This was evidently the first regular episode to be filmed, and may have even been a second pilot to the series. This was the only episode produced by Douglas Benton (Robert F. O'Neill is supervising producer; he was producer for the other regular episodes until the fifth season, when he became supervising producer again); the typeface for the opening credits is noticeably larger and whiter than for any other episode; the episode itself contains two sequences for the opening credits not seen in the pilot or in the Jessica-typing sequence (Jessica firing a fake gun for a class and someone pushing Jessica, in silhouette, down a flight of stairs); and the closing credits are run slightly differently: there is a break between each credit card (the series virtually always jumped from one card to another with no breaks). There are also fewer guest stars (seven) on this show than on any other, with several bit players not credited at all (the old society lady killed at the beginning, two Chinese nuns and several classroom students have speaking parts but aren't listed).
Filmed in Seattle locations, including Seattle Center and the University of Washington.
At the beginning of the episode, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) says she is not nearly as famous as Elizabeth Taylor. These two played the sisters in the film National Velvet (1944), and also both appeared in The Mirror Crack'd (1980), a film based on Agatha Christie's Miss Marple mystery series, which is often cited as one of the inspirations for Murder, She Wrote (1984).
Angela Lansbury performed her own stunts in this episode for the first and only time without a stunt double. When the killer pushed her down the steps, she went down backwards and hurt her back.