The title is based on the work Pacific Overtures (1976) with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a libretto by John Weidman, and set in 1853 Japan.
While Mr. Lucchesi (Dan Castelleneta) is in the FYI newsroom he asks one of the staffers, "Am I clown here for your amusement?" Castelleneta provides the voice of Krusty the Clown on "The Simpsons."