Maximum Homerdrive/References
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Cultural references
- The episode title is a pun on the 1986 Stephen King film Maximum Overdrive.
- Homer refers to the Spice Girls smash-hit song "Wannabe" as the "ultimate truck driver song". This episode is one of three episodes to feature this song, the other being "Fraudcast News" and "How the Test Was Won".
- Closed captioning reveals that "Dancing Queen" by ABBA was supposed to be played instead.
- When all the truckers tried to ram Homer and Bart off the road, Homer says to Bart that "they're hazing us to join the trucker fraternity, thank you sir may I have another." The "thank you sir may I have another" part is from Animal House.
- The movie Homer and Bart watch at the drive-in, The Monster That Ate Everybody, is a play on the 1989 movie The Thing that Ate Everybody, starring Dan Castellaneta.
- When Homer faces off against Red the trucker at the steakhouse, Red sinks his hand down his pants like Al Bundy normally did on Married... with Children.
- The decal on the side of Red's truck reads Red Rascal, and has a wolf and a sexy redheaded pin-up girl on the side, a possible reference to the 1942 Tex Avery cartoon Red Hot Riding Hood.
- The Carpenters' song, "(They Long To Be) Close to You", was played back in the episode, "The Way We Was", when Homer first met Marge. It was also played in The Simpsons Movie when Marge leaves Homer via video message.
- The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas is famously known for its promotion offering a free meal to anyone that can eat its 72 oz (4.5 lb, 2.04 kg) steak dinner in one hour.
- The truck's built-in device said, "I'm afraid I can't let you do this, Red.", spoofing the line spoken by HAL in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
- Homer goes to a gas station called The Gassy Knoll, a reference to the grassy knoll, which is believed by conspiracy buffs to have played an important part in the Kennedy assassination.
- The woman on the "Wish You Were Her" postcard is Bettie Page.
- In the Latin-American dubbing version, after Bart asks Homer if he can go with him, Bart says "go ahead, Lola!". This reference is to the 80's movie smash-hit (in all of Latin America and the Latino community in the US) of Lola la trailera.
Trivia
- The original title for the episode was "Homer the Trucker".
- Lisa Simpson's voice actress Yeardley Smith had a minor role in Maximum Overdrive as the bride of a newlywed couple who are trapped in the truck stop along with the other characters.
Continuity
Goofs
- Red Barclay blinks right before Homer says he's no longer breathing.
- On the garlic bread bag, Luigi has gray hair.
