Mad Max Pop Culture References

This article is written from a real world point of view and is not considered to be part of the Mad Max canonical narrative.

Mad Max Pop Culture References
Year	1979 to Present

“	We kept it straight. It's all there. Everything marked, everything membered.	”
– Slake

A pop culture "reference" is usually a nod either visually or through dialogue toward a specific franchise. References can be -- and usually are -- used for comedic or satirical effect, and are instantly recognizable. The Mad Max Saga has been referenced in popular culture directly or indirectly on a number of occasions in other creative productions over the years.

It should be noted that this archive has been been compiled, edited, and curated by many contributors sourcing from all over the net, including one of the best resources for Mad Max information -- Mad Mad Movies.com.

Books

George Miller didn't invent the post-apocalyptic genre, but his Mad Max series from 1979-1985 definitely popularized it and brought it into mainstream pop culture. Since that time numerous comic books, movies, TV shows, and novels have been produced with thanks to a heavy influence from "Mad" Max.

	2011	The Dresden Files: Ghost Story	Jim Butcher	In the thirteenth book in the ongoing series, there were a couple references to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome -- one character quips, "It's like Thunderdome." Later, one character uses the line, "Two ghosts enter, one ghost leaves."
	2011	Ready Player One	Ernest Cline	The dystopian, sci-fi-adventure novel featured several references to the Mad Max series.
	2015	Mortal Engines	Philip Reeve	Mortal Engines author Philip Reeve stated that the film was an influence on the creation of his particular post-apocalyptic universe: On Twitter, Reeve was asked if he saw Fury Road. Reeve replied, "I haven't, but it looks amazing. (And I loved Mad Max 2, so that probably fed into Mortal Engines a bit.)"
			Philip Reeve	Later, Reeve wrote a glowing blog about Mad Max: Fury Road, stating the following: "I wasn’t particularly interested when I first heard about Mad Max - Fury Road. I’ve reached that age where every other movie out of Hollywood is a remake or a reboot of something that I remember from my formative years, and almost all of them seem inferior to the originals. But it turns out that Fury Road is the real deal: I don’t remember enjoying a sci-fi/action movie this much since Aliens."
	2020	Ready Player Two	Ernest Cline	Like the first book, this dystopian sequel featured references to the Mad Max Saga.

Commercials & Ads

These days commercials are often entertaining 30-second films that even feature Hollywood stars, so these short films are a great source for humor in order to be memorable and grab people's attention. Utilizing genre influences while pandering to certain fan-bases are an easy way to be memorable . . .

	1999	Yellow Pages	Reg Evans	There is a Yellow Pages ad in Australia which features Reg Evans as the owner/operator of the "Central Garage" -- exactly as he was in Mad Max. They've even used the same garage!
	2001	Mountain Dew	Busta Rhymes	In a 2001 commercial for Mountain Dew, rapper Busta Rhymes drives a MD Rig while being chased by people through the desert with a heavy Road Warrior vibe and influence.

	2007	Budweiser	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Earnhardt Jr. drives his NASCAR through the desert chased by a mutant-survivor gang in a Mad Max-style road war. The commercial had a variation: Version 2 - "Desert Mutants"
	2015	The Voice	Christina Aguilera et al	The 2015 commercial "Epic Confrontation" for NBC's singing competition The Voice -- which first aired during Super Bowl XLIX -- featured Christina Aguilera and the other judges in a Thunderdome-style arena with a heavy Mad Max influence and vibe.
	2024	Mud Madness	N/A	The 2024 commercial for Season 1 of Discovery Channel’s new reality show Mud Madness blatantly pandered to the Mad Max fans by overtly using visuals referencing the saga in several distinct ways. First, the commercial itself featured clips of wild buggies in frenetic action like Burning Man collided with a dune buggy race -- in mud. Second, the show’s title is almost a direct reference to Fury Road with its big, bold font in bright yellow letters. And, lastly, the alliteration of the double “M’s” like Mad Max -- Mud Madness -- and the use of the word “mad” are certainly intended as references.

Filmmakers

The 1970's launched a lot of great film-making careers -- Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and George Miller, Many, if not all, of these fine filmmakers are cited as influences on current filmmakers . . .

	1995	Robert Rodriguez	Movie Maker	In an interview Rodriguez gave to Movie Maker regarding El Mirachi, Rodriguez said, "Carlos and I were fans of the Road Warrior films, and we said, "Let's make a Mexican character that's really cool like the Road Warrior. You know, one of those guys that walks in to town, blows up the town, then leaves. I see a lot of first-time filmmakers who make more of a personal story. I knew that this was going to be my first practice film, and I asked myself, What would I do if I didn't have to send this to festivals--if this is just for fun? Even though we don't have a lot of money, let's just try and make a full-blown action movie. I had this idea for a recurring character, a guy with a guitar case full of guns, walking around dressed like a mariachi. The mariachi is, like, the wimpiest character in Mexican culture. So I said, "We're gonna make an action movie, but rather than making a revenge picture about an ex-cop who's lost his family, let's make him an ex-musician or something really wimpy, and make him really cool." I thought for the first one we'd show how he became that cool character, and then parts two and parts three would follow him on a journey. He no longer plays music, so what happens to an artist when an artist can no longer create? He begins to destroy."
	2014	David Twohy	Den of Geek	David Twohy worked on the script for Waterworld and admitted that it was heavily influenced by The Road Warrior [...] It’s pretty much here that the Mad Max 2 comparisons begin. Spoiler: they barely end. George Miller’s Mad Max 2 is one of the finest practical action movies committed to film (The Road Warrior and Waterworld were both shot by Dean Semler, not coincidentally). Swap the deserts for water, the trucks for boats and the need for fuel for the need for 20 Bensons, and Waterworld bears a lot of similarities. Tellingly, Waterworld is nearly twice as long [...]
	2017	Christopher Nolan	Entertainment Weekly	In an interview about Dunkirk, Nolan stated the following, “Really before I had any of the details about how I was going to write the script, I had the structure mapped out and planned, because I wanted a subjective experience and a visceral experience, I wanted to approach this not as a war story, but as a survival story. This was going to be like the action of a third act of a film, but it’s the entire movie. There have been films that have done this in recent years, like George Miller’s last Mad Max film, Fury Road, is a bit like that, or Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity, where you’re thrown into the present tense of a situation and you’re dealing with things as the characters deal with them, rather than too much discussion about where they come from and what they’re doing or too much discussion full stop.”
	2017	Zack Snyder	Indie Wire	Indie Wire asked Zack Snyder about his favorite films and on the list was The Road Warrior. Said Snyder, “is violent and sophisticated. It feels uncompromising.”

