 The scene in which the greyhounds watch television is similar to the dalmatians of One Hundred and One Dalmatians . Instead of watching What 's my Crime ? like the dalmatians do in the film , the greyhounds watch the television series Models , Inc . The clerk that performs a mind @-@ meld on Santa 's Little Helper is a reference to the Vulcan mind @-@ meld ability in Star Trek ; the same music from the mind @-@ meld scenes in Star Trek are played during the scene . At one point , Santa 's Little Helper looks wistfully out the window of the Simpson family 's car , and then morphs out of the car window in reference to a similar scene in Terminator 2 : Judgment Day ; music from that film plays in the background . Four of the puppies are named Jay , David , Paul and Branford , a reference to late @-@ night talkshow hosts David Letterman and Jay Leno and their respective bandleaders Paul Shaffer and , at the time , Branford Marsalis . 
