Fridge Brilliance
- Two of the programs Roy watches at the beginning of the film are a Tom and Jerry cartoon and The Maltese Falcon. Why is this significant? Two of the channels he ends up in are Rooney Tunes and Roy Knable: Private Dick, which are based on the aforementioned programs.
- At the beginning of the film, Roy demonstrates four of the Seven Deadly Sins, which arguably makes him more susceptible to Spike (and by extension, Satan):
- Sloth: The most obvious one. He prefers to sit on his butt all day and watch television at the expense of his family.
- Gluttony: It's implied that he has a large appetite, judging from the amount of junk food on the coffee table in his introductory scene. And let's not forget his love of donuts. It's also implied that he has high cholesterol from this diet, judging from his quip in the cartoon segment.
Roy: My doctor was right. Donuts will be the death of me!- Envy: It's implied that he harbors a degree of jealousy towards Helen for her success at her job.
- Pride: Relating to Envy above, Roy adamantly denies that he's jealous of his wife's success.
- Helen telling Diane "No boys" before she goes away for the night might seem a little random...until you remember that earlier in the film, Darryl revealed in his "special report" that he recorded her making out with her boyfriend. And seeing that Helen saw the "report" herself that morning, it's likely that she's telling Diane not to pull that again.
- Speaking of Darryl's report, just before the signal gets hacked, The small TV in the bathroom can be seen playing a Tom and Jerry cartoon...more specifically, one animated by Chuck Jones. And who directed the animated segment again?
- Additionally, how come Darryl doesn't get punished for committing broadcast signal intrusion? Possibly because both his parents (Roy, in particular) appeared to find it amusing. And a little later on, Roy is confronted about it by a neighbor and responds by accusing his dog of messing with his dichondra. It's possible that Roy considers Darryl hacking into the airwaves as a form of payback.
- Not only that, but it's likely that the disgruntled neighbor's threat of calling the FCC ended up ringing hollow, as he never follows through with it.
- Why does Helen go through the back as she was preparing to leave Roy, as she easily could have gone through the front door (especially since that's where her car is parked)? Perhaps she was intent on breaking the news to him to his face before leaving.
- Additionally, notice how Helen goes to the left after posting the note for her kids on the fridge. She likely went into the living room first to find Roy (since he's usually there when watching TV) and when she discovered he wasn't there, she deduced that he was in the backyard.
- While it was likely that Mr. Gorgon was going to rough up Roy no matter what in the wrestling segment, he notably didn't start attacking him until after he heard him say that wrestling was fake. At the time of this film's release, kayfabe was strictly enforced in professional wrestling, and several wrestlers (most infamously, David Schulz) responded to such allegations by physically attacking the reporter interviewing them. In essence, Mr. Gorgon decided to demonstrate to Roy how "not fake" wrestling is by being extra brutal to him.
- Of course Helen would be the one to break the fourth wall to tell kids not to try this at home before pushing a hairdryer into a bathtub. Mothers have typically (but not exclusively) been concerned about violence on TV. And since by this point, Helen is aware she's on TV, she probably assumed children were watching this, and doesn't want to encourage dangerous behavior.
- Additionally, she also figured that her children were possibly watching as well.
- Of course, Roy would reference The Maltese Falcon while in the Noir segment. He watched that movie last night!
- Roy being surprised upon discovering Murray Seidenbaum being in Hell Vision makes sense when you remember that earlier in the film, Roy was watching a news report discussing his and Sarah, his wife's disappearance. It's possible that when he saw the name, Seidenbaum in the newspaper while in Hell Vision, he put two and two together.
- That dance Roy does after defeating Spike but before going back to rescue Helen? It's a victory dance!
- Why does Roy put himself in front of his family as the neighbor's dog charges toward them? It's been earlier established in the film that the dog does not like Roy and even chased him around after he got home from work. Roy figured that since the dog was heading for them, he decided to shield them and take the beating.
- Earlier in the movie after banishing Crowley to field work, Spike warns Pierce that he'll be dead meat if he screws up in Hell Vision. By the end of the film, Spike is defeated by Roy and suffers at the paws of a dog via Crowley (the same man he exiled), while Pierce takes his position as the man in charge. In short, it's Spike who screws up and he becomes dead meat. With that in mind, Spike's fate becomes all the more ironic.
Fridge Horror
- Imagine what would've happened if Roy and Helen had not survived their 24 hours...
- Even worse, imagine this scenario: You go away for the night, hoping your parents could be alone to try to save their failing marriage. When you come home the next morning, they are nowhere to be seen, and the only thing you see is a note your mother left behind, stating that they had to go away, and will call tomorrow to explain. If Roy and Helen had been killed while in Hell Vision, let's just say that Helen would not be around to call them at all.
- At one point, Darryl nearly gets sucked into the dish. Granted, he barely escapes, but imagine what would have happened if he did end up in Hell Vision. Who knows how Roy and Helen would have reacted if they found him in there?!
