Tina Fey guest stars on this episode. Tina and Steve Martin acted together before in several contexts, including the movie Baby Mama and in a third-season episode of Fey's TV series 30 Rock.
Charles sees Porky and Bugs Bunny when he thinks of his past relationship. Actor Steve Martin played a role in Looney Tunes where both characters are taken from.
Charles (Steve Martin) and Oliver tell Mabel of several songs by Sting (who appears in the episode), mentioning the song "Roxanne". Steve Martin starred in the movie Roxanne (1987), a take on Cyrano de Bergerac.
When Charles is duetting with bassoonist Jan she starts to play the 'If you likea me' song from The Man with Two Brains (1983), 'Under the Bamboo Tree'.