Bruce Willis made Die Hard (1988) while starring in this show. By the time the series ended, the movie was available on VHS. In one of the last episodes, Willis and a love interest walk past a video rental store while an employee tears a "Die Hard" poster down from the window.
Cybill Shepherd was often shot with diffusion disks so she would look as leading ladies often did in films of the 1940s.
Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis did not get along during production. Willis' success with Die Hard (1988) further strained their relationship. Willis became a major film star, and bristled at being the second-billed actor on a TV series. He also resented Shepherd, blaming her for many of the shooting delays.
ABC and Cybill Shepherd originally wanted Harley Venton to play David Addison Jr., but creator and writer, Glenn Gordon Caron, rejected him for then-unknown Bruce Willis. Both screen tests, with Mary-Margaret Humes playing Maddie Hayes, were filmed September 7, 1984. Both screen tests are included at the end of the pilot DVD.
The third season became notorious for repeated delays and a large number of "filler" episodes that ignored the primary story arc, including: a Christmas story, a retrospective show, a Shakespeare spoof, and an episode focused on Miss DiPesto. The scheduling problems happened because Bruce Willis broke his collarbone skiing, and Cybill Shepherd was pregnant with twins. One episode starts with a mock newsreel announcing the behind-the-scenes problems.