The episode was produced at a time when illegal cable hookups were becoming commonplace in many homes.
This episode later inspired the season four episode Homer the Heretic (1992), in which Homer stops going to church on Sundays. Based on the Fourth Commandment, "remember the Sabbath and keep it holy", that episode originated when Al Jean commented to Mike Reiss, "We had a lot of luck with Homer stealing cable, so maybe we could look to other commandments?"
When introducing the family to their new cable Homer says they have "1600 hours of quality programming a day." A number that if divided by the hours in a day would equal 66.6 (recurring) channels, fitting for the theme of the episode.
The first appearance in the series of Troy McClure, an amalgamation of Troy Donahue and Doug McClure. Years after the latter's death, one of the writers met one of McClure's daughters who told him that their father loved the fact that he was satirized on the show - though he didn't realize that behind his back his children referred to him as Troy McClure.
The episode was originally going to be named "Homer vs. the 8th Commandment", but the writers decided to include Lisa in the title because they wanted the cast to feel as if all their characters were equally represented on the show.