The play opened November 26, 1972 at New York Shakespeare Festival's Public Theater and ran 175 performances. Ruby Dee, Clarice Taylor, Albert Hall, Brandon Maggart, Polly Holiday and Juanita Clark recreated their stage roles for the TV movie.
Because of the play's subject matter (interracial relationship) and explicit language, some ABC affiliates preempted the program. A few other stations tape-delayed the program from prime time (9:00pm-11:00pm Eastern/Pacific) to a 11:30pm-1:30am time slot.