First aired appearance of Stretch Cunningham, although actor Billy Sands provided his voice on a tape recorder on a previous episode. James Cromwell's first turn as Stretch was actually during the "Archie's Missing" episodes, but the running order for this season was juggled due to Carroll O'Connor having returned after his "strike". You can't have the season premier without Archie, unless he really had quit the series.
At one point, Archie holds up a digest-sized magazine and reads aloud a headline off the cover: "Your Personality May Be Killing You" (before hilariously tossing it on the floor). This was a real article. It was written by Patrick Young, originally printed in National Observer, and appeared in the August 1974 issue of The Reader's Digest.
Gloria said that Spaghetti or Vermicelli, originated from China, brought to Italy by Marco Polo ("Leave it to a Dago to go around the world for a take-home dinner", quipped Archie, infuriating the Stivics).
When Gloria is riding on Mike's back, she says "Giddy up, Secretariat!" Secretariat was the 9th horse to win the thoroughbred Triple Crown made up of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. He set time records in all of these races that still stand as of 2024. He is considered by many racing experts to be the greatest thoroughbred racehorse of all time.
As of February 2024 this episode, along with the rest of the four-episode arc to open Season 5, is missing from the series on the Amazon Freevee streaming service where Season 5 starts with Lionel, the Live-In (1974).