The novel featured four candidates as Lili's mother Judy Jordan, Pagan Trewlawney, Maxine Pascal and Kate Ryan. Kate was omitted from the TV series.
Phoebe Cates' line "Which one of you bitches is my mother?" has passed into legend as one of the most memorable quotes in television history.
In the novel, Pagan's only interaction with Lili was at the hotel reunion and the infamous confrontation. In the mini-series, they do meet when Pagan visits her old flame Prince Abdullah of Sydon on behalf of her husband's charity.
The first part of the miniseries won its time slot with a rating of 28.2, which beat the network premiere of Star Wars: Episode 4: A New Hope (25.1) on CBS and a repeat of Urban Cowboy (10.1) on NBC. The second part, in which the identity of Lili's mother was revealed, drew an even higher rating of 31.7, which again beat all competition (sitcoms on CBS and a Bob Hope special on NBC).
Judy's original surname in the novel was Jordan. In this mini-series, it was changed to Hale.