Lucille refers to Little House On The Prairie as a wholesome show she lets the family watch, describing it as a "show about blind children." Little House On The Prairie was WKRP's most popular competition for its first two seasons, and Hugh Wilson once joked that whenever WKRP was gaining in the ratings, "Little House would blind another kid."
Though a popular episode, "Real Families" earned WKRP its worst ratings. Since it began with the introduction of a fake show, many fans who didn't bother to watch the episode through assumed WKRP had been pre-empted and changed the channel. Peter Marshall's mother had even phoned him up the day after the airing and said, "Peter, I love you, but I'm not too crazy about your new show."
The reason for the barbecue spewing so much smoke was because teamsters had put in twice as much required lighter fluid, and only after taping had started had the crew realized. Frank Bonner ad-libbed the line, "That's good meat."
Elaine Parker is played by Daphne Maxwell, who would later marry Tim Reid (and appear as a different character in the 4th season episode "Circumstantial Evidence.")
At the end of the episode when describing next weeks family as a Cuban band leader and red headed housewife, they are describing Desi Arnez and Lucille Ball on "I Love Lucy".