Cynthia Gibb performed just one song, "The End of the World." She lip-synched all of Karen Carpenter's other songs.
The movie includes the house where Karen Carpenter died in real life, and the real-life ambulance and paramedics who were on the scene.
Much of Cynthia Gibb's wardrobe was made up of Karen Carpenter's actual clothes, which her family had kept. At the same height, and with roughly the same (pre-anorexic) figure, the clothes fit, and wearing them helped Gibb get into character.
In the liner notes of the "Carpenters Gold: 35th Anniversary Edition" CD, Richard Carpenter said he regretted making, being part of, and endorsing this TV movie. He also said many scenes were fictitious.