There were rumors that Garner and Lauren Bacall were romantically linked around the time of this episode's filming in 1979. Garner had separated from his wife, and Bacall guest starred on this episode of The Rockford Files. Garner denied the rumor and said it was the pressures of the show which led to the months-long separation from his longtime spouse. He soon got back together with his wife and remained with her permanently, though he did work with Bacall a year or two later in two movies. Ironically perhaps, in the second of those movies, The Fan (1981) they played ex spouses.
Jim takes Kendal to a restaurant named Baja Cantina. It was a real place, still there as of 2017 and looks relatively the same. It is located at 311 Washington Blvd, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292.
Just prior to filming season 6, Garner separated from his wife due to stresses, both physical and emotional. One reason the series ended was Garner's physical condition had deteriorated; in addition to back problems and ulcers, his knees were seriously damaged from years of doing much of his own stunt work. Another reason for the series ending was financial: Garner's company, Cherokee Productions, had co-produced this series with Universal, and there were serious financial discrepancies. Garner soon returned to his wife, with whom he would happily spend the rest of his life with. For his production company, after a long and drawn out legal case, Garner was not only financially remunerated, but he went on to make 8 Rockford Files TV movies as well.
After The Rockford Files concluded production, Garner and Bacall worked together on 2 more projects. They worked together on the movies: HealtH (1980), and the following year The Fan (1981).
Jack Garner, James Garner's older brother, appeared in 23 episodes of The Rockford Files. In the first five seasons he played 20 different background characters, usually having no more than a line or two. In this episode he appeared as Captain McEnroe with a much larger dialogue. He would reprise the role of Captain McEnroe for two more season 6 episodes, as well seven of the eight subsequent Rockford File movies.