E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) break into the house to obtain the last Tomacco is a reference the film "Night of the Living Dead" (1968) and the zombies' attack. A farmer is shown using an elephant to measure his corn plants' height; this is a reference to the song "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" in the musical "Oklahoma!", which features the line "the corn is as high an elephant's eye". The Southern colonel's accent is similar to the Warner Bros. character Foghorn Leghorn and he uses Foghorn's phrase "Sir, I say sir!", while the mudflap on his RV features a picture of him in a
As Is (play) Erickson. "As Is" portrays the effect that AIDS, a relatively new epidemic in the 1980s, has on a group of friends living in New York City. It was one of the first plays, and subsequent television films, depicting how the epidemic was affecting gay Americans. "As Is" opened shortly before Larry Kramer's play about AIDS, "The Normal Heart", was first performed on April 21, 1985. This play depicts a gay couple, Saul and Rich, who open the play, and their separation. Rich’s firm decision to separate is reversed when he returns to Saul after contracting AIDS from his new lover.