Sam and Toby walk into a Connecticut police station to spring their Supreme Court nominee. When they introduce themselves as presidential aides, the duty officers don't believe them until the senior man recognizes Toby from a picture, with the President in the Oval Office, that appeared in that day's paper. Three seasons later, in the Christmas episode "Holy Night", we see Toby's father, Julie Ziegler, admiring the same front page that has found its way into a frame and onto the wall in Toby's office.
This is the first episode of the series to contain flashbacks.
When introducing Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford), the moderator lists his previous jobs as Floor Manager for the House, Minority Whip and Chief of Staff for Congressman Earl Brennan before he joined the Bartlet campaign. An important plot point of seasons 2-7 is that Josh previously worked for Vice President John Hoynes (Tim Matheson) when he was a senator, leaving Hoynes to join the Bartlet campaign, even though Hoynes himself ran for president. This backstory was not introduced until the flashback sequences of Season Two, Episode One: "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen - Part 1."
The exterior of the police station in is the show's post-production office.
Polaris, the North Star, is far from the brightest star in the night sky, It is actually a magnitude 2.02 star, and is the 48th brightest star in the night sky. It forms the left end of the handle of the Little Dipper constellation.