Chickenpox/Trivia

Trivia

 * The closing credits from this episode onwards are shown over a black screen instead of the town as a backdrop. It is the first time this appeared.
 * In the beginning Sharon doesn't have eyebrows but they appear later, then they disappear, and so on.

References to Popular Culture

 * The premise of this episode is that the parents of Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman try to infect their children with chickenpox because it's worse to get the older you get, to the point of becoming potentially lethal. Even though this is somewhat accurate; a fatality caused by chickenpox is exceedingly rare.
 * On the way to Kenny's house, Kyle hopes that Kenny has a Nintendo. At the time this episode aired, the most recent Nintendo video game console would have been the Nintendo 64.
 * Cartman is singing is In the Ghetto a song written by Mac Davis circa 1969, it was made popular by Elvis Presley.
 * The McCormics have a ColecoVision, which was a gaming console that came out in 1982.
 * Cartman has a Steve Urkel sleeping bag. Steve Urkel was a nerdy character on the sitcom Family Matters which ran from 1989-1998. Urkel was portrayed by actor Jaleel White.
 * Mrs. Cartman gives Eric Calamine lotion to sooth his itching from the Chickenpox. This is done in real life as well.
 * It is Stan's opinion that the 1982 television series Knight Rider was the best television show in America. It ran from 1982-1986 and starred David Hasselhoff.
 * Cartman thinks that the planet Endor home of the Ewoks is better than America. Endor and the Ewoks are part of the Star Wars franchise and first appeared in Return of the Jedi.
 * Apparently part of Stan's advanced symptoms of Chickenpox will make him think that he is actor David Duchovny. Around the time this episode aired, Duchovny was in the popular paranormal series The X-Files.
 * Frida offers $10 for a lay and $5 for a b-nut. A lay is slang for having sex, and a b-nut is short for "baby nut" a slang term meaning that a male has ejaculated so profusely that he likely impregnated the woman he is having sex with. Why THAT'S cheaper than a lay is anyone's guess.
 * As Frida is putting her herpes infected mouth on the parents belonging the song I'm a Believer is playing. This is a 1966 song by the The Monkees from their album More of The Monkees. This also plays during the end credits.