The Strong Arms of the Ma/References

Cultural references

 * The episode title is a pun on the expression "the long arm of the law".
 * Lisa gets Vincent van Gogh's "Self-Portrait with Straw Hat" from the bankruptcy sale.
 * The scene where Homer struggles to fit the family members and their purchases into the station wagon is a sight gag on the video game Tetris, complete with the game's main theme "A-Type" (plus the game over snippet when Marge points out that there's no room for Homer in the car).
 * When there's no room left in the car for Homer, Rainier Wolfcastle gives him a ride home, carrying him in a giant . Wolfcastle used it to carry in his film My Baby Is An Ugly Man.
 * At Rainier's garage sale, Lenny finds a cybernetic arm that resembles the Terminator's from Terminator.
 * When Marge runs over the mailman and tells him that it will take a while for help to arrive, he says it's no problem as he's got plenty to read and picks up a Twilight Zone magazine. Then, to his horror, he discovers that his glasses are broken, referencing the 1959 The Twilight Zone episode "". The music from the show plays after this.
 * When the family eat dinner in the basement:
 * They sit at an table and pass the food around as though they were playing the game.
 * Lisa is bothered by the sight of people's feet as they walk by the window, and Homer reassures her by telling her it's just like Cheers, referring to the bar's being located in a basement. Homer said he loved the show as it meant there was only half an hour until 
 * When Marge first takes steroids, the theme music from  plays briefly.
 * When Marge meets her mugger again and beats him up in the street, the fight sequence is taken directly from the movie  when beats up his brother in law Carlo after finding out he was beating his sister.
 * A pastiche of "" (the theme music from the  movie series) is played at a couple of places in the episode:
 * During the sequence where Marge is working out and meets up with a group of local bodybuilders (including Ruth Powers).
 * At the beginning of the closing credits.
 * Let's Hear It for the Soy's name is a reference to the song "" by.
 * "" by Ludwig van Beethoven plays during The Iron Maidens competition.
 * Sonya sings the song "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance" by.
 * During the bar fight, "" by, "" by and "" by  all play.
 * When the sailors enter the bar, "", the fight song for the, plays.
 * During the aftermath of the fight, "" by plays.

Trivia

 * Marge's car's license plate is "EABF 04", the production code for the episode.

Continuity

 * One of the items the Simpsons buy at Wolfcastle's yard sale is a bumper pack of PowerSauce bars. ("King of the Hill")
 * When Lisa plays the magazine rack, she is holding the issue of Time magazine with the Inanimate carbon rod on the cover. ("Deep Space Homer")
 * Ruth Powers makes a return appearance, voiced by Pamela Reed. She was last seen in "Marge on the Lam".
 * Ruth mentions having been in prison, apparently for offenses unrelated to the events of "Marge on the Lam". (In that episode, the voiceover narration at the end said that the auto theft charges against her were dropped.)

Goofs

 * In the First Church of Springfield, Becky Shorter, Rod and Todd all have the wrong colors.
 * Before Marge picks up the jukebox to slam it into other people in Moe's Tavern it isn't playing anything, but when she goes over to it, it starts playing music.
 * When the family is eating dinner at the Air Hockey table, there are no goals on the ends of the table (where Lisa and Homer are sitting), except when there's a close up on Lisa. There is no goal when there's a close-up of Homer talking about "Cheers".
 * When the lady smashes the piano saying "support the arts" her lips don't move.
 * Homer packs lots of boxes in the car, but when Marge drives the car, the boxes disappear.
 * In the first interior shot of Moe's Tavern, Louie has Carl's colors.