Krusty's failed attempt at singing the national anthem is a reference to Roseanne Barr's infamous rendition of the song on July 25, 1990 before a baseball game between the San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds at Jack Murphy Stadium. Unable to hear herself over the PA system, Barr claimed that she had to sing very loudly, making her performance screechy, and offending many viewers, including then-President, George Bush, who declared it "disgraceful".
When Lisa is exiled to Monster Island the three monsters seen chasing her are Mothra, Rodan and Gamera the fire breathing turtle.
This is the first time Eddie and Lou appear out of uniform.
The episode starts out with Lisa tricking Bart into believing it is a snow day by throwing a snowball at him which she made out of the ice in the fridge. The scene was inspired by Mike Scully, who as a child loved to sit and listen by the radio waiting to see if there was going to be a school snow day. Scully thought, because of his experience as a child, that there was nothing more disappointing than to wake up expecting a snow day, only to find out there was no snow.
"Eat Up Martha" became a cautionary mantra for years at Apple, reminding their engineers how savagely they would be mocked if they put out another product that performed as poorly as the Newton. This gag may have single-handedly set the bar much higher for later touchscreen devices like the iPhone.