Considered one of the most internationally-successful Italian television series of all time, exported to over 80 countries with average domestic viewership of 10 million during its run, peaking at 15 million.
Bulgarian actor Stefan Danailov was cast in the 7th season after the producers learned of the show's immense popularity in Eastern Europe.
The fictitious Thule Academy is mentioned in the plot as being the center of the new crime ring. Though no direct reference is made to the Thule Society, formed in Munich in 1918 as a Middle East religious cult, and transformed into a Nazi activist group dedicated to destabilizing the Weimar Republic, the plot hints at a revival of that Nazi secret society behind the sophisticated computer-crimes and money-laundering of the present time. Functionally, the society is based on the real-life secret society Propaganda Due, a pseudo-Masonic, far-right clandestine organization that was connected to various high-profile Italian crimes and scandals.
Episodes 4 and 5 of La Piovra's fifth season were broadcast with an opening credits announcement by the Producers: "By request of SicilTecno Company, of Palermo, and by order of the Roman Pretore, we declare that the denomination SicilTeknoPlus is a fantasy name, and therefore the events described in the screenplay "La Piovra 5" do not refer in any way to that company."