Movies

Many feature films over the years have made reference, borrowed, or spoofed the Mad Max Franchise. This list is a just a sample . . .

	Weird Science	1985	Vernon Wells reprises his role of "Wez" at a party this time called "Lord General."
	Strike Commando	1987	The scene when Ransom wakes up screaming, falls out of a hut, and then is hanging on a rope and surrounded by chanting natives, is shot and edited exactly like when Max wakes in the children's village in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
	Last Action Hero	1993	Mad Max 2 is playing on a TV in one scene.
	True Romance	1993	Christian Slater's character named "Clarence" made a reference to Mad Max -- “Do you know what films are? They're for people who don't like movies. 'Mad Max,' that's a movie."
	Waterworld	1995	The big budget Kevin Costner dud was a direct ripoff of the Mad Max Saga only set in a water-apocalypse.
	Liar Liar	1997	Jim Carrey: Where would Tina Turner be right now and said hit me again Ike, and put some steak on it, rolling on the river, that's where she would be, but she's beyond Thunderdome.
	Hot Fuzz	2007	Angel's long, lonely car drive is a reference to Max's long drive for justice in Mad Max.
	Watchmen	2009	Adrian is watching Nite Owl and Rorschach make their way into his Antarctic home on his security monitor wall. On one of his monitors, the scene in The Road Warrior when Max and Humungus are exchanging shots is shown. Director Zack Snyder has stated that Mad Max 2 is one of his favorite movies. (See Above)
	Bad Moms	2016	There was a reference to Fury Road.
	Moana	2016	Features a gang of Menehune Sprites known as the "Kakamora," whose appearance and actions were confirmed by John Musker to be a tribute to the War Boys. Additionally, the Kakamora's theme contains several measures of music lifted directly from Fury Road's "Brothers in Arms" track. John told SlashFilm in an interview, "Yeah. Well, we were inspired. I mean, I loved Road Warrior the first time. I saw The Road Warrior before I saw Mad Max, you know, I saw it in reverse order. And so I was, I've always been a fan of George Miller. This sequence I think got storyboarded after Fury Road came out I think as I recall. So I think, you know, we were inspired, but I think John was, it's a bit of an homage to it. But it, we really wanted to make it a big scale, you know, kinetic thing. And I think George Miller's a master of that kind of stuff."
	Ralph Breaks the Internet	2018	Contains a fictional Racing Game that has elements of the franchise with bits of the Grand Theft Auto series called Slaughter Race.
	Ready Player One	2018	Like the source material from which it came, the film adaptation had a ton of pop culture references, a lot of them visual "Easter Eggs." In Aech's garage there is a VR representation of a den with an original Mad Max poster. (The garage -- and den -- could be viewed in more detail with Sansar's VR platform -- See Video Games.)
	The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part	2019	Is an homage to Mad Max: Fury Road with its "Apocalypseburg" and its weird Mad Max-style vehicles.
	Space Jam: A New Legacy	2021	Wile E. Coyote is substituted for Morsov as a War Boy, complete with chrome mouth, but when Wile E. tries to leap onto the Road Runner, he lands on The Buzzard's car instead. Since Wile E. Coyote was carrying a knife and fork instead of the explosive spears, Slit destroys the vehicle and sends the coyote flying into Bugs Bunny and LeBron James. Later in the movie, during a basketball tournament between the Goon Squad and the Tune Squad, there's a couple of War Boys watching the game.

Music

With iconic songstress Tina Turner showing up and showing out in 1985's Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, fans could be assured that the music industry would embrace all things Mad Max from the themes to the styling. After all, there already existed a sort of synergy with Punk Rock from the franchise, so it's not surprising that that rebellious, post-apocalyptic theme endures even to the current day.

	This edition of STOP! Magazine chronicled Hollywood's "exploitation" of Punk Rock.
	The 1985 video for Phil Collins' "Don't Lose My Number" featured several people trying to pitch ideas for his music video. One of the ideas that we see is a direct ripoff of The Road Warrior.
	The Australian rock band Front End Loader was of course influenced by the Mad Max series. Their 1997 album was called "Last of the V8 Interceptors." Also, they had a song on the album called "Summer Hits" and in its video they used a yellow MFP Pursuit replica that was owned by Steve Nicols.
	In 1999, an Australian metal band was formed, calling themselves "Toecutter" named after the antagonist in the original Mad Max.
	Ke$ha gave an interview to Spin magazine in which she admitted the Mad Max influence by saying, “I have this cool, intergalactic spaceship thing going on. It’s got a post-apocalyptic Mad Max vibe.” In 2012, she also made a video in which she wore something similar to what Dementus wears in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. E! online even posted an article about it, "Ke$ha channels Mad Max . . ."
	There is a Dutch electronica-techno music festival that calls itself "Thunderdome," no doubt inspired by the 1985 movie.
	In 2015, the group Miracle of Sound released the song "Road Rage" which was a complete tribute to the Mad Max Saga.

On the Internet

One can find pretty much anything and everything on the internet as of 2024. It's a great source for regular people to release their own parodies and skits . . .

