This is one of only two episodes in which the guest star uses a pseudonym instead of their real name (the other being Michael Jackson in "Stark Raving Dad"). Following the legal troubles surrounding "Stark Raving Dad", the producers banned all use of pseudonyms for the celebrity guest stars.
This is, as of 2024, one of the few episodes dubbed in Dutch.
Near the end of the episode, when Homer checks on Maggie, she cries a bit for her pacifier. Nancy Cartwright was asked to play Maggie and she accepted the role, but she spotted her husband (who's now divorced) and her daughter (who was an infant at the time) walk into the recording studio. She asked one of the directors if her baby could do Maggie's cry, and the director accepted. Because of this, Nancy Cartwright's baby daughter actually did Maggie's cry here.
Lisa makes a reference to that there weren't many Jewish cowboys, in which Mr. Bergstrom says that there were actually a few. In the actual history of the Old West, there was a multiracial makeup of cowboys and settlers, with there being cowboys of black/African American, Mexican, and Indian heritage, as well as cowboys who were recent immigrants from Russia, Germany, and France.
The book that Mr. Bergstrom was reading to the class was Charlotte's Web.
The scene in Mrs. Krabappel's classroom where Mrs. Krabappel was trying to seduce Mr. Bergstrom is a reference to the 1967 romantic comedy-drama film, The Graduate that starred Mr Bergstrom's voice actor, Dustin Hoffman as lead character, Benjamin Braddock.
The line spoken by Mr. Bergstrom, "Mrs. Krabappel, you're trying to seduce me" is identical to the line, "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me", spoken by Braddock to the lead female character, Mrs. Robinson, portrayed in the film by the late actress, Anne Bancroft.
During the montage of Bart, there is a blonde girl that looks the same as Lisa, but the only difference is that her hair is curly.
During Martin's celebration after clinching the class president election, he is photographed holding up a newspaper that reads "SIMPSON DEFEATS PRINCE". This is an obvious reference to a notorious printing error by the Chicago Tribune that read "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN" in regard to the 1948 presidential election between incumbent Harry Truman and challenger Thomas Dewey. The headline was printed in advance due to telephone polls overwhelmingly favoring Dewey. Following Truman's election, a photograph of him was taken jovially displaying the erroneous headline which has become the iconic image associated with the 1948 election.
This is the first episode that has Maggie communicate other than her pacifier, gestures and facial expressions (in this case, crying). This is also the first episode in which Maggie cries.
Lisa's classroom is shown to be on the first floor of Springfield Elementary School at the beginning of the episode. Later it is shown to be on the second floor.
Marge's yellow dress in the couch gag
According to Bart's narration of his "kittens" video he shows his class to, Snowball II was a kitten that the Snowball I had. But in "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", it's clearly stated that Snowball II was bought after Snowball I went to heaven when she got ran over.
When Homer reads "Go away" on Lisa's door, his mouth doesn't move.
Near the end of the episode, when Homer is talking to Lisa, he says he never lost anyone special, when he actually did lose someone special- his mom (when she ran away to escape the law, when she had to go back to jail, and when she actually died). This was back before Homer found out what happened to his mom in "Mother Simpson". Homer either didn't know, forgot, or he was trying to make Lisa feel better.
A white splotch behind Homer
In the couch gag, Marge's dress is colored yellow.
Mr. Bergstrom with brown hair
Homer called baboons "the stupidest, ugliest, smelliest ape of them all", though baboons are actually monkeys. However, he corrects this later. Due to Homer's general stupidity, a goof like this isn't out of character.
When Mr. Bergstrom says goodbye to Lisa, his hair is colored brown instead of black in one shot.
In the final scene of the episode, there is a splotch of white behind Homer for a frame.
