The death of Diana Hyland during the production of the spring 1977 episodes forced major changes on the show. She had completed only four episodes as the mother of the family and was written out of the remainder as being "away." When the series returned with new episodes that fall, Tom Bradford had become a widower, his wife having died about "a year ago."
For the first four seasons, the writing staff successfully rotated storylines so that each Bradford was given equal screen time. By the final season, Willie Aames' popularity with adolescent females led his character, Tommy, to be featured in nearly every episode, which explains why regulars Grant Goodeve, Susan Richardson and Lani O'Grady barely figure in the plots. O'Grady's character was the hardest hit, nearly disappearing from the show, while Goodeve became so frustrated by his peripheral presence that he convinced the writers to divorce David and Janet so he could return to the nucleus.
In a 2000 interview on the E! True Hollywood Story, Dick Van Patten stated that no one called him to inform him of the show's cancellation. Instead, he read about it in a newspaper.
David Bradford was originally played by Mark Hamill, who appeared in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) the year this show began.
Laurie Walters (Joanie) was only eleven years younger than Diana Hyland, who played her mother, and six months older than Betty Buckley, who played her step-mother.