City on the Edge of Forever (Flashbacks)/Trivia

Trivia

 * In one flashback, where the Fonz jumps several buses with his motorcycle, Cartman recalls Kenny dying, however, Stan and Kyle object stating that Kenny couldn't have died then, because he just got eaten by the monster (a reference possibly by the creators about using Kenny dying as a running gag). Kenny mentions (as his alter ego Mysterion) that he always dies but none of the other kids ever remember in the episode "Mysterion Rises".
 * Throughout the episode Mrs. Crabtree ingests a large number of date-rape drugs (mistaking them for aspirin one time) given to her by the trucker. However, due to her insanity, the drugs don't knock her out but instead make her more calm to where at the end of the episode she appears to have a caring relationship with the trucker. This being a dream could imply that the drugs do not truly have such an affect on her.
 * The scary monster is voiced by Henry Winkler.
 * While he dies in Stan's dream, Kenny actually survives this episode.
 * Craig Tucker appears to die in this episode (when the bus tilts he can't hang on and falls out the window screaming) but, like Kenny, survives in real life.
 * In Cartman's flashback of his father's identity, he remembers it as being John Elway. Due to this being Stan's dream, John Elway could have in fact been Stan's guess at who Cartman's Father was. This was also the only memory to be correct, though Cartman gets it wrong.
 * In the first flashback, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", the actual episode clip is shown, then characters are shown in their current, computer animated forms, as opposed to their original, construction paper forms, which is what the first episode was made from.
 * This is the first episode where Ms. Crabtree smiles and is very calm.
 * Fourth wall break: When Ms. Crabtree is telling the kids that she was going to get help, Cartman looks towards the camera and smiles.
 * Oddly, no one showed concern for Ms. Crabtree missing even though she was supposed to be driving the kids home.
 * This is the first time Ms. Crabtree swears.

References to Popular Culture

 * This episode is named after an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series episode of the same name. It originally aired April 6, 1967. In that episode Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy are transported through time to New York circa the 1930s where McCoy saves the life of Edith Keeler (Joan Collins), a woman of that era who is destined to die, and in doing so changes history so that the Nazis win World War II (Keeler started a pacifist movement which kept the US out of the war long enough for Germany to develop nuclear weapons first). Kirk and Spock, following him back, rectify the change in the timeline by allowing Keeler to die, but only after Kirk has fallen in love with her.
 * Another nod to Star Trek is that one of the children on the bus is dressed up like a "redshirt". In the original Star Trek, the so-called "red shirts" were low ranking Starfleet officers. A cliché of the series usually involved a red shirt getting killed while on a mission with Kirk and other members of the Enterprise crew. (while most redshirts who died were Lieutenants or lower rank, the rank stripes show the redshirt on the bus to be a Commander)
 * A guide tells people on tour of the mountain area that "red-bellied" Chickadees are indigenous of the area. Chickadees in reality referred to as (no kidding) Tits. There are four Tit birds native to the state of Colorado, however none of them are red-billed.
 * To cover up for insulting Ms. Crabtree, Kyle states "Larry King won't grant me three wishes." Larry King is best known for his long running television show Larry King Live which ran on CNN from Summer 1985 to Fall 2010.
 * The trucker who picks up Ms. Crabtree resorts to using Roofies to have sex with women. Flunitrazepam is a psychoactive drug that is commonly referred to as the "date rape drug", as mixing it with alcohol causes a victim to become immobilized and causes lapses in memory.
 * During the flashback of "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe": When seeing Cartman farting fire, Wendy says that he's "just like Rudolph!", referring to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer the popular Christmas character that had a nose that would shine red light.
 * The name of the comedy club that Ms. Crabtree and the trucker pull up at is called "Pauly Shore's Funny Pit". While no such location exists Pauly Shore does. He was an MTV VJ during the late 80's and early 90's. During the high of his popularity in the 90's he appeared in various comedies including Encino Man and Bio-Dome.
 * The comedian on stage is called Carrot Ass (A reference to Carrot Top aka Scott Thompson) A stand-up comedian who is panned frequently for not being all that funny. He does a bad impression of academy award winning actor Robert De Niro.
 * The talent scout who hires Ms. Crabtree says they haven't seen anyone that funny since Maury Povich. Maury Povich is in reality a day-time-talk show host best known for his television series Maury which began running in 1991. In recent years it has degenerated into episode after episode of paternity tests and sending unruly children off to boot camp.
 * Cartman is upset that he is missing the new Fantasy Island. The original series ran from 1978-1984 was about travelers that would come to Fantasy Island to live out their fantasies. A second series lasted for one season during the 1998-1999 broadcasting year and was subsequently canceled.
 * In the flashback to the episode Volcano, Skuzzlebutt has Brent Musberger for a leg. Musberger is a well known NFL sports commentator.
 * In the flashback to Weight Gain 4000: Kathie Lee Gifford then talk-show host for Live with Regis and Kathy Lee makes an appearance. In this recollection she is driving in a bullet proof dome which is a parody of the Pope Mobile.
 * Ms. Crabtree appears on the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The guest who is announced as "washed up sit-com actress" looks remarkably like actress Brooke Shields, who at the time this episode aired was the star of the NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan, the series was canceled in 2000.
 * Of all the missing children appearing on posters around South Park, one of them features actor Macaulay Culkin circa 1990. Culkin at the high of his popularity was best known for his role in the Home Alone films. His inclusion among the missing children is likely a reference to the fact that he disappeared from the lime light in 1994. He would resurface and resume his acting career circa 2000 onward.
 * The boys recollect being present when the Fonz jumped over a number of parked bikes on his motorcycle. This is in reference to the television series Happy Days which ran from 1974-1984. It is a cliché of that series that the character the Fonz would jump over things on his motorcycle. This is likely a reference to the episode "Hollywood Part 2" which featured the Fonz jumping over a shark on water-ski's, this stunt coined the phrase Jumping the shark.
 * Cartman further gets upset for missing the new Barnaby Jones. Barnaby Jones was a detective series that ran from 1973-1980. It never had an attempted revival like Fantasy Island.
 * The song that the parents sing asking their children to come home is notably a parody of the 1985 song We Are the World a charity song that was an attempt to raise money for Africa.
 * In Cartman's recollection of Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut, he believes that John Elway, a former member of the Denver Broncos, was his father.
 * The ending sequence where the entire episode turned out to be a dream is a common television cliché, the most notorious offender of this was the television series Dallas which ended their 8th Season by revealing the entire year was just a dream.

Hidden Visitor(s)

 * Though there aren't any hidden visitors in this episode, they are seen getting ice cream.
 * The Hidden Visitor from the end of "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" is seen again.

Goofs

 * Clips of the exterior of the shaking bus were often reused when the bus shook. So, after Kenny died in the episode, Kenny is mysteriously seen again through the window. He is also seen again when the bus falls into the ice cream bucket at the bottom of the canyon, even though he already died.
 * The scene mysteriously changes from morning to night after the bus shakes before plummeting off of the cliff.
 * When Kyle asks where they are at the beginning of the episode, he and Stan are next to each other, but in the next clip, the two are at two different windows, separated by another kid. This can be explained by them going to windows to see what was outside.
 * In the flashback where the Big Scary Monster serves ice cream, the Boy with Red Shirt can be seen behind Kenny even though he was eaten several seconds prior.

Censorship

 * When this episode airs on syndication networks, when Ms. Crabtree told Marcus to suck her ass, the word "ass" was completely censored due to it being considered offensive.