Carol Burnett stopped guest-starring after the second season because she was divorcing Joe Hamilton, the show's producer.
Vicki Lawrence is 16 years younger than Ken Berry and Carol Burnett, and 27 years younger than Betty White, all of whom portray her children.
Carol Burnett and Vicki Lawrence were big fans of Dorothy Lyman, who portrayed flamboyant Opal Sue Gardner on All My Children (1970). Burnett suggested Lyman for the role of Naomi Oates Harper. During the first season, Lyman continued to portray Opal. Every week, she flew from Los Angeles, where the sitcom was filmed, to New York City where the soap opera was filmed. Lyman left the soap after NBC renewed the sitcom for a second season.
The show became one of the first to leave a network and successfully continue in syndication. NBC cancelled it after two seasons, but production continued for several more years.