Re: Obligatory Hitchhiker's Guide
I get the reference but I wonder if the illustrious Mr Adams* might have found inspiration for that line elsewhere. I remember listening to Monty Python's Instant Record Collection a year or two before H2G2 had its first run on the radio. I'm sure I remember a point in the recording at which one of the Pythons (can't remember which) describes John Cleese as "spending a year dead on Mars for tax reasons".
*Had the good fortune to meet him once and have nothing but admiration for the man. Not trying to take anything away from him now. Just curious. Then again, great minds, etc...
Come to think of it, my memory might be just a tad hazy after all this time. Maybe Adams was first with the gag...