This episode and the next ones were meant to be vehicles for Redd Foxx to return to NBC playing Fred Sanford, after leaving Sanford and Son (1972) two and a half years earlier - in fact, the TV Guide description for the show lists Foxx as playing Fred. He didn't, and the role was hurriedly rewritten and recast (the shows were postponed for a few weeks). However, Foxx did agree to return to the Fred Sanford role in the "Sanford" series a few months later.