Bart says that only 17 issues of Mad magazine are published per year, referring to the magazine's editorial policy, which often changed the frequency of publication.
The 39th vice president of the United States, Spiro Agnew, is mentioned in the magazine.
One of the magazines includes Japanese former baseball pitcher Hideo Nomo on the cover.
The Pin Pals sing a chant to support Otto. In a part of the lyrics, Homer chants "Dōmo arigatō, Mr. Roboto", a famous line from "Mr. Roboto", the 1982 hit by American rock band Styx.
Moe unsuccessfully tries to injure Mr. Burns by hitting him in the leg with a crowbar. This is similar to the assualt of figure skater Nancy Kerrigan by Shane Stant. The attack was intended to prevent Kerrigan from taking part in the ongoing 1994 United States Figure Skating Championships and the forthcoming 1994 Winter Olympics. Kerrigan could not compete in the US Championship but recovered in time to compete in the Winter Olympics.
The Pin Pals win the game due to the ground being moved by the collapse of the claw machine. This is a parody of the final scene of the 1980 American golf comedy film Caddyshack, in which plastic explosives were detonated, shaking the ground and causing the ball to drop into the hole, handing the protagonists the victory.
In the original airing of this episode, Homer's Academy Award said Haing S. Ngor, but, when Ngor died, it was changed to Don Ameche. The second version is the one in syndication and in the Season 7 DVD boxset.
The Lovejoys' and Flanders' bowling team is called "Holy Rollers", which, as well as meaning "religious bowlers", is also a slang term for evangelical Christians.
This episode is dedicated to the memory of Doris Grau, a former Simpsons script supervisor and voice actor, mainly the voice of Lunchlady Doris, who passed away.
When Bart's class is a mess because of Bart's t-shirt, Ralph Wiggum can be seen on the floor and it is known that Ralph is in Lisa's class.
When Superintendent Chalmers gets trampled on by the children, the same children keep running past him multiple times.
When the kids are inciting chaos because of Bart's shirt and they knock over Edna Krabappel's desk, the books on the desk disappear.
When Principal Skinner is looking out the window and the light reaches his head through the window shade, the light shining on his nose repeatedly appears and disappears.
