Lisa says that midseason is just a dumping ground for second rate shows that weren't good enough for the regular season. The show premiered in midseason.
While discussing TV shows, Homer mentions how producers like animation because they don't have to pay the voice actors, at which point Ned Flanders, sounding noticeably different, walks by and says they can even replace the cast and and the audience won't be able to tell the difference. This is an inside joke referring to a real-life pay dispute that occurred between the main cast and the network in 1998, during which Fox threatened to replace all of the voice actors.
Though it was unintentional, Homer shares his name with another fictional Homer Simpson: the character in The Day of the Locust (1975) played by Donald Sutherland, who also guest-starred in season 7's "Lisa the Iconoclast (1996)".
Ned Flanders briefly appears with a different voice, mentioning how animated shows can replace actors without anyone telling the difference. In May 2015, the show runners announced that Harry Shearer, who voiced Ned Flanders and many other characters, would be leaving the series due to a contract dispute and his characters would be recast. Several months later, the show runners announced Shearer would remain on the show after reaching an agreement with him.
The original ending of the episode had Homer being directly shown to have his name changed back to Homer Simpson from Max Power. The plaintiff then states the next trial involves conspiracy of the Redwood Forest with Max Power as one of the defendants. Homer then smugly tells them to have good luck finding him, with the plaintiff finishing by stating that Homer is the same as Max, causing him to yell "d'oh" in irritation, as well as the entire courtroom, Marge included, to laugh at him.