This episode ran long, so edited out was the scene where Mike barges into the kitchen and calls Archie a liar. Also cut was Archie telling the policeman that Mike returned to the store for the cigars. Both scenes are, however, referred to by the characters, leaving the audience to fill in the blanks.
References are made to The Godfather (1972), though that film wouldn't be released until March 1972, two months after this episode aired. The Mario Puzo novel the film was based on was a New York Times bestseller of over 9 million copies after it was published in March of 1969. The novel introduced the general public to mafia terminology such as "La Cosa Nostra," "Omertà," and "consigliere" among others.
Actor Bill Macy appears briefly as a uniformed policeman. He would go on, following his introduction in the last episode of this season, to play Walter Findlay, the husband of Edith's cousin Maude, in the eponymous spin-off from this series.
Mike mentions that only two people have fingered the Mafia: Joe Valachi and Archie Bunker. Joseph Michael Valachi (1904-1971) was an American gangster in the Genovese crime family who is notable as the first member of the Italian-American Mafia to, in 1963, acknowledge its existence publicly. Valachi subsequently became a government witness, and testified before a U.S. Senate committee in what became known as the Valachi hearings. He disclosed previously unknown information about the Italian-American Mafia, including its structure, operations, rituals, and membership. His testimony was the first major violation of omertà, the mafia's code of silence, and the first concrete evidence that the Italian-American Mafia existed to federal authorities and the general public.
Archie's is caught up in events that are quite similar to the main characters of Seinfeld (1989) in The Finale (1998). In both cases a mugging is witnessed, the onlooker(s) are seen by the "muggee" and must deal with the police afterwards. Though in Archie's case he is questioned and avoids any punishment, in the case of Seinfeld they are arrested for failing to help the victim and sentenced to one year in prison under a "Good Samaritan" law.