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 Pop 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).
 * '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".

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