A rare episode in which the roomates' apartment is not seen.
Due to her contract dispute with series producers and ABC Suzanne Somers refused to show up to rehearse this episode. Due to the fact the Somers had already missed two previous episode tappings it was decided to limit her appearance on the show. Somers from here on in would be relegated to a sixty second tag sequences at the end of the show.
Actress Laurette Spang (Inga) is married to actor John McCook in real life. McCook would also later appear on "Three's Company" as Doug Copper in the episode "And Baby Makes Four" (S5E17), and as Alan in the episode "An Affair To Forget" (S7E8). Spang and McCook were married about ten months before this episode aired, and remain married to this day. [Feb. 2021]
The title comes from the sports term "downhill racer" which is an Olympic and international skiing event.
The farcical nature of this episode makes no sense from a plot standpoint. In a late season 4 episode, Jack and Chrissy are set to go skiing and decide to cancel at the last minute when they think that Janet wants to have a baby by artificial insemination. John Ritter's great physical comedy was on full display, nonetheless.