- The title is a reference to the phrase "A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words".
- At the carnival shooting gallery, Stewie sings “This is my rifle, this is my gun. This is for fighting, this is for fun”; a modern military slogan made notable by the film Full Metal Jacket.
- The scene where Peter throws a penny from the roof and it splits the policeman in half, revealing a seemingly embarrassed naked midget inside, is very much reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's animation shorts from Monty Python's Flying Circus. The idea itself of a person revealed to be a midget or two midgets in a "big people suit" is a recurring gag in several episodes.
- At the hotel, Peter asks the receptionist if they have rat bellhops like in The Muppets, a reference to Rizzo the Rat and his colleagues in Muppets Take Manhattan.
- At the museum of Modern Art, Brian finds some art by Robert Mapplethorpe that’s not photography. A worker claims that early on, Mapplethorpe did caricatures. It then cuts to a scene of him drawing a kid named Tim's picture with baseball hall of famer Reggie Jackson defecating upon the child, then asking him what his player number is. This is a reference to Mapplethorpe's work with coprophagia as well as a recurring reference to the Cleveland steamer.
- Peter rejects the idea of Chris having to go to an art school, saying there’s not enough time. He then pulls out a knife and says, “Chris, give me your ear.” a reference to Vincent van Gogh cutting off his ear.
- When Stewie takes a look at secret papers in a Chinese briefcase at the [United Nations, he comments “Ancient Chinese secret, huh?” a catchphrase from a Calgon water softener advertisement.
- Peter’s song “Make Our Name Famous” is a parody of “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” from Gypsy: A Musical Fable.
- Peter and Meg walk through New York to music from The Flintstones. The background changes into Bedrock until they back out of it. The background change is also similar to the Warner Bros.' cartoon Duck Amuck, where Daffy Duck is seen wandering from one scenery to another.
- Neptune's line “...and you know nothing of my work” is a reference to Marshall McLuhan’s cameo in Annie Hall. Jesus says the same to George W. Bush at his press conference in "I Dream of Jesus".
- The scene introducing Chris's art show, with smoke and a laser-light show, appears to be an allusion to the unveiling of the "Chromolume #7" in Sunday in the Park with George as evidenced by the mentioning of Seurat's "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte".
- The scene where Chris' reveals his diligently worked on painting featuring multiple pictures of Peter with different shades of colors is an allusion to Andy Warhol and his similar prints of Marilyn Monroe.
- Peter mentions in his song that he will make Meg "known far and wide, like that princess who died", a reference to the death of Princess Diana.
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