The Funnies' neighbors are the Dinks. Their name stems from the acronym D.I.N.K. which stands for "double income, no kids". This is a slang term that refers to a childless couple where both people work and are, therefore, more affluent than families with dependents.
The origin of the character Patti Mayonnaise is the combination of the names of two girls Jim Jinkins had a crush on in school.
There are four different endings to Pork Chop's paint addition to Doug's name after the opening scene.
- Doug chases Pork Chop, but walks back to the light switch with his one of his feet stuck in the paint can.
- Doug raises his leg in preparation to chase Pork Chop, but changes his mind and simply turns the light off.
- Pork Chop eludes Doug and gets to the light switch first, turning it off as he barks.
- Pork Chop throws the black paint toward the screen and it flows down and fills the frame.
In the episode where Doug and Skeeter form a garage band, they wear oversized suits to a gig at a birthday party, a homage to the Big Suit worn by David Byrne of the Talking Heads in Stop Making Sense (1984).
The name of Doug's unseen principal, Mr. Buttsavich, was the name of Jim Jinkins' elementary school principal.