Like her character Joanna Chapman, Debbie Allen is a dancer and choreographer. She both directed and choreographed this episode.
This is the second time that Sam has leaped directly from 1957 to 1979. He previously did so in So Help Me God - July 29, 1957 (1989) and Catch a Falling Star - May 21, 1979 (1989).
There's a red sign left of Sam's dressing room door that says,
"Trust Everyone
Brand Your Cattle
October
6
1979"
That date is the actual date of the episode, October 6, 1979.
Debbie Allen and Marguerite Pomerhn Derricks had previously worked together on Fame (1982). Years later, Derricks did the choreography for the remake of Fame (2009) in which Allen had a supporting role.
This episode takes place exactly 22 years after the events of the preceding episode Future Boy - October 6, 1957 (1991).