	2015	YouTube	Funny or Die	Whitney Rice played "Imperator Furiosa" in a parody of a Covergirl commercial.
	2015	YouTube	Funny or Die	Whitney Rice reprised her fake role as fake "Imperator Furiosa" in a fake Tampax commercial.
	2015	Nerdist	"Desert Drifter Power Wheels"	In April of 2015, as the hype for Mad Max: Fury Road was building, Nerdist released a skit based on Fury Road. The short, one minute video "advertised" a new Power Wheels product for kids called "Desert Drifter Power Wheels." The skit can be seen below:

	2015	YouTube	The Carrot and Potato Show	The Carrot and Potato Show began parodying Movies, Television and Video Games on YouTube in 2015. Mad Max: Fury Road has been a target several times, starting with "Blood Bags."
	2016	Youtube	The Carrot and Potato Show	They parodied "Immortan Joe."
	2016	YouTube	The Carrot and Potato Show	"Mel Gibson vs Tom Hardy."

Restaurants

Yes, even restaurants are not immune to making the cheeky Mad Max reference on occasion . . .

2009

Outback Steakhouse

The Mad Max

The American steakhouse franchise with the Australian influence and flair offered guests "The Mad Max" burger which was described as: "A serious burger. For warriors only, please. Served with bacon, American cheese, pickles, onion, mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato."

Sports - Entertainment

The cartoonish world of Professional Wrestling lends itself to battles of good versus evil in the squared circle, after all, it's Kabuki theater with body slams. So it's not at all surprising that the Mad Max Saga would spawn not one, but at least three different wrestlers inspired by the post-apocalyptic drama.

	Michael Hegstrand and Joseph Laurinaitis wrestled professionally as the tag-team known as "The Road Warriors" from 1983 to 2014 when they finally disbanded. According to their Wikipedia entry, "Their face paint and spiked armor were inspired by the Mad Max film The Road Warrior; they were the first wrestlers to bring a theme from a movie into the wrestling world."
	The professional wrestler known as "Lord Humungous" took his name and look from the character from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.
	In 1992, the WCW held a special match for their Halloween Havoc Pay Per View called "Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal" match which was obviously inspired by Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. The match featured Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs Sting.
	Wrestler Chris Jericho used to call himself "The Ayatollah of rock and rolla!" as Toadie referred to Lord Humungus.

Sports - Auto Racing

Cars are integral to the drama of the Mad Max Saga. Cars are integral to the various auto racing sports. Mad Max meets Pro Racing . . .

	Trading Paints is a custom car painting company for Indy racing. One of the paint jobs they utilized was that of the MFP Interceptor from the original Mad Max, complete with "MFP 508" on the roof, which, of course, was Max's unit number.
	Jeff Lutz of the Discovery reality show "Street Outlaws" has a Pro Mod 1969 Camaro dubbed "Mad Max." Apparently, the car hasn't been in action since 2016. Lutz broke the car out again for "Sick Week" in January 28 through February 2 of 2024.
	There's a young man (teenager) named Max Gordon who races trucks and they have, of course, dubbed him "Mad Max" like they did MLB's Max Scherzer. The company Speed RC Cars even has RC cars and other products dedicated to him on their website.

Sports - Baseball

Sports, especially professional sports leagues, love to give their star players nicknames. There was "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, "Air" Jordan, "Mean" Joe Greene, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, and "The Great One" Wayne Gretzky.

Major League Baseball Pitcher, Max Scherzer, was affectionately dubbed "Mad Max" obviously after the Mad Max Franchise. Sports Illustrated referred to his nickname on their April 28, 2014 cover.

Television - Animated

FOX's "Animation Domination," with shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad!, and Furturama, is fertile ground for genre-based pop culture references and those shows and many more haven't disappointed Mad Max fans. Whats is odd, however, are the number of kid's shows that have blatantly obvious Mad Max references that they shouldn't get, which proves these shows are aimed at adults as well.

