For the first act of this episode, the staff members were looking for an actual NBA player to appear with a shotgun. Because all of the players that were approached declined the offer, the character Rainier Wolfcastle was chosen instead.
Per the title, the original Broadway production of "Children of a Lesser God" by Mark Medoff opened at the Longacre Theater in New York on March 30, 1980, ran for 887 performances and won the 1980 Tony Award (New York City) for the Best Play.
Homer delivers his former catchphrase "frosty chocolate milkshakes."
Lugash is a parody of gymnastics coach Béla Károlyi right down to the accent.
Lugash the gymnastics instructor went on to appear in the season thirteen episode "Little Girl in the Big Ten."