According to Tom Fontana, Ed Begley Jr. is indeed playing his character Dr. Victor Ehrlich character from Fontana's previous show St. Elsewhere (1982). He is not mentioned by name to avoid having to get legal clearances.
Ned Beatty originally refused to reprise the role of Stan Bolander for the movie. However, his agent convinced him to join the cast.
Although billed as a made-for-TV movie, the Emmy nominated script essentially functioned as the final episode of the series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993).
Jason Priestley was a big "Homicide" fan, and was disappointed that he never had the chance to direct an episode of the series. Consequently, Tom Fontana wrote the part of Detective Hall for Priestly.