	Super Mario Bros. Super Show!	1989	Season 1	Episode 13	"Toad Warriors"	Directly parodies The Road Warrior. In the episode, Mario and his friends try to help a group of rebels who are trying to deliver a truckload of tomato sauce to another compound. On his way to the starting place, Toad snags a Starman and becomes the "Toad Warrior." A massive car chase ensues and Toad defeats King Koopa in a chicken challenge.
	The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog	1993	Season 1	Episode 15	"The Robotnik Express"	Two bear characters named “Big Griz” and “Big Mike,” whom call themselves "Da Bears," travel in automobiles in styling based off the Interceptor and the automobiles from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
		1993	Season 1	Episode 58	"Mad Mike: Da Bear Warrior"	Two bear characters named “Big Griz” and “Big Mike,” whom call themselves "Da Bears," travel in automobiles in styling based off the Interceptor and the automobiles from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
	Rugrats	1994	Season 3	Episode 23	"The Sky is Falling"	There is an end-of-the world scene which parodies Mad Max 2. The rugrats are heading down a road in the desert towards an abandoned city. Their vehicles are engineered out of other things (cribs, etc...) One of the characters, "Chuckie," it piloting a Gyrocopter and is dressed very similarly to the Gyro Captain (leather cap, shirt, tan colors).
	ReBoot	1995	Season 2	Episode 4	"Bad Bob"	Pays direct homage to The Road Warrior by completely remaking the final chase scene with the shows characters portraying characters from the film. The episode was written by Brendan McCarthy, who had always been a big Mad Max fan. He sent that episode to George Miller around the time early work on Fury Road started in 1996. Doug Mitchell of Kennedy Miller Mitchell Productions met McCarthy in Los Angeles after watching that episode and after hearing McCarthy's ideas on the next Mad Max movie he hired him as one of the main storyboard artists and also as a co-screenwriter.
	Recess	2000	Season 4	Episode 33	"The Fuss Over Finster"	The teacher who supervises recess is injured and unable to keep order. During this "breakdown of law and order" a gang of children on bicycles are seen terrorizing the playground wearing outfits that are a clear reference to Mad Max 2 & 3, including one sporting a Lord Humungus mask.
	Invader Zim	2001	Season 1	Episode 6	"Battle Dib"	Central character Dib, as part of a annual school competition, fights against a fellow student in a Thunderdome to try and prove that Zim is indeed an alien.
	Family Guy	2001	Season 3	Episode 7	"Lethal Weapons"	Lois says the line, "Spin the wheel, Raggedy Man," in a reference to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
		2013	Season 12	Episode 2	"Vestigal Peter"	Peter and Lois go to Sears which looks like the post-apocalypse. Humungus and a boy that looks like Feral Kid drive up to them and Peter joins them, leaving Lois behind.
	Samurai Jack	2002	Season 2	Episode 3	"Smack Back Jack"	Jack must defend himself in the "Dome of Doom" which is, of course, heavily inspired by Thunderdome.
	Aqua Teen Hunger Force	2004	Season 3	Episode 2	"Unremarkable Voyage"	Meatwad describes his digestive tract, "My body consumes all waste material. It's like a Thunderdome in here. Only two men enter, no men leaves. Rated R."
		2004	Season 3	Episode 3	"Remooned"	Err says, "Carlito wants his hand back," like Toecutter in Mad Max in reference to Cundalini.
	American Dad!	2009	Season 6	Episode 9	"Rapture's Delight"	Takes place in a post-apocalypse. It opens in a bar filled with roughnecks and hooligans, including a a guy that looks like Humungus. Also, Stan looks like Mad Max from The Road Warrior, and uses a sawn-off shotgun.
		2016	Season 14	N/A	Facebook	American Dad! advertised the new season on TBS with Roger as the Coma-Doof Warrior.
		2016	Season 14	Episode 1	"Father's Daze"	Stan's fam forgets Father's Day. So he uses his memory-wipe device to make them think it's Father's Day in a montage in which, at one point, the family is dressed like the War Boys on the Doof Wagon.
	The Boondocks	2010	Season 3	Episode 13	"Fried Chicken Flu"	The final chase scene includes multiple references to the Mad Max films. When the Woodcrest Fried Chicken Flu Militia shows up to demand the food and water that Huey has stashed away in his house, several militia members resemble Humungus and his Horde. As the Freeman family escapes the house with their food and water tied on top their car, Aunty Entity's hairstyle and large earrings (from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome) are worn by the Woodcrest Militia leader as she orders her gang to get on a school bus to give chase and a road war ensues.
	Ben 10: Omniverse	2012	Season 6	Episode 1	"And Then There Were None"	An alternate version of Ben, named "Mad Ben," makes his first appearance in this episode. Mad Ben speaks with an Australian accent, lives in a desert wasteland, and dresses in clothing similar to Max Rockatansky.
	Regular Show	2013	Season 4	Episode 27	"Trailer Trashed"	Contains references to Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior such as the thugs hired by Frank Jones, with Frank, himself, wearing a hockey mask and delivering a threatening message to Muscle Man during the chase scene.
	Robot Chicken	2013	Season 6	Episode 14	"Holiday Road Warriors"	A segment about a family on holiday vacation attempting to survive a Mad Max-style road war from "the Holidays" in the Wasteland, with Humungus as "Santa."
		2020	Season 9	Episode 2	"Mad Matt: Cancellation Road"	The segment was a major spoof of Fury Road.
	The Amazing World of Gumball	2014	Season 3	Episode 25	"The Pizza"	In a post-apocalyptic episode: Larry: Why are you guys here? And why are you dressed like that? Gumball: Because, it's the apocalypse! And because . . . well, it-it's the apocalypse. The characters are dressed like Max, Feral Kid, and Master Blaster.
		2019	Season 6	Episode 31	"The Possession"	In the end there is a Fury Road-style chase scene.
	Bob's Burgers	2014	Season 5	Episode 3	"Friends with Burger-fits"	Meanwhile, the Belcher kids create a makeshift ice rink out of the freezer storage room in the restaurant's basement and invite their schoolmates to play a game they invented, where they try to make one another slip and fall on the ice. Upon discovering what they're doing, Linda is delighted and revamps it as a cage match-style tournament called "Freezerdome" (à la Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome), with herself as the referee, the kids in flamboyant costumes, and the prize being an elaborate championship belt. Through a series of sly tactics, Louise prevails as the champion.
		2020	Season 10	Episode 19	"The Handyman Can"	Louise's story about the "Hundred Year Storm" is a conglomeration of Mad Max and Waterworld. Later on, her dad asks her, "Like those things in Mad Max Fury Road? Which you definitely haven't seen, right? " And Louise replies, "No. I wouldn't even know how to stream that movie over and over with mom's password."
		2022	Season 12	Episode 22	"Some Like It Bot: Part I - Eighth Grade Runner"	In the dystopian future -- a parody of Blade Runner -- the "Burger of the Day" is called the "Mad Flax Curry Road Burger."
	Bojack Horseman	2016	Season 3	Episode 12	"That Went Well"	Featured a spoof of Fury Road.
	Gravity Falls	2016	Season 2	Episode 20	"Weirdmageddon"	Ended its two season run with a three-part finale. In the first part of the finale, the car chase scene is a direct homage to the Mad Max Saga with the cars being based-off the ones seen in Fury Road. Dipper and Wendy's car resembles Max's V8 Interceptor. Gideon also makes a reference as "Master Blaster," riding on top of Ghost-Eyes, a prisoner from a high security prison located in or near Gravity Falls.
	Teen Titans Go!	2016	Season 3	Episode 37	"History Lesson"	Robin, as Napoleon, gives a history lesson to the other Titans and shows a painting of himself defeating Lord Humungus.
		2016	Season 4	Episode 2	"Halloween v Christmas"	The Teen Titans are chased by Santa and his elves mount poles like the Pole Cats.
	Rick and Morty	2017	Season 3	Episode 2	"Rickmancing the Stone"	Contained references to Mad Max; Beyond Thunderdome as well as Fury Road.
	Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	2017	Season 5	Episode 11	"Raphael: Mutant Apocalypse - Part 1: The Wasteland Warrior"	The story centered around an alternate future which turned the world into a post-apocalyptic nightmare. In the beginning, Raph traverses the "never-ending wasteland" headed to a place called "Merchant Town." On the way he gets his armored van boosted and utters Nux's line, "What a day, what a lovely day."
		2017	Season 5	Episode 12	"Raphael: Mutant Apocalypse - Part 2: The Impossible Desert"	There's a compound that resembles Gastown. Also, Mira the Meerkat says, "The Wasteland is said to drive men mad," to which Raph replies, "Huh, I'll show 'em who's mad."
		2017	Season 5	Episode 13	"Raphael: Mutant Apocalypse - Part 3: Carmageddon!"	In Part 3, Raph fights in a Thunderdome-style arena called "The Pit." The main villain is revealed to be "Maximus Kong" a distinct copy of Lord Humungus. In the very end Mikey says they have the map to the Green Place.
	Unikitty	2019	Season 2	Episode 16	"Rainbow Race"	Paid homage to Mad Max: Fury Road.
	Grizzy and the Lemmings World Tour	2021	Season 3	Episode 51`	"Roaring Lemmings"	Grizzy runs after the Lemmings who have loaded a jar of Yummy into their RC car. At the gas station, the bear manages to destroy the vehicle and recover the spread. The rodents then find small carts and chase Grizzy to the edge of the cabin. They bring it down and intercept the coveted pot. Powerless, the bear sets off in pursuit of them, until they cross the road of a tanker full of Yummy . . .
	Cars on the Road	2022	Season 1	Episode 8	"Road Rumblers"	While on the road, Lightning and Mater argue, come across a camp, and get captured by cars with spikes attached. The two are forced to compete in the Thundercone, a deadly battle royal where one has to successfully kill the other, while avoiding traps set around the upside-down cone arena that competitors fight on.

