The original script called for 6-year-old Bill Mumy's character to be found floating face down in the decorative pond behind the house. However, the child actor's mother refused to allow her son to participate in a drowning scene. Director James Sheldon modified the shot to show only the father reaching into the pond to pull Billy out, carefully filmed to exclude having to show the boy. Says Mumy, "I wanted to do it. I was a very good swimmer, but Mom was terrified I'd get some weird ideas about suicide if I did."
This is the first of 3 appearances by Bill Mumy in the original series, followed by It's a Good Life (1961) and In Praise of Pip (1963). He also appeared in It's Still a Good Life (2003).
This is the first episode that Rod Serling did not write or produce. As such, he received only a "created by" credit.
The end credits have a slightly longer version of the theme music.