The characters mention Allen Ludden, as thee person who started the chain letter. In real life, Allen Ludden, and his wife, Betty White were very close friends with Mary Tyler Moore, and her husband, Grant Tinker, and they would attend the taping of every episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970), from the show's very first episode, and Ms White would join the cast, herself, as 'happy homemaker', Sue Ann Nivens at the start of the series'4th series.
This episode directed by Jerry Paris who played dentist Jerry Helper on the Dick Van Dyke Show. Jerry lived next door to Rob and Laura Petrie, Laura was played by Mary Tyler Moore.
Gino Conforti (Roy) also played a different character named Roy in Season One "Divorce Isn't Everything".