A Big Piece of Garbage - Cultural References

Cultural References

• The garbage barge and rocket-launched garbage ball are almost certainly references to 1987's voyage of the Mobro 4000.
• Mayor Poopenmeyer states that he must make sure the ball of garbage is not "another scientific fraud like global warming or second-hand smoke."
• The Garbage ball contains Bart Simpsons dolls and speak Bart's catchphrase "eat my shorts" to which Bender does.
• When testing the smelloscope, Fry agrees only if the professor does not "make smell Uranus" (pronounced as "your anus"); the professor responds, "I'm sorry, Fry, but astronomers renamed Uranus in 2620 to end that stupid joke once and for all." He then tells Fry that the planet has been renamed "Urectum".
• When Professor Wernstrom claims to have a grand plan to save the Earth from the garbage ball, he demands as compensation three items that, according to the joke, every professor wants: tenure, a big research grant, and "access to a lab and five graduate students, at least three of them Chinese."
• During the credits, the song "We'll Meet Again." sung by Vera Lynn is heard, in reference to the ending of the film Dr.Strangelove.