Kathy Bates was quite ill during the filming of this episode and had actually been told to go home by her doctor. She was only partly present in many of the scenes she appears in, the rest of the time her presence being covered by writer Joey Soloway doubling for her in a wig.
Book editor Susie Bright appears as herself in this episode. The original intention was that it should be singer Joni Mitchell but producer Alan Poul nixed the idea as Mitchell was too recognizable a personality.