Flash Thompson's dressing up as Spider-Man to scare Peter Parker is taken from "The Amazing Spider-Man" (Vol. 1) #8. The unmasking of Flash Thompson as a phony Spider-Man is loosely inspired by Thompson being unmasked as a phony Hobgoblin in "The Amazing Spider-Man" (Vol. 1) #175 after being set up to take the fall for the real Hobgoblin.
Aunt May suggested Peter take Mary Jane, May's neighbor Anna Watson's niece, on a blind date to Jameson's Charity Ball much to Peter's dismay. This was a running joke in early issues of "The Amazing Spider-Man" before Peter actually met Mary Jane Watson.
The Spider-Slayers consisted of an army of flying smart bombs called the Spider-Seekers which were equipped targeting computers to find Spider-Man. The giant Spider-Slayer robot, called the Black Widow, was designed to neutralize all of Spider-Man's powers.
This is the 3rd episode of the series. However, this is the second episode FOX aired. It is also the first new episode to air after FOX officially premiered the show in February 1995.
The premise of this story is loosely inspired by "The Amazing Spider-Man" (Vol. 1) #25, where Spencer Smythe introduced his first Spider Slayer robot to capture Spider-Man.