Sideshow Bob Roberts is inspired by Enochian, a language associated with occult and Satanic ceremonies. The Springwood Minimum Security Prison is a parody of Allenwood Minimum Security Prison. When Lisa drives, she is listening to "St. Elmo's Fire" by John Parr, a choice David Mirkin found "very sad". "Archie Comics" characters Archie Andrews, Reggie Mantle, Moose Mason and Jughead Jones are shown throwing Homer on the Simpsons' lawn and warning him to "stay out of Riverdale!" Some of the deceased voters are Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, who all died in a plane crash on February 3, 1959. The epitaph
And When the Sky Was Opened out for four hours and the craft itself disappeared from radar screens for a full day before reappearing and crash landing in the desert leaving Gart with a broken leg. Gart inquires as to the status of the plane, but Forbes is clearly agitated and asks Gart if he remembers how many people were on the mission, producing a newspaper whose front page shows the likenesses of the two men and a headline stating that two astronauts were rescued from the desert crash. Gart confirms that only he and Forbes piloted the plane but Forbes insists that a third man