The Collector's lair, several celebrities are seen stored in aluminized PET film bags. Some of these include The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening and Tom Baker, who portrayed the fourth incarnation of the doctor in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. "There are several Doctor Who actors but Tom Baker is the one we always go with" Hauge explained in the episode's DVD commentary. Other captives include actress Yasmine Bleeth, Gilligan from the series Gilligan's Island and Spock and Seven of Nine from Star Trek. The segment also features the series' first reference to Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, when The Collector uses a mint-condition Darth Maul double-bladed lightsaber. Because the episode was written before the film's release, the writers did not know "how bad it was gonna be", in their view, and therefore did not include any "obligatory shot" at the film. As he dies, The Collector poses as Lorne Greene's character Commander Adama in the science fiction series Battlestar Galactica. Hauge based "Life's a Glitch, Then You Die" on the hysteria involving Y2K, a digital problem that occurred the night into January 1, 2000. Humans escaping an unsavable Earth in rockets is a reference to the 1951 film When Worlds Collide. In a scene in the segment, several celebrities, including actor Mel Gibson and former Major League Baseball player Mark McGwire, can be seen waiting in line for the first rocket. They both guest starred as themselves in two earlier episodes from the season, "Beyond Blunderdome" and "Brother's Little Helper". Others in the line include businessman Bill Gates, director Ron Howard, former President Jimmy Carter, scientist Stephen Hawking, rock musician Paul McCartney, basketball player Michael Jordan and ice skater Michelle Kwan. Those on the doomed ship include actors Pauly Shore and Tom Arnold, politicians Ross Perot and Dan Quayle, singer Courtney Love, TV presenters Rosie O'Donnell and Laura Schlessinger, film director Spike Lee, activist Al Sharpton and figure skater Tonya Harding. Release and reception In its original American broadcast on October 31, 1999, "Treehouse of Horror X" received an 8.6 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, translating to approximately 8.7 million viewers. The episode finished in 34th place in the ratings for the week of October 25-31, 1999. Following the episode was a rerun of "Treehouse of Horror IX", which was originally broadcast the previous year. In 2000, "Treehouse of Horror X" was nominated