In his second of three roles on the show, Seth MacFarlane provides the voice of Bob Merriam, the lawyer that Lorelai speaks to on the phone.
Joe is played by the same actor who played the waiter for Sookie and Jackson's first date (and Lorelai's terrible "date" with Rune) in S1: E12.
When Sookie tells Lorelai that Joe was interested in her, Lorelai replies that Sookie is Joe's Daisy. The character of Daisy is from the book The Great Gatsby. Edward Hermann, who plays Lorelai's father, also played Klipspringer in the movie The Great Gatsby (1974).
The parking garage meeting between Rory and Francie is a nod to All the President's Men (1976), a movie about the Watergate scandal.