This is one of several episodes where Jessica Fletcher only appears briefly as the narrator of a frame story. In this case, the episode centers on the investigation by one of her many friends and acquaintances, Lt. Jake Ballinger. These episodes that featured Fletcher only as a narrator were primarily used as a device to give an overworked Angela Lansbury a bit of a break.
Freemont University would be seen again in the 1990 movie Columbo Goes to College.
This episode served as a pilot for a potential spin-off series. It was not picked up.