Trivia

For this telefilm, according to Tony Randall, "[Jack Klugman] insisted that we do a two-hour 'Odd Couple' movie about throat cancer. He wanted the movie to have a message . . . he wanted the message to be [to America] that there are millions of people who have beaten [cancer] . . . but I said, 'How in the world are we ever going to make this funny?' He aid, 'Don't worry about it. You'll make it funny'."

Jack Klugman was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1974, finally culminating with vocal surgery in 1989, leaving his voice quite harsh and raspy. His cancer and scratchy voice were written into several of his later film and television roles, starting with The Odd Couple: Together Again (1993).

Tony Randall stated that he and Jack Klugman came up with the idea for the toilet bowl commercial in the telefilm. Randall stated that "it was the funniest thing in the movie."

The set design for the apartment returned to the architectural design of the original feature film The Odd Couple (1968) which was also used for the first season of the television series, albeit without the separate dining room. The series set was majorly redesigned in the second season to accommodate a live studio audience, condensing the front entrance and living room and the kitchen and dining area, moving the fireplace to stage right.

Felix's spiriting Oscar back to health was largely reflective of Tony Randall's role in helping Jack Klugman's real-life recovery from throat cancer procedures.