This was Harvey Keitel's first acting job in nearly a year since completing Mean Streets (1973).
This was one of the few western TV shows to be screened behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, airing on Polish television. Despite its downbeat and gritty depiction of American society, this move backfired on the Communist government as it proved incredibly popular, even New York in the doldrums of the 1970s still seeming glamourous in comparison to everyday life under the dictatorship.