Bart's New Friend/References

Cultural references

 * Attractions at the circus:
 * Freaks and Geeks, a reference to .
 * Drillbit Taylor, a reference to .
 * Funny People, a reference to .
 * Superfat, a reference to .
 * The 400-Year-Old Virgin, a reference to .
 * World's Longest Fingernails
 * Celtic Charms are a parody of Lucky Charms.
 * Sven Golly's name is a pun on, a manipulative character which was featured in the novel .
 * It may also be a pun on the hosted horror movie show .
 * The ride attraction at where they were flying through Springfield is a reference to .
 * The saxophone riff that Lisa plays for Homer is from the 1978 song "" by.
 * The Shawshank Redemption: Bart spray-paints "El Barto was here" on a wall, and Homer follows suit with "Homo too". The scene is a callback to the halfway house apartment to which both Brooks and Red are paroled. Brooks finds himself unable to adjust to life outside of prison and hangs himself from a support beam, first carving "BROOKS WAS HERE" into the beam. Years later, after Andy's escape, Red is paroled and lives in the same apartment. Red also struggles with adjusting to the outside world, but rather than killing himself, he decides to take Andy up on his invitation to join him in Mexico. Before he leaves, he carves "SO WAS RED" into the support beam next to Brooks's graffito.
 * There is a tribute to the : Just before the closing credits, Maggie appears on a screen card holding a flag that reads "Je suis Charlie".
 * The final scene, where Sven Golly is in an underground prison under the police station and Chief Wiggum plays chess with him:
 * Is a reference to the . Magneto is locked in a plastic prison at the end of ' and the beginning of '. Golly's prison bears a very strong resemblance to Magneto's.
 * appearing in the prison may be a reference to  where Loki was locked in a glass prison.

Continuity

 * appears again. ("Itchy & Scratchy Land")
 * In "Homer the Father" and "Love Is a Many-Strangled Thing", Homer previously stopped from strangling Bart ever again.
 * Marge mentions the time Homer cut off his thumb. ("Trilogy of Error")
 * Homer spray paints his graffiti tag [El] Homo. ("Large Marge")