Hunter tells Russ that he wants him to create more "how to" shows. In real life, Russell Morash went on to produce and direct The Victory Garden (1975), The New Yankee Workshop (1989), and This Old House (1979), one of the most popular shows in television history. Between the three shows, Morash won a total of 13 Daytime Emmys for and was nominated 37 times for Outstanding Talk/Service Series. He also won a Daytime Emmy for Lifetime Achievement in 2014.
In the first scene, Paul enters the kitchen singing, and remarks, "They say his music isn't memorable. I can't get that tune out of my head. It's so witty." The song is Stephen Sondheim's "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid", from "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", which debuted in 1962. The verse in full: "Everybody ought to have a maid, everybody ought to have a menial / Consistently congenial and quieter than a mouse / Oh, oh, wouldn't she be delicious, tidying up the dishes? / Neat as a pin! / Oh, oh, wouldn't she be delightful, sweeping out? / Sleeping in!"