Spies led by Q want Mighty Jack, a super flying jet-submarine.
Beginning of the episode
Opening host segment
Invention exchange
Movie Begins
Jesse "The Body" Ventura, now famous for his stint as Minnesota's governor, actually began his career in politics when he served as mayor of Brooklyn Park, MN from 1991 to 1995.
A reference to the K-rations issued to troops in combat during World War II.
The actual first line of The Carpenters' hit, "(They Long To Be) Close To You," is "Why do birds suddenly appear." Perhaps the reason Richard has trouble composing it in this riff is because it was actually written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.
A reference to the Belgian Gypsy jazz musician who developed a new fingering system to continue playing the guitar when he lost the mobility of two of his fingers on his left hand in a fire when he was 18.
Keith Haring was a 1980s pop artist famous for his chalk cartoon drawings in the New York subway system.
"Daktari" was a 1960s show about an animal study center in Africa run by veterinarian Marsh Tracy ('daktari' being the Swahili word for 'doctor'). The center's primary vehicle was a zebra-striped Land Rover.
Probably a nod towards the continued use of drift nets by Japanese, Taiwanese, and South Korean fishing vessels to capture squid, tuna, and salmon. Dolphins and whales have a tendency to become entangled in these nets and drown.
A reference to Van Morrison's popular song "Moondance."
A line spoken by Phil Silvers in the 1963 movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" as he drives his car through a body of water.
It's unclear here whether Joel is thinking of the 1971 movie or the alternative rock band They Might Be Giants.
Butyl nitrate is more commonly known as "poppers". First developed in 1857 as a treatment for angina, it is normally inhaled out of an open bottle.
In Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men," the large and simple-minded Lennie often implores George to describe life on the farm they plan to buy together where Lennie can tend rabbits.
First host segment
A reference to the art of Amedeo Modigliani, early 1900s Italian painter and sculptor. The heavy influence of Cezanne can be seen in much of his work.
Sung to the tune of 'Shipoopi' from Meredith Wilson's "The Music Man".
A reference to Easy Spirit's advertising campaign promising a shoe that "looks like a pump, feels like a sneaker."
A reference to the old children's song, "I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." In the song, the titular old lady swallows a bird to catch the spider that "wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her."
Ivan Tors is perhaps best known as the television and film producer responsible for "Flipper", "Sea Hunt", "The Aquanauts", and "Daktari". Tors also supplied the divers and equipment for the Bond film "Thunderball".
Charles "Bebe" Rebozo was a Florida businessman and close friend of Richard Nixon. His professional and financial ties to the president were brought under scrutiny during the Watergate investigations.
Wynton Marsalis is a Grammy award-winning jazz trumpeter and composer. In 1997 he became the first jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize in music.
M.C. Escher was a graphic artist famous for his 'impossible' structures, symmetry drawings, and optical illusions.
Manifest destiny was a slogan used by politicians in the 1840s to justify America's westward expansion. Amongst those who subscribed to this belief were not many Mexicans or Native Americans.
Probably a reference to the illegal US bombing campaign in Laos and Cambodia supervised by Henry Kissinger during the Vietnam War.
Second host segment
Most probably a reference to Sinead O'Connor's major hit and Prince's notable effort to conserve the letters 't', 'y', and 'o', "Nothing Compares 2 U."
A quote from Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run."
Widely regarded as one of the 'Churches of the Stars', the Crystal Cathedral is 12-story steel and glass structure built by Rev. Robert Schuller, who began his ministry in 1955 as pastor of California's first drive-in church.
A Chinese tradition abandoned in the early 20th century, wherein the feet of upperclass girls were bound tightly to restrict the growth of and deform the foot. At least four of the toes on each foot would be broken in the process, if not lost entirely.
Bob Dylan was actually born Robert Allen Zimmerman, and later had his name legally changed.
Sancho Panza was Don Quixote's servant in the classic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. After Don Quixote goes mad reading too many romances, he declares himself a knight with Sancho as his squire, and they set off in search of adventure.
A reference to the incredibly complex and oversexed personal/professional life of Prince and a couple of women who definitely were not born with the names Apollonia and Vanity. Has a lot to do with Purple Rain and a band with 6 somethings in it.
From "The Germans" episode of Fawlty Towers. The war in question in the episode is of course World War II, although the war just spoken of in the experiment is the Vietnam War.
Third host segment
The first sentence of Richard Nixon's autobiography, "RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon".
"He hates these cans" is Navin Johnson's conclusion when a sniper tries to shoot him, misses, and hits a pyramid of oil cans instead in the 1979 Steve Martin film "The Jerk".
Final host segment
Unable to recall anything about the experiment, Joel and the 'bots piece together new memories of their favorite scenes from the film from Moby Dick, To Kill A Mockingbird, and Road House, respectively.
Lines 28-31 of "The Berg (A Dream)" by Herman Melville.