Rupert Crosse (Thursday) later became the first African American Best Supporting Actor nominee for the Academy Awards, in The Reivers (1969).
This plot is a spoof of the 1924 novella The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell, where a mad nobleman lives on an island and hunts shipwrecked people as if they were big game.
Thursday is named for the character Friday from the 18th-century adventure novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
The baby picture that Peter is shown is from Leave It to Beaver (1957) Baby Picture (1959), where it was presented as the baby picture of Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver.
The character that trades for Peter's guitar is called Leonard Sheldon, a obvious reference to TV producer and actor Sheldon Leonard.