At the beginning, Herbert is mimicking the painting "The Birth of Venus" by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), painted c.1485.
As befitting the noir parody, the entire episode is in black-and-white, including the Fox logo.
The melody in the modified film noir title sequence is the love theme from Chinatown (1974) by Jerry Goldsmith.
Highest rated episode of the Season 20.