Although the plot is a spoof of
The Golden Girls (1985), which was airing the same night as this show at the time, the casting of
Bill Macy as Jo's future ex-husband calls back to
Bea Arthur's an earlier sitcom,
Maude (1972), where he played her husband and where
Conrad Bain also co-starred before he played Mr. Drummond on
Diff'rent Strokes (1978), and where future Golden Girl
Rue McClanahan played his wife.