Television - Animated - The Simpsons

The animated comedy The Simpsons has been around since 1989, spoofing pretty much everything. In fact, there is a whole Simpsons Wiki page dedicated to Simpsons-Mad Max references.

	1993	Season 5	Episode 5	"Treehouse of Horror IV"	The end credits read "Bobby Mad Mackston."
	1995	Season 6	Episode 16	"Bart vs Australia"	A character that looks like Wez chases the Simpsons through the streets at one point.
	1995	Season 6	Episode 24	"Lemon of Troy"	The Springfield kids watch the Shelbyville kids circle a compound like in The Road Warrior.
	1999	Season 11	Episode 1	"Beyond Blunderdome"	Aside from the episode's title, Mel Gibson guest starred with plenty of Mad Max references.
	2001	Season 13	Episode 3	"Homer the Moe"	The big Chinese officer is called "The Great Humongous."
	2003	Season 15	Episode 2	"My Mother the Carjacker"	Homer tells his buddies that the government has better things to do than to read his mail. CUT TO: The FBI actually reads his mail, including letters to movies. Homer wrote to Die Hard and asked if it knew Mad Max.
	2010	Season 22	Episode 7	"How Munched is That Birdie in the Window"	Moe says, "Nah, no, lay off Detroit. Their people are living in Mad Max times."
	2011	Season 23	Episode 9	"Holidays of Future Passed"	In a dystopian future, adult Maggie boards a cobbled plane to Springfield and the plane's crew looks like survivors from the Mad Max series. While flying, the Gyro Captain gets shot down. On the plane, a stewardess serves a passenger a can of dog food.
	2012	Season 23	Episode 14 (500th Overall)	"At Long Last Leave"	"Outland" Maggie participates in a fight while the other babies shout, "Two babies enter, one baby leaves!"
	2013	Season 24	Episode 9	"Homer Goes to Prep School"	As the Apocalypse nears, Homer becomes a "prepper." Bart mentions how water and gas are commodities like Mad Max movies.
	2013	Season 25	Episode 2	"Treehouse of Horror XXIV"	Bobby Mackston is credited as Bobby "Mad Max" Ton. This is at least the second time he's been credited as Mad Max-ton.
	2015	Season 26	Episode 20	"Let’s Go Fly a Coot"	Homer lists a number of dystopian movies. Among them is Mad Max: Fury Road.
	2016	Season 27	Episode 16	"The Marge-ian Chronicles"	Lisa had some magazines spread out on a table and one of them -- the cover of "Scientist American" -- reads "Scientists: Mad Max too optimistic."
	2016	Season 28	Episode 4 (600th Overall)	"Treehouse of Horror XXVII"	"Dry Hard" is a dystopian potential future with a spoof of Fury Road.
	2018	Season 30	Episode 10	"‘Tis the Thirtieth Season"	The Sprawl-Mart employee ominously says, "And welcome to Thunderdome!"
	2019	Season 30	Episode 14	"The Clown Stays in the Picture"	A scene that copies Fury Road.

Television - Animated - South Park

In 1997, the animated show South Park began sharing its witty and irreverent appreciation for everything pop culture to include Mad Max. Comedic Actor Bill Hader recounted to Collider, talking about Fury Road with South Park co-creator, Matt Stone: "HADER: I think the person who said it the best was Matt Stone from South Park . I go, “Did you see Mad Max ?” and he goes, “Yeah.” “Well what’d you think of it?” He said, “Going to see it for the third time, I’m wearing a suit.”

	2001	Season 5	Episode 7	“Proper Condom Use”	The girls create a compound to stay away from boys and their diseases. In fact, one of the girls even has a boomerang as a weapon. At one point, Butters leads a ragged group of misfits, including Cartman as "Toadie," to the compound. Butters stands in a play car while wearing a Lord Humungus mask and tells the girls to "Just walk away" in Lord Humungus' voice. Then Kenny gets killed -- AGAIN -- by the boomerang.
	2004	Season 8	Episode 3	“The Passion of the Jew”	Featured a chase scene where Mel Gibson was chasing a bus while driving the tanker from Mad Max 2.
		Season 8	Episode 8	"Douche and Turd"	Stan refused to vote in the school mascot election and is banished from South Park forever on the back of a horse with a bucket on his head like the Gulag punishment Max faced in Beyond Thunderdome.
	2009	Season 13	Episode 4	“Eat, Pray, Queef”	Lines between Wez and Lord Humungus are quoted as queefs by a woman in a Congressional hearing.
					In several episodes of South Park over the years, they featured Mad Max posters in Stan's room.

