The title is based on the expression shouted at the death of the ruling monarch, followed by praising his successor. "The King is Dead! Long live the King!"
During the performance of Peter's rendition of the King and I many former characters can be seen. Included are the kids from Stewie's foster home, Peter's boss Mr. Weed, Chris's scout master, and oddly enough, William Shatner even though in the Family Guy universe William Shatner should be dead.
Loretta Brown's hatred of Diane Simmons may stem back to Season One's "I Never Met The Dead Man", in which Simmons said on the air that she didn't like black people.
In the evening performance of the show, the cast sings "ANNA Rules" which is a modified version of "Shall We Dance" from "The King and I".
Peter makes a reference that his soul and passion comes from years of black oppression. In Season 3, we will actually discover that Peter does in fact have black ancestry.