In one scene, Reed informs Malloy that he is thinking about taking the detective exam. Interestingly, when Jack Webb was in the preliminary stages of reviving the latest incarnation of Dragnet (1951) in 1982, Kent McCord was penciled in as "Joe Friday's" new partner and it was hinted that it would be the "Jim Reed" character. Those plans never came to fruition after Webb's passing in December 1982.
The award at the end of the show is given to Reed by the man who actually was the Los Angeles Police Chief at the time, Edward M. Davis.
There was a brief reboot of the series in 1990 (The New Adam-12 (1990)) that lasted two seasons, but different characters were used. Reed and Malloy did appear twice in the reboot.
Aneta Corsaut was best known as portraying Sheriff Andy Taylor's longtime sweetheart, schoolteacher Helen Crump, on The Andy Griffith Show (1960). The two characters married on Andy and Helen Get Married (1968) of the show's spin-off series, Mayberry R.F.D. (1968).
Kristin Harmon (as Kristin Nelson) and Gary Crosby, in their series recurring roles, are unusually listed in the opening credits, the only time it happens.