Television - Anime/Manga

The Japanese Manga and Anime "Hokuto no Ken" ("Fist of the North Star") takes quite a few cues -- particularly the post-apocalyptic theme -- from the Mad Max series. The comic books series (Manga) ran from September 13, 1983 - August 8, 1988. The television cartoon series (Anime) ran from October 11, 1984 - March 5, 1987. The Anime sequel series ran from March 13, 1987 - February 18, 1988.

The appearance of Capable, one of the five wives of Immortan Joe from Mad Max: Fury Road, could be a counter-reference to Bat, one of Ken's followers and closest friends.

	Kenshiro, has a similar appearance to Max, and wears an almost identical outfit.
	Kenshiro's brother Jagi, is heavily based on Lord Humungous, sporting a similar appearance complete with a face mask that while not completely identical, is very similar looking. Ironically, Jagi also wears similar clothes (but unlike Kenshiro, not completely identical) to Max's, and also uses a sawed-off shotgun as his signature weapon.
	The Hokuto no Ken universe often depicts large roving gangs of raiders wielding crossbow weapons and driving large armadas of motor vehicles very similar to Lord Humungus' Marauders or the Toecutter's gang.
	A very early minor antagonist Spade has a very similar appearance and personality to Wez.
	Jackal, the main antagonist of an early arc, closely resembles Toecutter. Like Toecutter, he runs a criminal biker gang and is at one point threatened by an Old Lady with a large rifle.
	In turn, Mad Max: Fury Road takes a few cues from Fist of the North Star. Notably, the antagonist Immortan Joe has similarities to Fist of the North Star antagonist Raoh, an Emperor with a similarly imposing presence.
	The July 2024 issue of HiHO magazine (Japan) featured Furiosa artwork by Tetsuo Hara of Fist of the North Star fame.

Television - Comedy

A pop culture reference is almost always aimed with comedic effect and have existed pretty much since comedies have existed. Mad Max has been spoofed and goofed in many, many sit-coms or sketch shows through the years . . .

	Cheers	1987	Season 5	Episode 16	"Never Love A Goalie: Part I"	Dr. Frasier Crane returns to the bar and explains how he got into a fight at a hockey game. He says, "Next thing I know I in the North End holding station with the cast of the Road Warrior," to which Woody replies, "Did you get Mel Gibson's autograph?"
	Mystery Science Theater 3000	1990	Season 1	Episode 10	"Robot Holocaust"	Joel Robinson, the human host, made the comment, "You think they shop at the same place Mad Max does?"
		1993	Season 5	Episode 1	"Warrior of the Lost World"	Joel: "This isn't Mad Max, it's Sad Max."
		1993	Season 5	Episode 6	"Eegah"	The guys watch the movie from 1962: A teenage girl and her scientist father discover a giant caveman that calls himself "Eegah" living in a cave in the desert. Eegah is introduced to modern civilization, but he soon falls in love with the girl, to her boyfriend's chargin. The main character drives around the desert in a junky-looking dune buggy with his girlfriend. Tom Servo comments, "On their way to Thunderdome."
		1993	Season 5	Episode 16	"Alien From L.A."	"What is this, Sad Max?"
		1994	Season 6	Episode 10	"The Violent Years"	Mike: "Judy: Beyond Thundersquishy."
		1996	Season 7	Episode 6	"Laserblast"	There was a whole skit at the beginning of the episode about Thunderdome.
		1998	Season 9	Episode 3	"The Pumaman"	"Beyond Donald-dome."
	Seinfeld	1998	Season 9	Episode 11	"The Dealership"	Jerry and George spend the day at a car dealership trying to work out a deal with Puddy. This was the episode where George couldn't get the vending machine to take his dollar. Then, later, he got screwed out of a Twix when it wouldn't fall and one of the mechanics ate it. He exclaims, "There's no laws in this place! Anything goes -- it's Thunderdome!"
	Big Bang Theory	2013	Season 6	Episode 14	"The Cooper/Kripke Inversion"	Kripke walks into Cooper's office complaining that they were supposed to have a meeting a half an hour ago and Sheldon replies, "Welcome to Thunderdome, Kripke."
		2013	Season 7	Epsiode 11	"The Cooper Extraction"	While decorating a Christmas Tree, Raj says, "So Star Wars and Star Trek can go on the same branch?" to which Leonard replies, "I know. It's crazy. Welcome to the Thunderdome, people."
	Conan	2015	Season 5	Episode 733	May 20th	Conan interviewed Patton Oswalt who showed his "cut scene" from Mad Max: Fury Road.
		2015	Season 5	Episode 755	July 8th	Conan did a spoof where he and Andy Richter drove down to the San Diego Comic-Con . . . on the Doof Wagon. Conan played the "Doof Warrior" while Andy drove as "Immortan Joe."

	Late Night With Seth Meyers	2016	Season 3	Episode 335	February 29th	Seth Meyers played an environmentally-conscious War Boy in a skit called "Reasonable Max."
	Full Frontal With Samantha Bee	2016	Season 1	Episode 4	February 29th	Samantha Bee did an "Office Tour" that had a couple Mad Max references, including Bee dressed as "Furiosa" in the end.
	Young Sheldon	2020	Season 4	Episode 2	"A Docent, A Little Lady and a Bouncer Named Dalton"	Mary Cooper, Sheldon's mom, was talking with George Jr. about Roadhouse when he said, "I think that dad'll love that you're into stuff like this." Mary replied, "I'm sure he would. he took me to see Mad Max twice [...] The second time we couldn't find a sitter so we brought you along."
	Saturday Night Live	2022	Season 47	Episode 20	May 14th	During the "Weekend Update" segment, Colin Jost opened as follows: “Is it me or does every story this week sound like the opening voiceover in a Mad Max movie? The year is 2022. A virus rages across the planet. Digital money has collapsed. Infants have nothing to eat. Women are forced to breed. Men are ready to die for gasoline. And we suffer under the leadership of the one known only as Joe.” Then Joe Biden was shown in an Immortan Joe mask.
		2024	Season 49	Episode 18	May 4th	During "Weekend Update" the new and improved "JoJo Siwa" showed up with some announcements, including her new, "more adult look" and Colin Jost quipped, "I was gonna say if Mad Max was on Broadway.”

