When Esther Rolle decided to return, it was done so under two conditions. The first was that they would make J.J. a more respectable character. The second was that there would be no further mention of her marriage to Carl. Miss Rolle felt that it was wrong for the producers to have the devoutly Christian Florida re-marry so soon after James' death, especially to Carl, who was an atheist.
It is stated that Keith was close to signing a million dollar contract with the Chicago Bears. However in 1978, there were no million contracts in the NFL. The average yearly salary was only $62,535. The first contract worth over $1M was not signed until 1980 by Lam Jones.
This is Ben Powers first appearance as Keith Anderson who becomes a series regular in the sixth and final season of the series.
Keith Anderson's middle name is revealed to be Albert.