Up the Down Steroid/Trivia

Trivia

 * This is the second time Cartman's mom lies to get him onto/into something. The first time was in "Freak Strike".

References to Pop Culture

 * There has been some controversy surrounding this episode and the movie The Ringer, as both feature the same plot: someone pretending to be mentally retarded in order to compete in the Special Olympics. The Ringer was written and filmed months before this episode, but it was released after this episode aired. According to the episode's commentary, Trey and Matt did not think it would be a big deal, since the idea to them did not seem hard to come up with, and it was only a secondary storyline to the episode. They even expressed concern to how someone could extend said storyline to two hours.
 * The episode title refers to the 1964 young adult novel Up the Down Staircase, by Bel Kaufman, which was made into a 1967 movie starring Sandy Dennis. Trey Parker admitted he had to perform this story in a high school play and hated it.
 * This episode is based on an HBO Lifestories: Families in Crisis episode entitled "A Body to Die For: The Aaron Henry Story" starring Ben Affleck as a steroid-abusing high school athlete who ends up beating up his girlfriend.
 * During the scenes in which Cartman and Jimmy are training for and also competing in the Special Olympics, a slightly remixed version of the song "Push It to the Limit", from the 1983 movie Scarface, is playing.
 * The trio of American baseball players who present the awards at the end of the Special Olympics are Jason Giambi, Barry Bonds, and Mark McGwire, all of whom have been linked, or allegedly linked, to use of steroids in Major League Baseball. In the scene in which Jimmy confesses his use of steroids, the camera cuts to the baseball players, implying that they used steroids as well. This scene is reminiscent of the scene in "Butters' Very Own Episode" where Mr. Stotch screams about "slimy scumbag liars" and "murdering murderers" while the camera cuts to Gary Condit, O.J. Simpson, and John and Patricia Ramsey.
 * In the opening scene, the boys are playing the same "Investigative Reports with Bill Kurtis" funtime game as they did in Cartman Joins NAMBLA.
 * The scene when Jimmy's father asks Jimmy if he was masturbating is reminiscent of a scene in the American comedy film American Pie, when the father of one of the main characters asks his son, Jim Levenstein, if he was masturbating before he entered the room.
 * During Cartman and Jimmy's training montage scenes, Cartman can be seen using a Mac, however the theme of Microsoft Word is from Windows 2000.
 * The use of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings in a scene of violence mirrors Platoon and the episode of The Simpsons "Strong Arms of The Ma."
 * In Cartman's room, there's a poster of Mel Gibson in the film Braveheart as seen in the episode The Passion of the Jew.
 * During the training montage, Cartman studies the movements of singer Kid Rock. This is not Kid Rock's only connection to South Park, as he was also featured in the soundtrack to South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.
 * In the shots of Jimmy's bedroom, there is a "The Six Billion Dollar Man" poster on the wall.