Don't Make Me Over/References

• When Peter, Cleveland, Quagmire and Joe are going to perform in the Quahog prison, Peter yells: "Hello Cleveland!!" This is a reference to the mock music documentary called "This is Spinal Tap."
• The song that Peter, Cleveland, Quagmire and Joe are singing on the Drunken Clam is called "Don't Stop Believin'" and is made by Journey.
• The outfits and singing style of “Meg,” a Griffin “family band,” are similar to those of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour and The Partridge Family.
• During the “1980s fixing-stuff-up montage,” “One Foot in Front of the Other” by Bone Symphony is heard. It played during a montage in the 1984 film Revenge of the Nerds. The robot that sweeps the floor is also from that movie.
• As Stewie rides on Brian’s back, he quotes Yoda from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, saying “Strong with the force young Skywalker is.” When Brian complains “I don’t believe this,” Stewie says “That is why you fail,” like Yoda.
• On a dare from Brian, Stewie runs naked through the mall, screaming, “Help! I’ve escaped from Kevin Spacey’s basement!,” a reference to tabloid questions regarding the actor’s sexuality. The original line cited Roman Polanski instead of Kevin Spacey.
• News anchor Tom Tucker says that the next news story will concern “Joan Rivers speaking from beyond the grave,” despite the fact that the actress is still alive.
• Peter and his friends attempt to revive the Drunken Clam with a “Coyote Ugly” theme that fails when Joe accidentally kicks himself in the head from dancing on his hands with his legs swinging in the air.
• The title "Don't Make Me Over" is taken from a Dionne Warwick song, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.
• A cutaway shows Neil Armstrong faking the moon landing at a television studio called Stage 51, a reference to Area 51, a military base well known in conspiracy theory lore.
• Also during the cutaway showing the fake moon landing, Neil Armstrong walks out of the studio, where he is approached by a fan, who questions why Armstrong is not on the moon. Armstrong stutters at various reasons as to why there is no moon landing, choosing instead to kill the fan with his helmet, and store the body in the trunk of his car. This could be a reference to when Buzz Aldrin attacked a skeptic who was insulting him about not being honest about the moon landing claims.
• Bill Cosby appears before a commercial break as he did in his 1970s-era animated series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
• For their band Peter dresses like a member of Devo, Cleveland like a member of a funk band, Joe like a glam rocker, and Quagmire like Tommy Lee, drummer of Mötley Crüe.
• Peter attempts to satisfy angry inmates by telling a story about Lake Wobegon, the setting of Garrison Keillor’s radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, which often featured quaint stories of rural life.
• Dr. Diddy’s name is a cross between Dr. Dre and Sean Combs' Diddy, two well-known hip hop music performers and producers.
• Meg assertively asks Lois for Skittles.
• Miss Swan shows up when Meg is sassing Lois. Miss Swan was a character from Alex Borstein’s tenure on MADtv. Borstein voices Lois. Peter later mocks MADtv, a competitor to Saturday Night Live.
• Upon hearing that he will be on Saturday Night Live, Peter replies “You mean I’m going to get to meet John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley and Horatio Sanz?” All are former cast members who are deceased, except Sanz. This may imply that the overweight Sanz is likely next to die. Coincidentally, another SNL cast member died four months after this episode aired: Charles Rocket (a cast member from the low-rated, widely panned 1980-1981 season of SNL).
• The episode mocks former SNL cast member Jimmy Fallon for “laughing and looking into the camera in every sketch [he’s] ever been in.” While beating Fallon, Peter mentions that Carol Burnett used to do the same on her show but Fallon “hasn’t earned what she earned!”
• When Lois worries that Meg might develop a "coke problem,” Peter replies “No Coke! Pepsi!” a catch phrase from the “Olympia Cafe” sketches of the show’s late 1970s era. (When Howard Hesseman hosted SNL in 1982, he joked in his monologue that John Belushi would still be alive if he had said “No coke, Pepsi.”)
• This episode ends like a typical episode of Saturday Night Live with Peter, acting as the host, waving goodbye to the audience, surrounded the cast and musical guest, which was apparently Counting Crows. Peter exclaims, “Our thoughts are with you, Chevy,” presumably referring to Chevy Chase. It’s common for hosts to comfort former cast members who are facing some sort of turmoil like that, although Chase was not in the news for any such reason while this episode was in production. Peter may be generally referring to Chase’s recent career.
• During the faux SNL episode ending, in the far right of the screen, Gene Simmons can be seen licking (President) Bush. To the far left of the screen, Meg’s former “real boyfriend” (an obviously dead and decaying person) can be seen getting attacked by a wolf as was shown earlier in the episode.
• After the faux SNL episode ends, It’s Showtime at the Apollo begins. The variety show, filmed at the Apollo Theater, used to air on NBC affiliates after the current episode of SNL ended. (As of January 2007, It’s Showtime at the Apollo and the airing of old episodes of Saturday Night Live have been replaced with Poker After Dark and local programming). It soon goes to Brian turning off the television and trying to defend his decision (“I can’t be tired at one in the morning?”) keeping in line with the problems of seemingly being racist from earlier in the episode.

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