First episode of the show not officially written by Seth MacFarlane, although supposedly he did extensive rewrites.
James Horan, who plays the Krill Sazeron, has played numerous guest roles in Star Trek. His first Trek role, Dr. Jo'Bril in Suspicions (1993), was an unpleasant alien with reptile-like features, similar to the Krill.
Like most of her fellow admirals on the show, Ozawa is named after a real admiral, in this case, Jisaburo Ozawa, one of the last commanders of the Japanese Navy during World War 2. Ozawa fought against Admiral William F. Halsey, whose namesake also appears on the show.
While reading the Anhkana, Ed compares its gruesome contents to writing by Bret Easton Ellis, who is famous for having written the graphically violent novels on which American Psycho (2000) and its spin-off The Rules of Attraction (2002) are based.
The dinner blessing 'Avis, we try harder' is the catchphrase of the Avis rent-a-car company. Gordon tells the trainee class that humans worship the God Hertz. Hertz is also a rent-a-car company.