The episode featured the first occasion that Geordi La Forge gave a report to the bridge from the engineering section. The producers liked this image so much that from season two onwards the character became the Chief Engineer.
First Star Trek appearance of Armin Shimerman as the Ferengi officer Letek (one of the three Ferengi officers on the surface). Shimerman would later go on to play the Ferengi bartender Quark on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993).
According to Armin Shimerman, the actors playing the Ferengi were directed to "jump up and down like crazed gerbils."
This episode marks the first appearance of the Ferengi. The initial idea was for them to be portrayed as hostile and aggressive throughout the entire series; however, the Ferengi were eventually used more and more for comic relief throughout this and following Star Trek series, after fans thought that this role suited them better.
Armin Shimerman said of his performance, "I was pretty much playing an over-the-top villain - that turned out to be very comical. I thought I was being serious, but obviously, it was not serious. It's because there was no subtlety to the performance, there was no attempt to try to give them some real cojones ... It was bad acting. It was just bad acting. They liked it, God bless them. Star Trek liked it."