The picture of Ward Fowler behind the couch in his living room is a head shot of William Shatner as Captain Kirk.
Shera Danese, Peter Falk's real-life wife appeared in six episodes of the series, playing a different character each time:
- Episode 13.2 A Trace of Murder (1997) - Cathleen Calvert
- Episode 12.3 Undercover (1994) - Geraldine Ferguson
- Episode 10.3 Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star (1991) - Trish Fairbanks
- Episode 9.1 Murder, a Self Portrait (1989) - Vanessa Barsini
- Episode 7.2 Murder Under Glass (1978) - Eve Plummer
- Episode 6.1 Fade in to Murder (1976) - Molly
A candidly humorous exchange between Columbo (Peter Falk) and Ward Fowler (William Shatner) occurred when Fowler was videotaping Columbo with his portable video camera. Falk breaks character from his normally composed self and begins laughing uncontrollably while saying his lines: "I suppose you came here for a confession. Well, you're not gonna get it, sir, because you don't have all the facts." He also was "hamming it up" for the video camera, something completely out of character for Columbo. As Fowler rewinds the video tape, he is holding back his own laughter and says to Columbo, "I don't know why you were laughing." Both actors stayed in character, but the humorous exchange was genuine.
The murder occurs at a delicatessen operated by Tony, who is played by Timothy Carey. In season one, Carey played Bert, the owner of a diner where Columbo would sometimes go for a bowl of chili.
During the televised baseball game which Ward Fowler (William Shatner) and Mark are watching, the game announcer mentions the name Kowalski - a nod to this episode's director, Bernard L. Kowalski.