Ellen Craig rejects her estranged husband Mark's gift of a mink coat as she does not want to look like Mamie Eisenhower. Bonnie Bartlett (Ellen) played Mamie Eisenhower in Ike: The War Years (1979).
Dr. Craig tells Ehrlich, "This is not 1968. It's time you graduate into adulthood...Don't drive over troubled waters with some plastic bimbette." William Daniels (Dr. Craig) played Mr. Braddock in The Graduate (1967). The film's soundtrack was provided by Simon & Garfunkel, whose later work included the song "Bridge over Trouble Waters". The phrase "plastic bimbette" refers to Mr. McGuire's advice to Benjamin Braddock to invest in plastics.
The title is a parody of the Greek author's two part work "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad".