Although Beth Davenport (Jim's lawyer) is seen in the opening credits, she doesn't appear in this episode, nor is she mentioned. This forces Jim to defend himself in court in the opening sequence, and later make out 3 crucial legal documents.
This episode centered around the activities of the "National Intelligence Agency" and domestic spying. During this time a national scandal had occurred over the CIA's involvement in domestic operations as well as other countries' internal affairs, including the coup in Chile (as mentioned in the show). The CIA is mentioned here and is replaced by the nonexistent National Intelligence Agency, as it was for other Universal productions in the 1970s.
In every group session, everything we hear Angel say is totally fabricated. The only thing which is true, isn't heard by us, the viewer; after Angel tells the 'dead pig Christmas' story, Helen (played by 70's game show regular, Louisa Moritz), then says; 'so you were poor, but so was your sister, and she did alright', is a reference to Angel's sister (who we're only shown a glimpse of In The Empty Frame (1978))., who married Aaron Kiehl - featured prominently on The Empty Frame (1978), whose newspaper Angel worked at.
Beginning with this episode, the opening theme sequence included still photos of Jim Rockford interacting with series regulars Angel, Beth, and Dennis. Previously, Jim and Rocky were the only series regulars shown in the opening. (The updated beginning started with the new season.)