The "Sherwood" mentioned by Shelley as having died was Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of the Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island (the latter series is also referenced during the episode), who had passed away in July 2011, a few months before the "Prodigy" episode of Raising Hope aired. A "Gilligan-style" hat is seen on a chair while Shelley mentions Schwartz as part of the tribute.
Burt mentions an episode of Family Guy where Peter can only play the piano while drunk (Wasted Talent.) Creator of Raising Hope, Gregory Thomas Garcia, was the consulting producer of that Family Guy episode and many others from 2000 to 2001.
The person portraying young Jimmy is Grayson Chance. Coincidentally the name of their family is Chance.
Virginia says she saw a show on ABC where a woman could only speak Italian when she was drunk. This is a reference to the ABC show Happy Endings.
When the crow is loose in the house, Maw Maw yells "I'm not letting you take me before Betty White!" Cloris Leachman and White were both in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and had a faux rivalry for years.