Billy Connolly's character name, "Findlay Crawford", is taken from his stand-up comedy, in which he mocks the names wealthy parents give their children. "Findlay" and "Crawford" are two separate names he cites as being particularly irksome.
Hillary Danner (Rebecca) is the niece of Blythe Danner, who played Janice Benedict in Étude in Black (1972). Coincidentally, in both episodes, the murderer was a conductor.
When Crawford is playing Columbo a selection of film music it includes the theme from Jaws which was directed by Steven Spielberg. Spielberg famously directed the first episode of the Columbo series, Murder by the Book.
The studio stage roof-top set erected atop the Technicolor parking structure nearly covered the entire parking structure's surface area. After the set had been constructed, the Santa Ana Winds started blowing, taking part of the set's roof area off the structure. The flats performed like sails, flying off the North side of the parking structure during the night. The following morning, the prop crew carried the flats back to the roof structure and reassembled the set for the following day of filming of the scenes occurring on the setting. The winds cleared the haze for a spectacular bright sunny Southern California day.