John Belushi agreed to make a cameo appearance under the condition that his favorite band, Fear, was the musical guest and that they were allowed to have a mosh pit on the set. The moshers, which included Belushi, caused much damage to the set, as well as the crowd extras screaming "New York sucks!" and "Fuck New York!" This prompted the alarmed director to quickly cut to a pre-recorded film piece before Fear's second performance was finished. Executive producer Dick Ebersol was so livid by the incident and, especially after the extras in the crowd promised him not to go overboard, kicked a trash can clear across the control room.
Michael O'Donoghue wrote many dark sketches for this episode that Dick Ebersol cut during rehearsals. One of them was a short film portraying NBC president Fred Silverman as Adolf Hitler. Silverman - who is Jewish - threatened to sue if the short aired. O'Donoghue was fired two months later.
The men's bathroom set from the cold opening is used again in the "Theater Intermission" sketch.
The kitchen set from the musical number "I'm So Miserable" is used again in the "Sugar Breakfast" sketch.