John Amos guest stars as one of Fred's contemporaries, Luther, who hangs out at the pool hall; in fact, Amos was only 33 years old at the time, but made up to appear twice that.
Operation Head Start is a real program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families. It was a program that was part of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society and Lena Horne was a major supporter.
This episode shows Lamont having a heart attack when he sees Lena Horne. Lamont is the first of three characters other than Fred to feign a heart attack in the series.