At the coronation, one of the medals on Bender's sash has an image of Homer Simpson on it.
As Bender prepares the slug for his shipmates, he is humming the first part of the theme song from "Doug", a 1990's cartoon that starred Billy West(voice of Fry) as the title character (Doug Funnie).
This was originally meant to be the second episode.
This is the first episode in which Professor Farnsworth utters his famous catchphrase, and yet Bender can already tell that it means anything but good news.
This episode is the first to underscore Bender's desire to become a chef, and his inability to cook anything remotely edible. His culinary aspirations are examined more fully in "30% Iron Chef".