In 1988 a reunion movie was planned and the cast, with the exception of the late James Broderick, agreed to reunite for the project. The writer's strike caused the project to be placed on hold and then later dropped from production.
The original Nancy, actress Elayne Heilveil, declined an offer to continue in the role after the original six-part miniseries was ordered to a regular series. For the second season, producers Nigel and Carol Evan McKeand replaced Heilveil with Jane Actman, whose appearance and mannerisms were similar to Heilveil's. Actman completed the first filmed episode of the 1976-77 season; however, she was abruptly replaced by ABC chief Fred Silverman, who actively pursued Meredith Baxter for the part. In her autobiography Untied, Baxter stated that she was reluctant to accept the job because she had two young children at home, but Silverman convinced her with a promise that the role would be recurring, giving her enough time to perform on the series while also raising her children. According to Baxter, Silverman replaced Actman because he felt the family dynamic would be enhanced with a blonde actress as Nancy. Arguably, Baxter became best known in the 1970s for playing Nancy Lawrence, a role which earned her two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress.
The two-part episode "Jury Duty", where Kate holds out on convicting Rudy Cortes (someone that everyone has jumped to conclusions about for partially racist reasons), has a plot that is similar to the All in the Family episode "Edith Has Duty". Edith holds out on convicting a Hispanic defendant for lack-of-evidence reasons, inspiring the ire of Archie and the other 10 jurors, until the real culprit confesses to the crime, thus vindicating Edith. The Family episode ended almost exactly the same way.
Kristy McNichol and Dinah Manoff, who starred together in the episode "Sleeping Enemy", would star again later as sisters on Empty Nest.
Cheryl Ladd auditioned for the role of Nancy. As it often happens in Hollywood, she was turned down for this role but saved for another Spelling production one year later, Charlie's Angels.