The show was canceled after only its second season, and the final episode left many questions unanswered. To give the fans closure, the producers wrote a ten-minute epilogue, paid for its production costs out of pocket, and the main cast members agreed to come back and film these scenes without pay. "Road's End: The Final Chapter" answers fans' questions, including the identity of Sam's father, and was released as a bonus feature on the second season DVD.
October Road (2007) is set in the fictional town of Knights Ridge, Massachusetts. The show was co-created by Scott Rosenberg, who wrote the movie Beautiful Girls (1996), which was set in a town of the same name. The show is said to be based in part on the reactions of Rosenberg's own Massachusetts hometown to the way it was depicted in the 1996 movie.
Although the show is set in Massachusetts, it was mainly filmed in Georgia.
The title of Nick Garrett's novel is "Turtle on a Snare Drum."