During the "Scary Door" episode at the top of the show, the main character exclaims that there is a gremlin on the wing of the plane. This is a parody of one of the most well-known episodes of The Twilight Zone: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (1963), in which a man, played by a young William Shatner, newly recovered from a nervous breakdown, becomes convinced that a monster only he can see is damaging the plane in which he's flying. The episode was such a fan favorite that it was later remade for Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). The gremlin seen in "The Scary Door" looks exactly like the original monster from the 1963 episode, who was played by an actor wearing what looks like a comically bad gorilla costume, slightly altered to look like a more androgynous creature.
When downloaded onto a blank robot, both Marilyn Monroe-bot and Lucy Liu-bot have square pupils, as does every other robot in the series. However, when Madeleine Albright is downloaded, her pupils remain round like a human.
The scene with Bender sitting in an armchair complaining to Leela ("YOU stifle, Bender") is an homage to All in the Family (1971), which broke ground in its depiction of issues previously considered unsuitable for a U.S. network television comedy, such as racism, homosexuality, women's liberation, rape, religion, miscarriage, abortion, breast cancer, the Vietnam War, menopause, and impotence. The parody is fitting since this episode tackles the (apparently) controversial 30th century issue of humans dating robots.
Madeleine Albright (1937-2022) was an American diplomat, political scientist and an actress after her retirement from politics. She was the 20th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from January 27, 1993 to January 21, 1997, she was appointed by President Bill Clinton after leading the team that chose the members for his National Security Council. Albright was best known for being the first female Secretary of State, she was appointed the 64th Secretary of State by President Clinton and served from January 23, 1997 to January 20, 2001 when President Clinton's second term ended. Albright appeared as herself on two episodes of the drama Madam Secretary (2014), which is about a woman holding the office she used to have.
Fry and Lucy Liubot go on a date to "Dinkin' Donuts," which is a reference to popular donut franchise Dunkin' Donuts, as well as former New York City mayor David Dinkins, who held the office from 1990 to 1993. He was the first African-American to hold that office.