Television - Live Action

Television shows, especially genre shows, have become much more sophisticated and cinematic thanks to technology and shows like Game of Thrones, and The Mandalorian. Some of these shows are like feature films in serial form and have referenced the Mad Max Saga on numerous occasions . . .

	Sliders	1996	Season 3	Episode 7	"Desert Storm"	The Sliders visits a world that has no water, and is a desert type world. Wade Wells comments that the people in this world are like Mad Max because of their cars, and the way they act like savages because of the lack of water -- water is rare instead of gasoline.
	Power Rangers: Time Force	2001	Season 1	Episode 25	"Movie Madness: Part 2"	The show featured Vernon Wells ("Wez") as the villain named "Ransik." This episode featured a whole chase sequence that was modeled after Mad Max 2 and Ransik's costume even resembled Wez's.
	Stranger Things	2017	Season 2	Episode 1	"Chapter One: MADMAX"	The title of the episode is a direct reference to Mad Max as the character "Max" uses "MADMAX" as a pseudonym to record her score for the video game Dig Dug. Also, someone at the arcade calls her "Road Warrior."
						Due to the popularity of both Mad Max and Stranger Things, the episode became a sort of meme.
	The Walking Dead	2017	Season 7	Episode 10	"New Best Friends"	Rick Grimes battles a group called the "Scavengers" in a junkyard that looks like the Mad Max world because Graham "Grace" Walker who was a Production Designer on Beyond Thunderdome was the Production Designer for this episode.
		2018	Season 9	Episode 7	"Stradivarius"	Daryl Dixon adopted a dog that he simply called "Dog" as Max did.
	The Book of Boba Fett	2021	Season 1	Episode 2	"The Tribes of Tatooine"	More of a stylistic homage than a direct reference, Lucasfilm Ltd.'s Book of Boba Fett had a train sequence in Episode 2 which was shot very similar to that of the train sequence in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Boba Fett led a ragged group of Tuskens on an attack of the train and the entire sequence was sped-up the way George Miller has variously done throughout the entire Mad Max Saga. Also, it should be noted that Robert Rodriguez was an Executive Producer of the mini-series. (See Above)

Television - Reality

If it's on TV, then its fair game to drop a Mad Max reference or three. Even so-called "Reality Television" has gotten in on the fun . . .

	Nickelodeon Global Guts	1995	Season 4	Recurring	N/A	The show was a sports-related competition for youngsters, During the final season, re-titled "Global Guts," contestants competed in a competition called "Mad Max" wherein they had to ride a tricycle through an obstacle course.
	A Cook's Tour	2002	Season 2	Episode 8	"Mad Tony: The Food Warrior"	The late celebrity chef, Anthony Bourdain, hosted a food show for the Travel Channel called A Cook’s Tour that lasted two seasons. Episode 8 was entitled “Mad Tony: The Food Warrior” which was from Australia and featured a heavy Mad Max vibe.

	Top Chef Masters	2013	Season 5	Episode 8	"Lucha Vavoom"	There was an episode in which the chefs cooked for the stars and fans of the wrestling show. At the end of the night Chefs Bryan Voltaggio and Doug Keane challenged each other to wrestle, stating "Two chefs enter, One chef leaves."
	Inside West Coast Customs	2014	Season 5	Episode 2	"Mad Max"	The title of the episode refers to the Mad Max Saga but specifically the video game as their clients -- reps from Warner Bros. Games, Peter, and Odd, from Avalanche Studios -- wanted the guys to make the "Magnum Opus" from the 2015 Mad Max video game. So they did! The builders transformed a Maverick and a Ford Ranger into the Magnum Opus from the game and at the end of the episode they unveiled it at "Wasteland Weekend."

	Iron Resurrection	2020	Season 4	Episode 3	"Tricked Out Trike"	At one point, Joe Martin, owner and lead builder, inspects their work. His co-worker, Mike, gets on the trike and Joe says, "You're about ready to ride into a Mad Max movie, man."
	Bitchin' Rides	2023	Season 10	Episode 3	"Bitchin' Off-Road Warrior"	Car shows on the Motortrend Network are an easy target for Mad Max references. The Season 10 episode was entitled "Bitchin' Off-Road Warrior," but there were no other Mad Max references.

Video Games

Since the electronic game boom of the 1970's and 1980's video games have become more and more sophisticated, like novels in some cases, or even movies that you can play. So, as with all other forms of entertainment and media, the format is ripe for post-apocalyptic narratives that have a decidedly Mad Max influence.

