Debbie Reynolds reportedly wanted to play the role of Doris Mann, loosely based on herself. However, director Mike Nichols personally requested Shirley MacLaine.
Liza Minnelli reportedly told writer Carrie Fisher that the film resembles her own relationship with her own famous mother, Judy Garland.
The cop movie Suzanne works on, "LA Beat", is a reference to Carrie Fisher's Hollywood Vice Squad (1986).