The episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual in Animation - background design.
The title is a reference to "Postcards from the Edge".
One of the books on Bart's desk is the Physician's Desk Reference, which contained prescribing information (package inserts) for thousands of drugs, along with pictures to aid in identification. The paper version has been superseded by software versions and Web sites; the last hardcover edition was published in 2017.
Not only does this episode make a reference to Pokemon, but also coincidentally it's original airdate March 14, 2010 was the same day that the latest Pokemon games at the time HeartGold and SoulSilver were released for the Nintendo DS in the United States.