This episode aired as part of an April Fool's Day prank in which there was no official announcement until the actual time of the airing. It showed up on TV guides and schedules as different shows, but was, in fact, the season three premiere.
Dan Harmon's Harmonious Claptrap vanity card at the end of the credits changed after his divorce. The embracing couple previously displayed was changed to a lonely man drinking on his couch.
During the scene at the office where Jerry works, one Gromflomite yells "He who controls the pants controls the galaxy". This is a reference to Frank Herbert's 'Dune' novels, where the phrase "He who controls the spice controls the galaxy" is used frequently.
The scene with Jerry returning home in his ship features the planet-express ship from Futurama (1999) in the background in the sky above him.
The Rickshank Rickdemption was the long awaited premier of Rick and Morty season 3. The episode was aired on April Fools' Day 2017, with the first confirmation of the new episode's release being creator Dan Harmon tweeting on that same day that a live stream of the new episode could be watched online. This was done in order that few people would take the announcement seriously, and to take fans by surprise.