The character of Erin Silver, who was Kelly Taylor and David Silver's half sister in the original show, was instead going to be named Daphne Silver. Daphne was supposed to be a distant cousin of Kelly and David. However, after reconsidering having more ties to the original Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990), the writers decided to change Daphne's name to Erin, so they could create a story line involving their younger sister.
When Hannah Zuckerman-Vasquez appears on the Blaze News, Mr. Matthews jokingly asks, "What is she, like, 30?" This is a nod to Gabrielle Carteris, who played Hannah's mother Andrea Zuckerman in the original Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) series. Carteris was nearly 30 playing high school junior Andrea (editor of the Blaze newspaper) when her series began. Hallee Hirsh was in her early 20's when she played freshman Hannah in this episode.
Tori Spelling was originally signed on reprise her role as Donna Martin-Silver for the pilot. However, Spelling dropped out for several reasons, including conflicts over reaching a salary agreement and recently giving birth to her daughter right before filming began.