The radio program Ike and Sheriff Bridges can't wait to listen to is "Ma Perkins," a popular radio soap opera that ran from 1933 to 1960.
Those who fully recovered from childhood polio thanks to the Sister Kenny method referenced in this episode include Alan Alda, Martin Sheen and Dinah Shore.
The guitar Jason wins in the talent show is a Martin 5-18. Jason will be seen playing it throughout the run of the series.
The radio program the family is listening to is one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chats, a series of informal radio addresses given between 1933 and 1944. This particular fireside chat was titled "On Drought Conditions, Farmers and Laborers," and aired on September 6, 1936.