In an extremely unusual coincidence, three of the guest stars in this episode, Ron Silver, Sen. Ted Kennedy and former U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp all died in 2009 of some form of cancer.
When McNeil and Wilder are watching TV on a Thursday night, a snippet of the theme music from ER (1994) is heard as McNeil quips "Not while I'm drawing a breath" and changes the channel, a reference to Chicago Hope (1994)'s ultimately unsuccessful ratings battle with the rival hospital series.