Cultural references
- The opening act spoofs Forrest Gump, including the falling feather. The episode's title is also a reference to the movie, and Chief Wiggum makes a pun on the movie's title character when he calls Homer "Forrest Plump".
- During the opening act, Moe impersonates Austin Powers and Julius Hibbert impersonates Darth Vader. Both are arrested because of an ordinance that banned impersonations of movie characters, although Homer is not arrested for his impersonation of Forrest Gump and Hibbert later appears at the roast with no explanation.
- When Mr. Burns steps toward the podium, "The Imperial March" (Darth Vader's theme from Star Wars) is heard.
- In this episode, Kang asserts that the Earth was created 5,000 years ago by God, and Kang and Kodos then make the sign of the Cross. This is an apparently satirical reference to Young Earth creationism.
- In the middle of the clip show song at the end of the episode, there is a picture of Homer on water skis jumping over a shark, which refers to the term "jumping the shark", meaning the point when a television show has reached its peak and is now declining in quality or has done something to cause a sudden decline in quality. The term is a reference to an episode of Happy Days in which Fonzie literally jumped a shark while water-skiing.
- Agnes Skinner wears the same dress that Jennifer Lopez wore to the Grammy Awards in 2000.
- The song sung at the end is a take-off on Billy Joel's song "We Didn't Start The Fire".
- Krusty mentions Mark Spitz couldn't be there and has sent a telegram. Lisa asks "Who's Mark Spitz?" and Bart then asks "What's a telegram?"
- When Kang and Kodos read Maggie's memories, they put a pink helmet on her head which reads "Hello Probie", a reference to Hello Kitty.
- When Homer puts on the blindfold, he claims his other senses sharpen. This is a reference to blind superhero Daredevil.
- When Young Homer sees Marge for the first time he hears the song (They Long To Be) Close To You by The Carpenters (1970).
- Rev. Lovejoy and Flanders would like to sing a ballad based on the song DooDah! by Cartoons (1999).
- The intention of Kang and Kodos to want to destroy humanity is a quote from the film "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) as well as from the Bible (episode of Sodom and Gomorrah).
- Springfield Friars Club is a reference to the New York Friars Club.
Trivia
- Dan Castellaneta sings the clip show song ("They'll Never Stop the Simpsons") at the end of the episode.
- To date, this is the latest clip show.
- Father Abe Simpson gives the syrup to Homer baby to make him sleep not to cure him (he is not sick) as in the years of the episode's release the syrups for children contained Niaprazine, a substance with a sedative effect.
- The stencil of the probe placed on Maggie's head to see her memories is a reference to "Hello Kitty" children's merchandise.
Continuity
- The end song references many previous episodes:
- Maggie remembers several celebrities from previous episodes:
Future Plots
The following crazy future plots are mentioned in the clip show song. They have all actually happened, after a fashion.
- "Marge becomes a robot"—In the Season 16 episode "The Heartbroke Kid", Homer fantasizes about a robotic Marge. He tells her, "Oh Marge-bot, I'm ready for some lovin'!" The Marge-bot looks like the Terminator, however, and opens fire on Homer with a machine gun, prompting Homer to abruptly return to reality and lament, "Why did I give her a gun?"
- "Moe gets a cell phone"—In "Love Is a Many-Strangled Thing" (Season 22), Bart prank-texts Moe. Also, in "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" (Season 23), one of the videos on Hulu is "Moe Gets a Cell Phone".
- "Has Bart ever owned a bear?"—In "The Fat and the Furriest" (Season 15), Homer starts off trying to fight a bear, but later makes friends with it.
- "How 'bout a crazy wedding?"—The image in the song shows Patty and Selma getting married to Abraham Simpson:
Goofs
- When Homer remembers his moments with his car, one of the clips (from "Dumbbell Indemnity") shows Homer falling down a hill in Moe's car. This is wrong since that is not Homer's car.
- Dr. Hibbert was supposed to be in jail for impersonating Darth Vader, but at Homer's roast, he is shown at a table with his wife.
- When Kang and Kodos extract Maggie's memories using the "Hello Probie" mind probe, they get a number of clips showing some of the shows previous guest stars. Among them, there are a number of clips where Maggie could not possibly have been around to witness. For example, the clip showing Homer meeting Alec Baldwin after crashing through the roof of his house.
- It's doubtful that some of Homer's clips (such as the skiing incident in "Little Big Mom" and the Funzo incident in "Grift of the Magi") could have been filmed to be played back at the roast. In "Little Big Mom", Homer is on the slope by himself when he forgets the instructor's words and gets hurt — no possible filming. In "Grift of the Magi", when Homer tries to steal all the Funzos, there is also no possibility that anything could be filmed.
