As mentioned on the DVD commentary, the "Anthology of Interest" episodes came from a desire to tell stories that couldn't be told in normal continuity, similar to Marvel's What If? comics.
The title "Tales of Interest" may also be a reference to the Sci-fi themed Marvel Comics series Tales of Suspense, best known for introducing the superhero Iron Man.
The Fing-Longer reappears in later episodes. In commentary, it has been revealed that Farnsworth 'got around to making it'.
When rebroadcast during the 2000 Presidential Election, a tagline at the start of the episode said: "Starring a guy who is kind-of, sort-of our next president, maybe!".
Scruffy has his first speaking role in this episode.
This is Al Gore's first appearance in any television show.
In the episode, Zoidberg is killed and eaten by Leela. He would once again be killed and served for food, though this time also for the other main Futurama characters, in the rubber segment of the 2023 episode The Prince and the Product,
After coming online and scratching himself, Bender burps his trademark burst of flames. The belch sound effect is subtly accompanied by Godzilla's roar.
When asked who he is by Fry after crash landing, Bender identifies himself as "a big robot and I want a big cereal!" referencing the slogan used by Honeycomb for TV adverts in the 80's.
During Bender's "rampage" across New New York, he stops to grab a smoke using a (conveniently cigarette looking) smokestack from a plant for Kentucky Slims Chicken Flavored Cigarettes, a parody amalgamation of the Virginia Slims and KFC brands.
Sadly, Gary Gygax passed away eight years after this episode aired. Bender's Game was dedicated to him.
If one looks closely, Nibbler's third eye can be seen behind the trash can in Fry's story, because he was intended to push Fry into the cryogenic pod (see "The Why of Fry").
The converted school bus used by Al Gore and his Action Rangers reads "Grand Unified School District". This is a reference to the Grand Unified Theory, a model in particle physics which postulates that at high energy levels all fundamental forces become the same force.
