Apu on Rigel 7/References

References/Trivia

Cultural references[edit]

When Mr. Burns was young, he won a bet with Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796.
Homer says that he bets C-3PO from Star Wars was from India because he knows over 71,000 languages. Apu tells Homer that C-3PO was from England instead. C-3PO's actor, Anthony Daniels, is English.
When Homer drops the teleportation device, Apu exclaims "by the six arms of Shiva!"
When Apu is falling toward Rigel 7, he prays to Vishnu.
After Smithos tells Burnzak "You make a great dictator," Burnzak responds by telling Smithos not to interrupt him "and don't call me Tator!" This is a reference to the famous "and don't call me Shirley." line from the 1980 comedy Airplane!.
When Apu is trying to get Kang to open his eye, he exclaims "by the six arms of Ganesha."
Mr. Burns has Walt Disney's head in his office. This is a reference to the conspiracy theory that Disney's body was cryogenically frozen after his death.
Walt Disney's head is in a jar with a nameplate, similar to the head jars from Futurama.

Burnzak took over Rigel 7 due to his superior fighting skills with his "board and nail" technique. Later, Kang and Apu use boards with nails to defeat Burnzak. ("Treehouse of Horror II")
The Rigellians hold democratic elections, likely a reference to the "Citizen Kang" segment of "Treehouse of Horror VII".