Darnell made 351 accounts on BuddyBook to 'friend' Joy. The one that we hear him making is for Holden Caulfield, in New York, who's a catcher. This is an obvious nod to the book 'The Catcher In The Rye' by J. D. Salinger.
When Earl finds out the real name of the fake Chaz is Wayne he asks if he took the name from another American hero and one of the names was Dwayne Wayne a character from A Different World. Kadeem Hardison who played him was in the episode Born a Gambling Man.
Curtis Armstrong (Chaz) also worked with Eddie Steeples (Darnell) in the 2006 movie Akeelah And The Bee.