Steal This Episode/References

Cultural references

 * The episode title is likely a reference to:
 * The piracy-related plotine.
 * Steal This Book by, which was a guide for followers of the countercultural movement of the 1960s and early 1970s.
 * The fact that the suit that keeps alive is slowly killing him references the arc reactor problem Tony Stark had in Marvel's .
 * In Marge's letter, she mentions ' and '.
 * Homer, Lenny and Carl talking at the water cooler is a reference to a forum's watercooler, a place for general chat about topics.
 * The marquee at The Screens at the Shops at Citytown Shopping Village has several film references:
 * Zero Dark Thirty-One is a parody/sequel of .
 * The #Hashtag Games is a reference to .
 * The Troll Twins of Underbridge Academy 3, Part 1 is a reference to The Troll Twins of Underbridge Academy, a fictional book written by many people, including Homer, and well as the trend of splitting the final book of literary franchises into two films such as ', ' or .
 * Bootleg Bay is a parody of .
 * Several scenes from the  are shown in the episode when characters are explaining about illegally downloading films.
 * Lenny and Carl mention that they watched a new James Bond film where is ugly, has no gadgets, is not good at shooting, doesn't say any funny quips or do any James Bond stuff.
 * The James Bond film Yesterday Never Tomorrows is a parody of .
 * Homer's line "and a website based in a country that is really just an offshore oil platform" is a reference to and.
 * The text in Cosmic Wars Episode VII: A New Take says that due to a rift in the space-time continuum, episodes I, II and III never happened. This is a reference to many fans of Star Wars disliking the prequel trilogy. The film is also a reference to the.
 * In the Consulate of Sweden, the Simpsons sit on chairs.
 * Homer asks why movie producers can't make a sequel to ' where ' guys get taken and the only people who can save them is .
 * Judas Priest sing a parody of "" called "Respecting the Law".
 * says that he saw a bootleg DVD of  on sale at a car wash, without director's commentary or a blooper reel.
 * One of the network executives said that 's family wanted to play the Simpson family, with Bart saying that he'd be.

Trivia

 * When Bart is about to tell Homer how to download movies illegally, the scene is interrupted and cuts to the 1987-1993 FOX logo. Afterwards, a disclaimer from FOX comes up saying that they forbid step-by-step instructions on how to illegally download films. However, FOX has no say over what The Simpsons does or does not air. Therefore, it was the producers and writers of the show who didn't want to show the instructions and did this as a gag.
 * The judge who appears in the film at the end looks very similar to the female judge.

Continuity

 * The Radioactive Man film in this episode is said to be a reboot of the one from "Radioactive Man".
 * The last time Bart pirated movies was in "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer"
 * The messages from and about FOX have been a running gag through the series.

Goofs

 * In church, Judge Constance Harm has Edna Krabappel's colors.
 * When the FBI raids Homer's movie screening of Cosmic Wars, Lisa and Bart are in their pajamas, but in the next scene, Lisa is wearing her usual red dress.