Leisure Suit Larry III, released around the same time as SQ III, also has a very similar fourth-wall-break at the end of the game. The Sierra team must have had Blazing Saddles on their minds in the late '80s.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I liked The Pirates of Pestulon. It's also the last EGA SQ to my recollection. Call me weird but the limited palette of EGA graphics appeals to me.
It just didn't have as big an impact on my young self as SQ II.
That scene at the end, where they land in the car park of the "Redwood" building in Oakhurst where the Sierra offices were, was one of my favourite parts. Like many of you I'm sure, I dreamed of one day working for Sierra in that building.
Scumsoft Software and Elmo Pug, the fat dude that walked around whipping the programmers. Scumsoft Software was of course Sierra On-Line, and Elmo Pug was Ken Williams. They did get away with it, Ken Williams approved :D