The Minnesota Orchestra recently went through a 15-month lockout. The clash between management and musicians was the longest labor battle in American musical history.
Most conductors still wear the traditional tuxedo when they work, but the trend has lately been towards more contemporary fashions. Gustavo Dudamel wears an Armani tuxedo, while Christoph Eschenbach famously wears a Nehru jacket.
Franz Schubert's 8th Symphony is commonly known as the "Unfinished Symphony". It has only two movements, though the composer left sketches for a third movement scherzo. It's unclear why Schubert never finished the work, though some scholars speculate that he stopped due to his initial outbreak of syphilis.
Sometimes batons do accidentally fly out of the hands of orchestra conductors, but these days no conductor would actually throw them at his musicians. Some conductors, like Michael Tilson Thomas, have been known to throw cough drops at the audience for too loudly clearing their throats during concerts.
The Hollywood Bowl began life as a natural outdoor amphitheater. The first performances there took place atop of a barn door which stood in the spot where the famous band shell was eventually built.
Gustavo Dudamel: the conductor of The Los Angeles Philharmonic, as the director in the beginning of the episode. It is also rumored that the show is a parody on Dudamel's life.