Pete Duel watched this episode on his home TV after work, followed by a Lakers game, just a few hours before his suicide. His friend and sometime costar, Judy Carne (who wasn't with Duel that night) claimed in her autobiography that Duel was made despondent by the perceived low quality of the series in general and this episode in particular, causing him to commit suicide.
During the spring of 1972, a group of Mexican-American protestors began a protest against casting people who were not of Mexican ancestry as Mexicans. One of their targets; the (Greek) actor who plays Alcalde in this episode. When they learnt the character would return in "The Clementine Ingredient" (s03e04), they insisted a Mexican-American take over the role. Producer Roy Huggins and Universal Television attempted to talk the protestors out of their uncompromising stance, then recast the role (paying the Greek actor a guest-star salary as a severance check).