Dorothy Malone complained that her role was being overshadowed by the role of co-star Mia Farrow. In 1968, she was written off the show, and she sued 20th Century Fox for breach of contract. The case was settled out of court.
According to her memoirs, Mia Farrow never expected this series to succeed, let alone become the runaway sensation it was. She tried (unsuccessfully) to get out of her contract almost immediately after the show hit the airwaves. Two years later, her then-husband Frank Sinatra used his considerable industry clout to get her released from her contract with ABC. Farrow's character "Allison Mackenzie" was written out by simply having her run away from town and never be heard from again. In 1968, the series' writers got even with Farrow in a way - they wrote a storyline in which a new girl came to town with a baby she claimed was birthed by Allison. This storyline was launched immediately after "Rosemary's Baby" (starring Mia Farrow) went into release.
Barbara Parkins told a reporter that when she met Bette Davis, Davis said: "When are you going to let go of Rodney Harrington?"
Gyl Roland was cast to play Selena Cross. In the novel on which the series is based, Selena killed her sexually abusive stepfather. But during pre-production, ABC executives demanded the story not appear in the series and Roland was dropped.
On working with Mia Farrow, Ed Nelson told the press: "Mia was an uncommon person. Watching her on the set, you knew she would either do very well, or commit suicide."