When You Dish Upon a Star/References

References/Trivia

Cultural references

This episode's title is a reference to "When You Wish upon a Star".
Homer's rant about deceased celebrities "appearing in commercials dancing with vacuum cleaners" is a reference to a 1997 TV advertisement that depicted the late Fred Astaire dancing with a Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner.
Apu's sandcastle is a very detailed replica of India's famous Taj Mahal.
Homer's dream is a spoof of Hanna-Barbera's Yogi Bear. When he falls asleep again he starts thinking he is Magilla Gorilla.
Homer angrily addresses Ron Howard as "Potsie" (a Happy Days character) and "Horshack" (a character from Welcome Back, Kotter).
The ripples in the pink lemonade when the crowd of people come is a reference to Jurassic Park.
The drawing of Homer's time machine features what looks like the flux capacitor from the Back to the Future trilogy.
Homer invents a cocktail called The Lawnmower, which is vodka and wheat grass juice.
When Homer lands on top of Alec Baldwin, he mistakes him for his brother William.
When Springfield shows up to see Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, Comic Book Guy mentions the caterpillar drive from The Hunt for Red October, and says that he has come up with a list of technical errors he thinks Baldwin would enjoy to discuss.
In one scene, Homer prank calls the "old lady from Titanic" (actually actress Gloria Stuart) to tell her she stinks.
Homer ranted about never seeing Ray Bolger. In actuality, Bolger died in 1987, more than ten years prior to this episode's debut.