Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) creator George Lucas sent the production team a letter, congratulating them on Ross's Princess Leia fantasy, which opened series 3 and is mentioned in the title.
This is the only season premiere that doesn't pick up immediately after the events of the previous episode.
Monica smokes a cigar towards the end of episode. Courteney Cox was a smoker at that time and quit three years later.
Jennifer Aniston has red hair during Season 3 of the show, starting with this episode. While it is widely believed that she dyed her hair for the movie Picture Perfect (1997) (in which she filmed while on hiatus from the show in between the second and third seasons), she actually dyed it red due to auditioning for the role of Rose in Titanic (1997). The role, of course, was eventually nabbed by Kate Winslet. The character of Rose and her mother Ruth both have red hair in the film about the ill-fated ship.
Phoebe thinks Elton John's song Tiny Dancer is actually about Tony Danza. In 2021 with the help of Courteney Cox and Ed Sheeran, Elton John did do a version of the song with those lyrics dedicated to Lisa Kudrow.