A Star Is Burns play in the opening moments of the episode is a parody of "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer. The opening of Bart's film "The Eternal Struggle" is a reference to The Amazing Criswell's narration in "Plan 9 from Outer Space". Barney's film contains references to "Koyaanisqatsi", and the music of the film, which was composed by Philip Glass. Barney's film also features musical selections from the aria "Un bel di vedremo" from Act II, pt. 1 of Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly". In its original broadcast, "A Star Is Burns" finished 57th in the ratings for the week of February
Julianna Di Giacomo her tennis coach when she was a teenager. She fell in love with the art form and pursued studies in vocal performance at the University of California, Los Angeles. After graduating from UCLA, she entered the Merola Opera Program at the San Francisco Opera (SFO). She made her professional opera debut in 1999 with the Western Opera Theater, the SFO's touring company, as Donna Anna in a national tour of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Don Giovanni". In 2004 Di Giacomo joined the Young Artist Program at the Santa Fe Opera. Her first career break came in 2006 when she replaced an