This screenplay was inspired in part by Dr. Timothy Leary's experience as a clinical psychologist at Harvard University. Leary worked on the Harvard Psilocybin Project from 1960-62 (LSD and psilocybin were still legal in the United States at the time), resulting in the Concord Prison Experiment and the Marsh Chapel Experiment. The scientific legitimacy and ethics of his research were questioned by other Harvard faculty because he took psychedelics along with research subjects and pressured students to join in. Leary and his colleague, Richard Alpert (who later became known as Ram Dass), were fired from Harvard University in May 1963, the year before this show aired.
The premise of this episode is virtually identical to that of Death at 2 A.M. (1955); an earlier sci-fi TV show which also starred Skip Homeier.
Skip Homeier subsequently starred with James Doohan in a 1969 episode of Star Trek, the Original Series, "The Way to Eden."
During one scene, the background music from the "One Step Beyond" TV series can be heard.