This episode was shown to the Toronto City Council by councilors Jack Layton and Olivia Chow as a counterargument to the proposal of transporting the city's waste to be deposited in a large abandoned mine.
The joke in which Ray Patterson walks into the town meeting to the theme from Sanford and Son (1972), insults the audience, then exits to the same tune was based on a real event involving Redd Foxx. In 1975, while performing in Las Vegas, Foxx was scheduled do a 3 a.m. stand-up act. Arriving an hour late, he walked out to his famous theme, saw that there were only a handful of people in the audience, and walked off stage. The orchestra, at a loss for what to do, played the theme again as he stormed out.
This is the 200th episode.
The episode caused controversy in the United Kingdom for leaving the word "wanker" uncensored. The word is first used by Adam Clayton, and later by Mr. Burns, at the end of the episode. While the word is not well known in the United States, it is considered offensive in the United Kingdom and is usually censored during the watershed.