Title screen gag: Coming soon to an illegal DVD.
The failed time machine Professor Farnsworth wasted years constructing is based on the "classic" model time machine made famous in "The Time Machine" (1960), starring Rod Taylor and based on the novel of the same name by H. G. Wells. Professor Farnsworth would go on to finish building his time machine in the season 7 episode "The Late Philip J Fry".
It's learned that the Planet Express ship does not actually move itself, but, using the Dark Matter Accelerator, it moves the universe around it.
Dean Vernon makes his second - and final - appearance in this episode. In "Mars University" (1999), he was the dean with a personal vendetta against the Robot fraternity (Epsilon Rho Rho, aka Robot House).
Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth was born on April 9, 2841.