AWESOM-O/Trivia

Production
On the creator's commentary, Matt Stone states that the idea for this show came from the idea of Cartman saying "lame" in a robot voice.

References to Popular Culture

 * The name "AWESOM-O" is a play on the robotic humanoid ASIMO.
 * In the scene where Butters is opening the package that AWESOM-O is in, he says that his birthday is not until September 11th. This shows Butters's misfortunes go back to his birthday (as of 2001).
 * Butters's bedtime song is "If You Leave Me Now" by Chicago.
 * The scene in which "robot" Cartman, bound to an upright operating table, asserts to the military that he is human is reminiscent of a similar scene involving the Puppet Master from the film Ghost in the Shell.
 * During the L.A. montage clips, Butters and AWESOM-O are seen in a log ride that exactly looks like the Yeti ride in Colorado's Funland. In the previous shot from the Season 5 episode, there are trees and bushes in a mountain-like atmosphere. In this episode, the tree (and one of the bushes) was changed into a dinosaur.
 * The Hollywood producer's asking if AWESOM-O is a "Pleasure Model" is likely from Blade Runner where Pris is identified as a Pleasure Model.
 * Butters's song "My Robot Friend" is a parody of the theme song of the television series The Courtship of Eddie's Father.
 * In the Los Angeles montage, the "shark attack" ride and the homeless man in front of Catamount Studios are references to Parker and Stone's short film, Your Studio and You (1995).
 * The "shark attack" ride is in Universal Studios, and "Catamount Studios" is a parody of Paramount Pictures (which is owned by Viacom, also the parent of Comedy Central).
 * AWESOM-O predicts that the New Orleans Saints will win the next Super Bowl. Their first victory in Super Bowl XLIV took place six years after this episode aired.
 * 'Puppy Love' and 'Punch-Drunk Billionaire', two titles proposed by the movie producers to accompany two of AWESOM-O's movie ideas are a reference to the movie Punch-Drunk Love and Mr. Deeds starring Adam Sandler. The final movie idea, where Adam Sandler falls in love with a coconut on a desert island is a parody of Cast Away with Tom Hanks.
 * The idea of the scientist refusing to destroy the AWESOM-O's consciousness is a parody of the movie Short Circuit.
 * When AWESOM-O is fleeing the office at Catamount studios, all the movie posters in the background are parodies of Will Smith movies.
 * When Butters is on a log ride with AWESOM-O (Cartman), it is a clip from the episode "Cartmanland" with different characters.

Continuity

 * Ms. Cartman's reference to Cartman being grounded for "trying to exterminate the Jews two weeks ago" refers to "The Passion of the Jew" which aired two weeks before "AWESOM-O".
 * Butters remembers the events from "Casa Bonita" where Cartman convinced Butters to hide in a bomb shelter, and "Jared Has Aides", where Cartman imitated Butters on the phone to his father, verbally bashing him.
 * AWESOM-O has been made into an action figure in the fourth series of South Park action figures by Mezco Toyz.
 * The Hollywood studio and its president return from the episode "It Hits the Fan".
 * One of the employees at Catamount Studios bears a striking resemblance to Scott Tenorman.
 * One of the movie makers at the Hollywood studio is the same man in the synagogue in "The Passion of the Jew"
 * The song that Butters sings about AWESOM-O was previously sung by alternate universe Cartman with slightly different lyrics in "Spookyfish".

Goofs

 * In the seError.png]]gment at the end where everyone is laughing at the video of Cartman, Tommy Turner appears twice in one shot, at the far left of the screen in front of Red, and on the right near Milly and Bebe.
 * Milly is seen in L.A., very far away from her home in South Park.

Reception
In a UK poll of Paramount Comedy's Top 10 Episodes, this episode was ranked number 5.