The city of Faye's memories is recognizably Singapore.
The fight on the bridge between Spike and Abdul Hakim in Episode 2, "Stray Dog Strut," is a homage to the fight scene in Game of Death (1978) between Bruce Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. All of Spike's fights feature the use Bruce Lee's "Jeet Kune Do" style of fighting.
Spike is frequently shown smoking cigarettes with stems bent upwards or downwards. This is a subtle reference to jazz pioneer Dizzy Gillespie, one of the founders of bebop, whose trademark was a trumpet with the bell slanted.
Every episode title refers to a song title, album title, or genre of music:
- Session #1: Asteroid Blues = The Blues
- Session #2: Stray Dog Strut = "Stray Cat Strut" by The Stray Cats
- Session #3: Honky Tonk Women = "Honky Tonk Women" by The Rolling Stones
- Session #4: Gateway Shuffle = Shuffle
- Session #5: Ballad of Fallen Angels = "Fallen Angel" by King Crimson
- Session #6: Sympathy for the Devil = "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones
- Session #7: Heavy Metal Queen = "Heavy Metal Queen" by Trance
- Session #8: Waltz for Venus = Waltz
- Session #9: Jamming with Edward = "Jamming with Edward" album by The Rolling Stones
- Session #10: Ganymede Elegy = Elegy
- Session #11: Toys in the Attic = "Toys in the Attic" by Aerosmith
- Session #12 & 13: Jupiter Jazz Pt.1 & 2 = Jazz
- Session #14: Bohemian Rhapsody = "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
- Session #15: My Funny Valentine = "My Funny Valentine" by Frank Sinatra
- Session #16: Black Dog Serenade = "Black Dog" by Led Zeppelin
- Session #17: Mushroom Samba = Samba
- Session #18: Speak Like a Child = "Speak Like a Child" by Herbie Hancock
- Session #19: Wild Horses = "Wild Horses" by The Rolling Stones
- Session #21: Boogie Woogie Feng Shui = Boogie Woogie
- Session #22: Cowboy Funk = Funk
- Session #24: Hard Luck Woman = "Hard Luck Woman" by KISS
- Session #25 & 26: The Real Folk Blues Pt.1 & 2 = "The Real Folk Blues" by John Lee Hooker
Originally, Ed's character was based on a description of the series' music director ("a little weird, cat-like, but a genius at creating music") and was going to be a dark-skinned boy. Edward was turned into a girl to even the gender ratio on the Bebop, which was, with Ed as a boy, three guys, and one girl.