Acting on Lisa's recommendation to use the object of Bob Hope's jokes and converting her crepe suzettes to that very thing, i.e. smudge pots, serve as a big shout out to the famous comedian, who often joked about smudge pots, which were used by citrus farmers in California and elsewhere during severe cold spells. The comedian would joke, for instance, that the smoke from all the smudge pots made it difficult for him to see people he was trying to avoid.
Mr. Ziffel likens the deluge Mildred, the little old lady on TV, forecasts to the Johntown Flood, which occurred on 31 May 1889, in Johntown, PA. That flood occurred when the South Fork Dam, located on the south fork of the Little Conemaugh River, failed and devastated the town of Johnstown 14 miles downstream.
The author of Mr. Kimball's almanac, i.e. Franklin Benjamin, is a comedic take on Benjamin Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanac," which itself was somewhat tongue-in-cheek for its time.
The names of two famous entertainers, who both reached the ripe old age of 100 years, are mentioned in this episode: viz. music composer Irving Berlin (101 years old) and comedian Bob Hope (100 years old).
The TV announcer is played by Jack Bailey, who is perhaps best known for hosting the TV daytime show Queen for a Day (1951).