Fred Astaire contacted producer Donald P. Bellisario to ask if he could play a small guest role to please his grandchildren, who were enormous fans of the series. Bellisario enthusiastically responded: "Mr. Astaire, I will write a two-hour episode around you!" It eventually became just one hour.
Fred Astaire, who was famous for his dance numbers in the golden era of movie musicals, had been reluctant to dance in any productions for years, but made rare exceptions. "The Man with Nine Lives" is one such exception as he danced, albeit briefly in a social setting. It also marks the last time he danced on screen. Anne Jeffreys holds the honor of being the last woman to dance with Astaire on screen.
Chameleon talks about genetic (DNA) testing as being a new technology as it was not widely used in 1979 when the episode aired.
Unlike the other episode openings, the opening episode credits for this episode are split into two segments. The music that accompanies the episode name and other cast credits was also edited to fit the main character credits. Different music was in the background when the guest and production credits resumed after a few lines of dialogue were spoken.
During the scene where the conductor is collecting transportation duckets, if you pay attention to the logo around his neck, it is the Army Hawaii Garrison logo.