This episode's plot was inspired by real-life events in the life of writer Steve Koren. While driving with his arguing parents, Koren was bewildered to hear his father shout "Serenity now!" at the top of his lungs as part of a rage controlling exercise his doctor had told him about and questioned whether or not the phrase was meant to be yelled.
The sales contest Frank Costanza (Jerry Stiller) institutes (where the highest seller is rewarded and the lowest is fired) is a parody of the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross (1992).
The inspiration for Frank's (Jerry Stiller) computer business was the 1995 film The Net (1995) (to which Frank Costanza refers to starring "that girl from 'The Bus'"(Sandra Bullock)'), comically referring to Bullock's film, Speed.
ABC Entertainment Executive Lloyd Braun lent his name to a character appearing in three episodes, season five, episode seven, The Non-Fat Yogurt (1993), season seven, episode ten, The Gum (1995), and this episode, and is a neighbour and nemesis of George Costanza (Jason Alexander).
The character of Rabbi Kirschbaum is named after writer Bruce Kirschbaum and evolved from a sketch on Fridays (1980). Bruce Kirschbaum & Larry David portrayed rabbis who had their own television program called "Live & Be Well." Bruce Mahler, who played Rabbi Kirschbaum in this episode, also worked on Fridays (1980) along with Michael Richards and writer Larry Charles.