This was David Ogden Stiers' only appearance; his character of Scott Woodville was removed going forward as it was deemed unnecessary for Charlie to have two male liaisons.
This TV movie aired on "The ABC Sunday Night Movie". The network did not believe the enormous initial ratings and showed it again a week later to confirm. The repeat ratings were just as high.
ABC executives told Aaron Spelling that his pitch for the pilot had to be "one of the worst ideas ever heard," claiming that no one would ever watch the show. Seasons one through three ended up ranking among the top 15 hit shows between 1976-79.
In syndication, this movie is shown as two separate episodes.