Near the beginning of the episode, Rich Dot Com mentions that he was a "big fan of Keith Rhodes sitcom days" and that "so few child actors make the successful transition into adulthood," a comment that gets him chided by Patterson. Ashley Johnson, who plays Patterson, started her career as a child actor in the sitcom Growing Pains (1985). Their suspect in this episode is Director Hirst, played by Mary Stuart Masterson, who also started her career as a child actor, at age 10 in The Stepford Wives (1975).
Near the end of the episode Mary Stuart Masterson's character says "Trust is the cornerstone...". This is reminiscent of a quote from her movie Some Kind of Wonderful (1987).