The white house on the water that is supposed to belong to Maj. Gen. Hollister was, in real life, actually owned by Peter Falk, and is located in Newport Beach, California.
Things were quite tense between Peter Falk and Universal at the time of filming as he felt they were reneging on their promise to let him direct, so much so that he stormed off set, feigning illness. Universal threatened to sue him so Falk was forced to return to set, only to find that many scenes had already been filmed using a stand-in and the crew refusing to reshoot the scenes with him. Falk would get his wish to direct later in the season.
When Columbo flashes his badge in this episode, his first name, "Frank" can be seen alongside his photo.
Suzanne Pleshette, who had been friends with Peter Falk since she was 14 years old, said that he had behaved very badly during the making of this show. In fact, she didn't talk to him afterwards for a year. She also said that guest star Eddie Albert told Falk, "I always wanted to meet you, I always wanted to work with you, but you're a real asshole."