Petergeist/References

• The title and plot of this episode is a reference to the 1982 movie, "Poltergeist".

• Dick Cheney shot a family friend in the face and caused him to have a heart attack. Cheney said he was aiming for a quail. (For Peter it was a deer)

• Herbert's battle with the evil tree is a parody of Gandalf's battle with the Balrog in The Lord of the Rings.

• The scene where Carrot Top runs into a room full of mirrors and Peter chases after him is a reference to a famous scene from the Bruce Lee film "Enter The Dragon".

• Before Stewie is sucked into the portal, he says, "I haven't seen anything suck this much since... I Heart Huckabees!!!"

• When Peter sticks his head out of the portal in Meg's butt, he says "Gee, must've taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque!" a reference to Bugs Bunny.

• Stewie sings a part of Phil Collins' song In the Air Tonight when he talks from the TV.

• When Joe Swanson builds a home theater, he has a Joe Swanson Theatres logo which is a parody of the old TriStar Pictures logo.

• In one scene, Chris says “I wish that clown at the end of my bed would go away!” Then it shows Ronald McDonald making the trademark Golden Arches with his hands.

• Peter apparently built a balcony for Statler & Waldorf from The Muppet Show to criticize various television shows, notably Lost . They said that they couldn’t follow the show, making the title appropriate. Peter responds with “They don’t care for most things.” In the Muppet Show (and the short-lived Muppets Tonight), they would criticize various acts by making jokes.

• Like the camera operator from Poltergeist, Peter tears the skin of his face off looking into the bathroom mirror, but he turns into Hank Hill instead of a bloody face. Peter laughs about it and says the word “propane,” which is a commonly-mentioned topic on King of the Hill.

• Stewie running into the bathroom and beating Peter up while he’s on the toilet is a reference to an act from an episode of Jackass, in which Bam Margera does the same thing to his father Phil Margera. The bit uses the name “Stew-O,” an obvious parody of Steve-O but it was in fact Bam Margera, not Steve-O.

• Home Supply is a play on Home Depot.

• In a cutaway, John Travolta’s marriage to Kelly Preston is parodied, with John accidentally saying he wants to touch Kelly’s penis, alluding to the rumors that Travolta is gay.

• While Peter is watching JAG, Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie stops her speech to Captain Harmon Rabb by asking him if anyone watches the show. Harm says that only old people watch it because the noise keeps them company. JAG, unfortunately, was cancelled in 2005 due to poor ratings and the decreased number of young viewers. Originally Lois and Meg were going to say “Jag is so hot!” because the writers assumed JAG was the name of a character.

• The film that’s being viewed at Joe’s is Rocky VI. Rocky decides to challenge a Martian to a boxing match on Mars, parodying the Rocky series and its numerous sequels. The sixth Rocky movie, Rocky Balboa was released in 2006; it did not contain any Martians at all.

• The episode’s closing scene spoofs the closing scene of Poltergeist, with Lois pushing the television outside the front door. It then spoofs closing scene in The Flintstones with Peter taking the television back inside and replacing it with Meg.

• Peter names the discovered skull “Chief Diamond Phillips,” a reference to Native American actor Lou Diamond Phillips. Interestingly enough, Carrot Top also calls the skull by that name. He also says that if you put the skull with David Duchovny, that it’s agent Skully, a play on Agent Scully's name.

• In the alternate scene of Stewie refusing to get out of the spirit world through Meg’s ass, Stewie makes reference to Saturday Night Live’s sixth season (1980-1981) and how its castmembers (Denny Dillon, Gail Matthius, Ann Risley, Yvonne Hudson, and Patrick Weathers) are completely forgotten today (though Denny Dillon and Gail Matthius are now known for doing voiceover work in animation) due to the season’s low ratings and negative response from fans.

• While Stewie is watching the static TV, a rather scary hand-like lightning bolt zaps the picture behind Peter and Lois’ bed. As they wake up, Brian asks what is happening, and Stewie replies in a sing-song voice, “They’re here...” referencing the Poltergeist films.

• The spirit medium’s monologue resembles the speech done by Hayes in King Kong.

• Stewie claims to have met Jesus on the other side, where he was told that Jesus’ surname was Hong. This is a reference to the Taiping Rebellion and Hong Xiuquan.

• The Guide to the Occult that the Griffins consult is written by Beverly Cleary.

• When Peter mentions that he “hasn’t been this excited since I learned how to speak braille” a flashback sequence is shown in which Peter is speaking to a blind man on a bench and says the following “Hey, bump, bump, no bump, bump, three vertical bumps, four bumps in a square.” Translated from braille this appears to be the letters “flg.”

• In a deleted scene following the family realizing that they need Meg’s butt to get Stewie back, Peter compares the incident to be weirder than when Bob Costas insisted on bathing with Peter.

• After the Griffins’ house disappears, there is a reference to Ghostbusters when Tom says “Who are they gonna call?” Diane says “Ghostbusters, Tom?” to which Tom replies, “No, Diane their insurance company...that’s just stupid, what you said!”

• In the cut scene, Herbert’s question to the tree is a reference to The Giving Tree.

• While kneeling next to the television, Stewie has a conversation about the TV shows Friends, and the spin-off Joey. He mentions that the former ended with; "Oh, Ross and Rachel got back together again", and that the latter isn't going so well, referencing the poor ratings Joey received.

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