The last episode, "When I'm 65" was the second comeback special (by popular demand) and was recorded in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. After the recording the cast and leading members of the crew were presented to the royal party.
The writers decided Eddington's character would be called "Jerry", rationalizing "we've got a Tom, may as well have a Jerry."
In the US and Canada, this series was broadcast under the title "Good Neighbors" to avoid confusion with the short-lived series The Good Life (1971), even though that show was off the air almost three years before this one began. The opening titles were reworked by the BBC art department so that the title even includes the same flower, bird, and bee as the original. To make things even more confusing, when the series was released on US home video, the outer box had the "Good Neighbors" title, but the shows on the tape had the "Good Life" titles (they were from the BBC masters, simply re-encoded to NTSC video).
Although this is Richard Briers' most celebrated sitcom, he said that he never liked the character of Tom Good, feeling that he was a selfish man who bullied his wife into giving up her lifestyle and doing what he wanted regardless of the personal cost. He actually preferred Ever Decreasing Circles (1984) as a series.
As a result of the huge popularity of The Good Life, Bill Cotton, the controller of BBC 1, promised Richard Briers, Felicity Kendall, Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington star-vehicle shows of their own on the BBC, when it ended in 1978. A year later, Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith both had huge success with their respective sitcoms Yes Minister and To The Manor Born. Felicity Kendall followed in 1981, with the less successful Solo, however Richard Briers had to wait six years before starring in Ever Decreasing Circles, in 1984.