Just before Kent Brockman interviews Bart, the TV briefly shows a pig head on a stick surrounded by flies. This is a direct reference to the book "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding.
Ralph's surname is confirmed to be Wiggum in this episode, during the mail call scene. But it is not yet stated that he is Police Chief Clancy Wiggum's son.
When Dolph serves the "Krusty Brand Imitation Gruel" to the kids, he is wearing a hairnet, making it one of the few times both his eyes are visible.
After he saw the completed episode, James L. Brooks called the writers and suggested that the script be used as a plotline for a film. However, the episode ran very short, and to make it barely fit the minimum time the Kamp Krusty song had to be lengthened by a number of verses. The episode was also chosen to be the first episode of the season, further complicating matters. As Al Jean told Brooks, "First of all, if we make it into the movie then we don't have a premiere, and second, if we can't make 18 minutes out of this episode how are we supposed to make 80?"
The line "Are you and Princess Di just friends?" was edited out of a syndicated rerun shortly after the death of Princess Diana.