The episode title could also be a reference to the title of the comic book story arc following the death of Superman.
The family layout in the popular series Frasier is repeated in this episode. Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce play brothers in both series, while John Mahoney plays their father.
A reference to Clippy, the Microsoft Office helper, is also shown.
Caricatures of celebrities (who have both appeared on the show as themselves or another character or not have appeared on the show) can be seen at Sideshow Bob's funeral.
The Itchy and Scratchy cartoon short that the family views on the new TiVo is titled "Spherical on 34th Street", a reference to the Miracle on 34th Street films.
In "Spherical on 34th Street", Scratchy's demise comes about as a result of Itchy filling him up with hydrogen and igniting him with a flaming arrow. As Scratchy burns up, showering the crowd with viscera, Itchy exclaims, "Oh, the hilarity!", a reference to broadcaster Herbert Morrison's famous cry of "Oh, the humanity!" during the Hindenburg disaster.
Marge Simpson, for skipping commercials while watching shows on TiVo, is named Keith Olbermann's Worst Person in the World.
After showing The Simpsons family his evil plot, Sideshow Bob says that the commercial gained him position as director of "The Hills Have Eyes 3: The Hills Still Have Eyes."
At the funeral, Krusty the Clown plays the piano and sings the song "Farewell, Sideshow Bob", in a parody reminiscent of Elton John playing "Candle in the Wind" for Princess Diana at her funeral.
When Moe runs behind the Hibberts's van watching their DVD player, the Sesame Street episode where Derek Jeter guest-stars is playing.
When Sideshow Bob tries to look up the Shakespeare quote online, he consults Wikipedia, which is stated when he yells at it to load faster.
Trivia[]
When Krusty says that Sideshow Bob is his best friend, he almost certainly lies because Bob got Krusty to jail for his own market robbery (was masked to look like Krusty).
Some of the commercials Lisa fast-forwards through while using the TiVo for the first time have been seen previously in the series:
Also seen is the commercial for Wes Doobner's World-Famous Family-Style Rib Huts, which Sideshow Bob uses to trap the Simpsons later in the episode.
In Sideshow Bob's fake commercial, he piques Marge's interest with a mention of "plain noodles with butter." Buttered noodles were previously established as Marge's favorite food in "Mommie Beerest".
When Sideshow Bob shows the Simpsons pictures of his family's trip to England, Bart says 'yeah yeah yeah, we've all been to England'. The Simpsons went to England in "The Regina Monologues".
Sideshow Bob has his original skin and hair color when he and his family were hitchhiking by the tunnel.
Goofs[]
When Cecil sits next to Bart, his prison number is 2152. However, it later switches to 9432.
First it says 2152
Now, it says 9432
The cake in the end scene says, "Tenth fiendish plot foiled" (even Kent Brockman states that Sideshow Bob has been trying to kill Bart for the tenth time despite this one would be ninth) although it should be the ninth plot foiled because Cecil was responsible for one of those plots. Bob rescued the kids in "Brother from Another Series", and was then sent to prison despite being a hero.
In Sideshow Bob's slide of The Simpsons escaping them when they were in Italy, Francesa was shown wearing close-toed shoes while she originally wore open-toed shoes.
In court, after Bob interrogates his father, when Bart accuses Bob of being a violent murderer, as the camera rotates towards him, Bob's father can be seen sitting in the audience behind him.
You can see Marge's hands tied to the back of her chair. But in the next scene, her hands aren't at the back.
In this episode, Sideshow Bob's hair is bright red, in the rest of the series, it is much more of a maroon.
You can't skip commercials when watching them in real time, you can only skip them on recorded shows and catch up.
Whilst at the funeral as Krusty sings his song, you'll see he takes out a DVD case, however on the front cover Krusty's eyes appear to be red and on the back cover Krusty's eyes are white.
During Robert Terwilliger Sr.'s testimony he can be seen sitting in the audience.
In FXX airings, Tom Gammill's credit is misspelled as Tom Gammil.