	Fallout	1997	The Fallout series is known for its numerous and repeated references to the Mad Max Saga. The backstory for the Fallout universe involved the drying-up of -- and competition for -- control of the last oil reserves in the world as well as the breakdown of civilization through nuclear war similar to Mad Max 2.
			In all three Fallout games, a leather jacket identical to the one that Max wears in the movies can be worn by the character or NPCs as armour.
			"Dogmeat," a dog the character can obtain in all three games, pays homage to the blue heeler that accompanied Max in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.
	Fallout 2	1998	Fallout 2's Broken Hills is a reference to the town of Broken Hill that The Road Warrior was filmed in.
			In Fallout 2, making fun of Stuart Little's appearance prompts him to call male characters "Madd Maxx wannabes."sic
			In Fallout 2, another Mel/Max lookalike will appear out of thin air and attack the Chosen One if they harm Dogmeat while he is not a companion.
			After destroying the Enclave's oil rig in Fallout 2, teenagers from the Wright family can be found singing a little of Thunderdome's theme.
	Fallout 3	2008	Upon meeting Harkness in Fallout 3, one of his replies might be, "Oh yeah? And I'm a fairy princess." as a reference to an utterance made by Max when he talks to Master Blaster.
			In the same game, the Lone Wanderer has a chance of encountering "Mel" (a reference to Mel Gibson) in the Wasteland, who resembles a blonde version of Max. He asks for all of the character's money, even though he appears friendly on the radar. If the characters Perception is high enough, s/he can notice that his sawed-off shotgun is not loaded.
			In Little Lamplight, one of the children uses the word "humongous" incorrectly, saying "humungus." While this may appear to be a simple typo to the untrained eye, this is actually a reference to Lord Humungus.
			The Raider Blaster Helmet in Fallout 3 is similar to the one Blaster wears in Thunderdome, and the Outfit worn by Mccready, Little Lamplight's leader, is identical to the costume worn by Jedediah the pilot's son.
			On the back of the video game case of Fallout 3 -- and in the final clip of the ending slideshow before the credits -- there is a picture of the character and the dog walking away into the sunset, which resembles the iconic cover of The Road Warrior.
	Fallout 3: The Pitt	2009	The image for the Fallout 3: The Pitt expansion perk "Pitt Fighter" depicts Vault Boy (the main mascot of the Fallout series and Vault-Tec) wearing armor identical to Blaster's armor. In addition, the arena in The Pitt heavily resembles the Thunderdome, and the outfits worn by the slaves in The Pitt resemble the ones worn by the slaves in the Thunderdome.
	Resident Evil 5	2009	Players can select a "Warrior" costume for Chris Redfield that looks like something from Mad Max, complete with sawed-off shotgun.
	Fallout: New Vegas	2010	In Fallout 3 (and New Vegas), characters can acquire both a sawn-off shotgun that is identical to Max's signature weapon, as well as a scoped revolver that bears a striking resemblance to Lord Humungus' weapon of choice.
			There is a character named "Old Lady Gibson," obviously in honor of Mel Gibson.
			In Fallout: New Vegas, several achievements can be earned by the name of "Blast Mastery," and "You Run Barter Town," both references to Beyond Thunderdome, the former referencing Master Blaster, and the latter the location of Bartertown. There's also one called "White Line Nightmare."
	Borderlands	2009	The boss named "Mad Mel" is a mix of Mad Max and Mel Gibson. He also fights while driving a vehicle. His physical aspect, though, resembles Lord Humungus.
	Grand Theft Auto V (Online)	2013	Players can acquire a custom muscle car in the online format called the "Apocalypse Imperator" that is inspired by Max's Pursuit Special. You can also acquire other Mad Max-related vehicles,
	Brawlhalla	2014	The character "Barraza" pays homage to Mad Max, due to his appearance and his weaponry.
	Hearthstone	2014	A card named "Bone Baron" has quotes with references to Fury Road: when he enters into battle he says, "Ride eternal!" and when he attacks says, "Witness me!" referencing the War Boys' Kamikaze action.
	Broforce	2015	As of October 2014, in the indie game Broforce, a playable character called "Bro Max" was released in the Steam Workshop Update. Bro Max is based on "Max Rockatansky." In the game, Bro Max uses a "Dragon's Breath" shotgun -- which ignites enemies and deals knockback. There is also a "Special Command" where Bro Max uses a boomerang which is a reference to "The Feral Kid" in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. Bro Max resembles Max from Mad Max 2 with a bruised eye, gray hair on the sides, and a shoulder pad.
	Heroes of the Storm	2015	"Garrosh Hellscream" has a skin called "Mad Axe," which is a combination of "Mad Max" and "Axe," given that he carries an axe, the appearance of the skin is based on Mad Max and his mount.
	Mortal Kombat X	2015	In the 10th installment of the franchise, a set of characters was introduced named "Ferra/Thorr" -- these are two characters in one, Ferra being a small child who hangs on Thorr's Back which is a bigger, brawnier character, This is a reference to Master Blaster from Beyond Thunderdome. If you play Johnny Cage against them, he will say, "Master Blaster" in the Introduction which confirms it being a direct reference.
	Crossout	2016	Crossout takes on a homage to Mad Max.
	Forza Horizon 3	2016	Had many legendary vehicles from Australia, so it was not surprising there are several references within the game. Being a racing game most of the references are cars.
			A barn find where "Warren," the mechanic from the game, freaks out about finding the V8 Intercepter in the middle of the Outback. This whole barn find sequence is dripping in clues and references as follows: The radio DJ -- different on every channel -- will say a crazy apocalyptic prepper had left a hint saying that his car was anyone's for the taking. walking-off with his dog into the sunset, much like the scene from Road Warrior. Warren acts and talks very much like "Chumbucket" from the Mad Max video game, wanting to put "cross-bows and flame-throwers" all over the car. Sadly, this is not the case and he restores it to a state very similar to the Interceptor, before modification to the vehicle in the first movie. The number plate in the cut scene in which you uncover it boldly states "Last V8."
			Another reference is also a barn find hidden in the Outback. The vehicle in question is a Holden HQ panel van "Sandman." This is not a direct reference like the XB GT Ford Falcon, but still classed as a reference. The Sandman, as Warren calls it in the game, comes stock in a color very similar to the movie.
			The Holden Monaro GTS is the next one, it like the sandman is an indirect reference. The vehicle is the same make and model as several cars in the Mad Max universe, such as Nightrider's Monaro and several others. One of the stock colors matches up to Nightrider's Monaro in the first film.
			The Ford 5-window coupe barn find, part of the Hot Wheels expansion pack, resembles both "The Nux Car" and the Ford 3 door coupe "Elvis" from Fury Road.
	Ready Player One (VR)	2018	In the Ready Player One VR platform there is a Mad Max poster in Aech's basement.
	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2019	The popular war-themed video game released a rare skin for the character "Wyatt" called the "Pursuit Special" that has a distinct Mad Max vibe.

Trivia

• The 2017 TMNT Raphael: Mutant Apocalypse featured a young girl with a map to an "Oasis" tattooed on her body in similar fashion to the movie Waterworld; the map was tattooed on her left arm like Furiosa's, but seven years before Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Lastly, there was a "Max" in the trilogy -- the main villain named "Maximus Kong," Warrior King of the Wasteland.
• In the "Desert Storm" Episode of Sliders, Ken Steadman was killed in an on-set accident and had to be replaced.