In his 1989 autobiography "It Would Be So Nice If You Weren't Here...", Charles Grodin recounts that Neil Simon repeatedly asked for actress Jeannie Berlin to be replaced because he did not find her pretty enough, not realizing that Berlin was the daughter of director Elaine May.
The film is rare in the Neil Simon canon in that it is not based on one of his plays, nor is it from an original screenplay by him. It's an adaptation of another writer's work.
The reason this film is so difficult to find on streaming, and hasn't had a home video release since the early 2000s, is because it fell into the hands of pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb, who dissolved their entertainment division shortly after creating it, leaving this movie's distribution rights in limbo. It has since never been re-acquired or restored as of June 2024, though there have been limited screenings of a 35mm print at Anthology Film Archives and Museum of the Moving Image.
Neil Simon's contract stated that none of his dialogue could be changed without his permission. The improvisational Elaine May came to an agreement whereby they would film 2 versions, his original script and then her version, and then decide which was better. After a week or so, Charles Grodin recalls that Neil Simon stopped coming to the set, and Elaine May was in control.
Reportedly, actress Cybill Shepherd turned down a number of other roles including one with Peter Fonda in order portray the character of Kelly Corcoran in this movie.