When Joel Hodgson performed his stand-up routine, he explained to the audience that he only had three minutes to perform. He then pulled out a prop time bomb and said, "We *all* have three minutes." NBC thought their prop makers could make a better bomb, and gave their bomb to Hodgson as a gift, which he subsequently left in his hotel room. A maid discovered the prop, thought it was a real bomb, and called the police, resulting in the evacuation of three floors of the hotel. When Hodgson returned to Minneapolis, he was greeted at the airport by federal agents. The next day, the New York Daily News ran the headline, "SNL Comedian Bombs in New York."
New cast member Jim Belushi could not appear in this episode because he was starring in the play "True West". The opening credits from the previous season are used. When Teri Garr/Mick Fleetwood's Zoo (1983) explains this during the goodnights, Belushi appears on stage, having just arrived in the studio.
The dinner set used in the Thirsty Guy sketch was previously used as 'Ethel's Diner' in Brandon Tartikoff/John Cougar (1983). The blue maternity dress worn by Teri Garr/Mick Fleetwood's Zoo (1983) was previously worn by Christine Ebersole in the "Meet the People" sketch performed in Blythe Danner/Rickie Lee Jones (1982).
On page 125 of the book "Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years", in the list of all the musical guests and the songs they performed, Mick Fleetwood's Zoo's second number is incorrectly listed as "Gary Think's He's a Rabbit" (a description of the sketch that preceded the musical number) instead of "Way Down".