Michael Massimino said in a supplementary featurette for the Season 6 DVD box set that any real teasing and pranking of another astronaut while in orbit would not have been mean-spirited due to the long training they would already have undergone together and the close quarters of the spacecraft and station necessitating good working relationships. He even recounted how he risked getting the nickname "Crybaby" over how he teared up while looking at Earth during a spacewalk, which could have shorted out something in his helmet and provoke an investigation in which he'd would have to admit to crying.
Mayim Bialik was in a car accident between the filming of The Date Night Variable (2012) and this episode. She sustained a serious injury on her right hand, and for a short while there was a possibility that she might lose some fingers. Fortunately, that wasn't the case, but she had to wear a cast on her right arm for several weeks. For several episodes starting with this one, Mayim's right hand had to be kept out of each shot, just like with Kaley Cuoco's broken leg after a horse riding accident in the fourth season.