Zoe Perry is the real-life daughter of Laurie Metcalf of The Big Bang Theory (2007). This is the second time she has played a younger version of one of her mother's characters. The first time was when she played a younger version of her mother's character in Roseanne (1988).
The father (Lance Barber) in Young Sheldon is also the childhood bully of Leonard in The Big Bang Theory (2007) in Season 5 ep 11, The Speckerman Recurrence (2011).
At the end of the episode, Sheldon (Iain Armitage) comments he finds it comforting that in a world of uncertainty, Radio Shack will be there forever. In March, 2017, Radio Shack declared bankruptcy and closed nearly all its stores.
This episode explains why Sheldon (Jim Parsons) doesn't have a Texas drawl. In narration, he explains that he switched to a mid-Atlantic accent because "Nobel prize winners ought not be ordering tater tots."
Melissa Tang, who plays Ms. Fenley, also played Mandy Chow on The Big Bang Theory (2007), the girl Leonard (Johnny Galecki) kissed on the boat.