Don Novello (Father Guido Sarducci) appears in crutches as he injured himself rehearsing the "Hockey Penalty Box" sketch in a previous episode.
During rehearsals, John Belushi made it very clear that he despised Richard Dreyfuss's Oscar winning performance in The Goodbye Girl (1977). His feelings were incorporated into the monologue and Weekend Update (in which Belushi parodied scenes from the film). During dress rehearsal, Belushi appeared too sick to perform, stumbling through the skits, leading Dreyfuss to think the show would be a disaster. However, during the live broadcast Belushi straightened up and delivered his lines spot on. His antics did not have the desired effect on Dreyfuss however, who at the time tended to be very impressed with anyone who could handle drugs better than he did.