Kimmy's line, "The worst thing that ever happened to me happened in my own front yard." is likely inspired from co-writer Tina Fey's childhood. When 5 years old, a stranger approached and violently cut Tina Fey's cheek while she was playing in her front yard in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.
When Kimmy enters Times Square to talk to Titus, she walks right past Buckley; he's clearly skipping school again and is sitting on a bench eating cotton candy.
Near the end, Titus calls Kimmy "Amelia Bedelia". Amelia Bedelia is a children's book character who is known for taking figures of speech literally.
When Kimmy returns to the apartment the morning after her money got stolen, Titus wears a Starlight Express tee. Starlight Express is where Jane Krakowski got her first break.
According to Jeff Richmond, who oversaw the music for the show, the character Bankston is inspired by Charles Ramsey, who helped rescue three young women from their kidnapper, Ariel Castro, in Cleveland in 2013. In fact, the song idea was in place pretty much from the conception of the story's plot. Richmond says Bankston's song serves as a lighthearted entryway into the difficult subject of what it's like to survive in a cult, while also using culturally relevant tools - Auto-Tune, for instance - that the audience can relate to.