another for. Smithers starts to contradict him, but is cut off when Burns continues talking.
 * Smithers says that Burns was more than a friend to him, but his new boss Dick Cheney likes to stack naked men, and adds, "That's a start."
 * The day this episode aired, Futurama also had an appearance of.
 * In Latin America, this episode was released as the fifth episode of the season for unknown reasons.
 * The schedule of the revenge chart looked like this:
 * 12:00AM - Edna Krabappel
 * 12:30AM - Hans Moleman
 * 1:00AM - Barney Gumble
 * 1:30AM - Luanne Van Houtene
 * 2:00AM - Selma Bouvier
 * 2:30AM - Rainer Wolfcastle
 * 3:00AM - Herschel Krustofsky
 * 3:30AM - Luigi Risotto
 * 4:00AM - "Fat Tony" D'Amico
 * 4:30AM - Gil Gunderson
 * 5:00AM - Moe Szyslak
 * 5:30AM - Cletus Spuckler
 * 6:00AM - Rev. Timothy Lovejoy
 * 6:30AM - Judge Roy Snyder
 * 7:00AM - Lindsey Naegle
 * 7:30AM - Clancy Wiggum
 * 8:00AM - Ruth Powers
 * 8:30AM - Mr. Teeny
 * 9:00AM - Homer Simpson
 * 9:30AM - Jimbo Jones
 * 10:00AM - Agnes Skinner
 * 10:30AM - Lenford Leonard
 * 11:00AM - Dr. Nick Riviera
 * 11:30AM - Brandine Del Roy
 * 12:00PM - Ned Flanders
 * 12:30PM - Patty Bouvier
 * 1:00PM - Dr. Julius Hibbert
 * 1:30PM - Abraham Simpson
 * 2:00PM - Carl Carlson
 * 2:30PM - Elizabeth Hoover
 * 3:00PM - Apu Nahasapeemapetilan
 * 3:30PM - Chester "Snake" Turley
 * 4:00PM - Milhouse Van Houten
 * 4:30PM - Dr. Jonathan Frink, Jr.
 * 5:00PM - Mayor Joe Quimby
 * 5:30PM - Nelson Muntz
 * 6:00PM - Allison Taylor
 * 6:30PM - Brunella Pommelhorst
 * 7:00PM - Booberella
 * 7:30PM - Capt. Horatio MCallister
 * 8:00PM - Judge Constance Harm
 * 8:30PM - Seymour Skinner
 * 9:00PM - Otto Man
 * 9:30PM - Dewey Largo
 * 10:00PM - Gary Chalmers
 * 10:30PM - Rabbi Krustofsky
 * 11:00PM - Kent Brockman
 * 11:30PM - Artie Ziff

Continuity

 * Mr. Burns threatens to lower a dome on Springfield again. This has been done before. (The Simpsons Movie)
 * Also, Lou states that they could just dig a way out if he did lower the dome. Ever since the movie was released, a very common question among Simpsons fans has been why no one in town thought of digging a way out from under the EPA's dome. It could be that due to the army surrounding the dome that if they did dig themselves out they would be thrown back into the dome.
 * Maggie points a gun at Mr. Burns again, wanting to kill him. ("Who Shot Mr. Burns?")
 * Mr. Burns manages to get the whole town to resent him, also similar to "Who Shot Mr. Burns?".
 * When the Springfieldians have their half-hour turns at taking revenge on Mr. Burns, a rota of name and times is seen. One of the names on it is Artie Ziff, revealing him to be still alive and apparently out of prison.

Goofs

 * It had been mentioned before that Mr. Burns had multiple illnesses ("The Mansion Family") and that he was indestructible because the diseases canceled each other out.
 * Apparently, Nelson Muntz had Mr. Burns at 1:30PM one Saturday. It was Abraham Simpson's turn for Burns. Jimbo Jones then says he has Mr. Burns for an hour, but his time was 9:30 and he was using him during Carl and Ms. Hoover's time. Plus, everyone has Mr. Burns for thirty minutes. Dolph Starbeam says that it's Saturday, so he gets to use him.
 * Otto Mann's time is at 9:00PM, but when he gives Mr. Burns to Lisa, it is sunny outside. Plus, Homer Simpson is 9:00AM and not 9:30PM.
 * At Town hall, Astrid Weller changes color from her colors from "Mom and Pop Art" to light brown hair and a blue outfit.

Cuts

 * In a re-run of this episode on November 28, 2010 on Sky1 in the UK, the scene where Otto uses Mr. Burns as a was cut.